This can be particularly true when we are discerning a major decision in our lives, such as our vocation. Is there any way of knowing the source of our ideas? Is there any way in influencing how we respond to them?
 
In his “Spiritual Exercises”, St. Ignatius develops an incredibly rich yet simple doctrine on the discernment of spirits which can be read in their entirely here. If you have taken the Spiritual Exercises, you know how important these rules of discernment can be.[2] For the purposes of this short blog, I’d like to summarize the main principles to help us keep this fundamental rules top of mind in our daily and more serious discernments.
 
First, we need to be aware of what is the state of our soul. There are really only two options: either I am striving to do good and avoid sin (albeit with various levels of intensity) or I am carelessly falling into sin with no effort to get myself out of it. Depending on our state of soul, the devil will respond in different ways. To the one in sin, the devil will “support” and encourage him to continue on his path to destruction, while the good spirit (God or His angels) will prick the conscience through reason to show them the error of their ways. For the one who is striving to grow in holiness, it is the exact opposite: the devil will try to confuse and lay obstacles while the good spirit will try and encourage us.
 
We must then be aware of the notions of “consolation and desolation”. It is important not to confuse these with mere emotional states. Consolation is not the excitement we have when we get a new job, win a sporting event, or accomplish some task we have been seeking. In a state of consolation, we are inflamed with a love of God and a desire to do His will, whereas in desolation we find ourselves in a state of spiritual dryness, often plagues with doubts, fears, and tension. The rules of St. Ignatius depend entirely on which state we find ourself in.

Trust. Why focus on trust? Recently we have been focusing on self-knowledge and conquering our dominant fault. As we are all called to be saints, we must learn to strive to concretely practice virtue in our daily life. Striving for holiness is far more than just praying all the time. If you are falling into the same sins over and over again; having a hard time following through with your resolutions; caught in indecision; or often put off the good you could have done: don't be discouraged! If you feel like you are stuck in mediocrity and want to act according to the greatness you know you are called to: don’t be discouraged! Of all the virtues we could turn to, it is a time to take a deeper look at trust. 

Our notion of trust begins as a child in the womb. Nurtured and fed, held and taken care of, an infant lovingly depends on its mother for everything.​ Trusting is natural, what is learned is distrust. The youth give hope to the world through their childlike trust, for as one gets older and experiences failures and disappointments it becomes difficult to depend on others. We've all been wounded by those who stopped trusting us, and by those who we put our trust in and have let us down.

Here are some images we can think of as we discover what true trust is. Trust is a commander in the army who advances because he knows that his unit will have his back. Trust is a little girl who is afraid, and courageously jumps down from a tree into her father’s arms. Trust is a mountain climber descending from a mountain, relying on his rope. Trust is when you are in the confessional and you tell the priest all of your sins. We can notice that trust is not passive. One is able to take the leap of faith, the risk, because they are relying and depending upon another. ​

 When Adam and Eve fell, they were tricked by the serpent to distrust God and His goodness. Through sinning, “man tempted by the devil, let trust in his creator, die in his heart” (CCC #397). Thus, all sins result from a lack of trust in God who will provide for all that we need. Scripture teaches us where to put our trust. We hear, “Trust in the Lord and he will help you” (Prov. 20-22), “O Lord of hosts, happy are those who trust in you!” (Ps 84:13). 

Trust is related to three virtues: faith, hope, and magnanimity. Trust springs from faith, and is strengthened by hope. One can tend toward valiant efforts because they have trust, for fears are diminished and expelled from the soul. The more you trust in God, you can let go of the comforts of the world to truly do His will. 

The principal aspect of trust is relying on another. Yet how do we trust, even on a natural, human level? Trust depends on the way you view the person who you believe can help you, and the way you view yourself. Firstly, you perceive that this person has the abilities, qualities, resources, and experience that can assist you. It also requires that you perceive this person who you trust in as one who wants to help you. This can be difficult because we can fall into putting our own faults and failures onto another. Perhaps we personally struggle with being on time, or returning phone calls, or listening to the needs of others. Then we begin to see those around us as always being late, or failing to get back to us, or failing to listen. We can even put our own faults and failures on God: God never listens to my prayers, God never gets back to me, or God is always late. 

​St. John Paul II said that the “Gospel of life is the heart of Jesus’ message”[1], but as we approach the 49th anniversary of the fateful Roe v. Wade decision in our country, we can be dismayed by the rampant disregard for human life which has led to 62 million babies have been aborted in this country alone[2]. Alarmingly, there are more than two thousand babies murdered each day[3]. ​

In the midst of this senseless bloodshed and violence, two important questions emerge: (1) How did our culture arrive to this point? & (2) How can we help build the culture of life and peace that we all hope for?

First, how did we arrive to this point?
 
While some may be tempted to place the blame on the legal system, politicians, or birth-control, the root of the problem is much deeper. It stems from our modern view of reality which has each generation pushed God further away from both from an intellectual and cultural point of view. Modern philosophy[4] has rejected God as the transcendent Creator and Lord of the universe and instead elevates man and his freedom as an absolute value. This way of thinking has led to moral relativism, where each has their ‘own truth’ with no objective moral norm with which to judge actions as good or evil. In the early 20th century, these ideologies led to unprecedentedly cruel totalitarian groups such as Nazism and Communism, leaving untold destruction and horrors in their path. ​

This leads us to our second question: how do we bring peace and build a culture of life in our modern world?
 
In his masterful encyclical on the value on inviolability of human life, St. John Paul II declares that the Gospel of life, which is “at the heart of Jesus’ message”[6] is also “something concrete and personal, for it consists in the proclamation of the very person of Jesus”[7]. It is only through Jesus, His words, actions and very person that “man is given the possibility of "knowing" the complete truth concerning the value of human life”[8].  
 
But as we have seen, the world has discarded Jesus, who is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (cf. Jn 14:6).

And hence, in order to battle the spirit of the world (cf. 1 Cor 2:12), we must seek to “renew all things in Christ”[9].

​We must “restore all things in Christ”[10]. 
 
And what is the way to do this? 
 
I highly advocate reading chapter four of Evangelium Vitae where St. John Paul the Great shows how we can build a new culture of life. Here, I will present just three principal ways JP2 recommends for establishing a culture that is renewed in Christ: preaching, celebrating, and service of charity. ​

Preaching - "That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you" (1 Jn 1:3)
“To proclaim Jesus is itself to proclaim life” (EV 81). We most promote the dignity of the human person made in the image and likeness of God. Above all, we most proclaim the core message of the Gospel, that our God is a living God, close to us, who loves us dearly and wants us to be with Him forever. The lofty vocation for each man and woman is to partake in the divine nature by grace (cf. 2 Pet. 1:14).  We must also not be afraid to speak and witness to the fact that this truth, that human life, a gift from God, is inviolable and sacred, making abortion a grave evil. ​

[1] Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), 1

[2] https://www.lifenews.com/2021/01/18/62502904-babies-have-been-killed-in-abortions-since-roe-v-wade-in-1973/

[3] Live Action estimates 2,363 babies are aborted each day. https://www.liveaction.org

[4] Beginning with the infamous “I think therefore I am” of Descartes, modern philosophy has gone down a path that inevitably leads to the rejection of God and atheism. See God in Exile: Modern Atheism by Fr. Cornelio Fabro for a detailed analysis. 

[5] Cf. Gaudium et Spes, 22

[6] EV, 1

[7] EV 29

[8] EV 29

[9] ES, 4

[10] St. Pius X, E Supremi, 8, https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-x/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-x_enc_04101903_e-supremi.html

[11] Come be My Light, p. 58