Thursday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
Every morning we wake up and get dressed for the day. We consider the weather and the activities we will be doing to guide our clothing selection. In today’s first reading, St. Paul describes how we should be clothed as a follower of Christ. What should we wear, and how do we “put on” these outer garments of Christ to protect us from the challenges we will face?
In the letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul uses the outfit of a warrior to provide insight on how a disciple should prepare for the battle of sin and evil. This “armor of God” provides us the strength to face the temptations, challenges and attacks of the “evil one”. With righteousness as a breastplate, truth girding our loins, the Gospel of peace covering our feet, having faith as our shield and salvation as our helmet, and the Spirit as our sword, we are ready to face whatever the day might bring.
The question is how can we put on this layer of protection? St. Paul tells us to “pray at every opportunity in the Spirit”. When we are grounded in our prayer and the Word, then we will recognize what is true, righteous, and peaceful, and our decisions will flow from our deep faith with the Spirit’s guidance.
Yet, how do we know where the Spirit is leading us? Discernment is a process where we actively seek to know how God is leading us. I have recently been introduced to a new concept from Fr. Timothy Gallagher for Discerning the Spirits. St. Ignatius 0f Loyola proposed that our inner life (thoughts, feelings, desires etc.) can be from three places- our humanness, the Holy Spirit or the false spirit. To discern the source of these inner workings, Fr. Gallagher suggests that we use the following acronym to identify the source: “B-e aware” (pay attention to what you are feeling/experiencing) “U-understand” (try to understand or figure out where the inner working is coming from- is this from my own humanness, the Holy Spirit, of the false spirit), and “T-ake action “- Identify the source of the inner movement. If it is from our humanness or the Holy Spirit, it will lead us to God. We are called to accept that movement and follow where it leads. If it is from the false spirit, this will lead us away from God, so we need to reject this notion and turn away from where it is leading us.
When we begin our day in prayer and scripture, our discernment will be rooted in God. As St. Paul says, our struggle is with powers, rulers of the present darkness and evil spirits in heaven. We need God and God’s Spirit to provide us the courage, wisdom, peace and love to fortify our decision making throughout our day. When we are dressed as Disciples of Christ, then all of our thoughts, words and actions will proclaim the Gospel. May we rise every morning and put on in the armor of God, so we can be an ambassador for Christ.
—Marylynn Herchline