Discernment is asking “what it is that God wants for us in any given situation,” said Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis. “It’s not just a question of ‘what do I want?’ What does somebody else want?’” he said. “But really, what is it that God wants here? And how am I able to help that take place?”
Archbishop Hebda recently joined “Practicing Catholic” radio show producer Kayla Mayer to discuss discernment. He described it as “a wonderful way of inviting the Holy Spirit into everything that we do, and trusting that we have a God who loves us so much that he wants to be part of the smallest decisions, every aspect of our lives.”
Pope Francis said what he looks for in bishops is “men of discernment,” the archbishop said. Similarly, Archbishop Hebda said, that is one thing he is attentive to as well when he interviews men entering seminary. “It’s really asking what it is that God wants, not just what are my personal desires or doing a pro and con list, … but really asking that question, ‘what it is that God wants, and trusting that there is something that God desires for us in every situation.’”
Asked how people can be certain they are hearing God’s voice in their discernment process, Archbishop Hebda said to first “always make that prayer.” “I think every day, ‘Lord, help us to hear you. Help us to really be able to discern what it is that you want.’”
And when making major decisions, he advises people to “strive as best we can to be really close to Jesus.” Stay close to Jesus in the Eucharist, make an extra effort to participate in daily Mass, or adoration, he said. “Stay close, make sure that you’re in a state of grace.” In times of discernment, “reconciliation is so important, that anything that would keep us from hearing the Lord’s voice or responding to it is sidelined, is removed,” he said.
Asked about young adults just out of college and making career decisions, Archbishop Hebda said one way priests and campus ministers can help is by making sure that young people know how much God loves them “and to take away that fear that somehow … if they make a bad decision, that God isn’t going to love them anymore.”
The archbishop recalled when he was a young adult “and trying to discern,” he was a lawyer and figuring out “if the Lord was asking me to be a priest.” He worked for a while as a lawyer and realized God wanted him to be a priest. In hindsight, he realized that “God had a plan “even in those things,” the archbishop said. “So even if they had been the wrong decision, that God used them in a way that shows me his love and that also serves the Church,” he said.
To learn more of Archbishop Hebda’s thoughts on discernment, listen to this episode of “Practicing Catholic,” which debuts at 9 p.m. July 28 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and repeats at 1 p.m. July 29 and 2 p.m. July 30.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes an interview with Alice Schwantes, a fertility care practitioner at Twin Cities FertilityCare Center, who discusses natural family planning; and Kate Soucheray, licensed marriage and family therapist emeritus, who provides tips for building a stronger marriage and a more virtuous relationship.
Listen to interviews after they have aired at PracticingCatholicShow.com or choose a streaming platform at anchor.fm/practicing-catholic-show.
