Discernment
If this disclosed church was simply to be read in terms of edgelessness and fragility (as understood here as ‘proper’ fragility), this could suggest something of a letting go of institutional church and the traditions it holds altogether. Indeed, there are some aspects of contemporary Pioneer thinking which take us precisely in such a direction.1'1 It should be possible for the reader to be clear by this stage that this is not the position taken in this book, which has been at pains to indicate not only the limitations but the gifts of the institutional or structured church, as well as of Christian traditions, to the wider church-in-mission in the world.16 Here, however, it is important to name this relationship of the (small) institution to the edgeless church on the edges in a particular way - as at the service of discernment.
The pneumatological, lay and worldly dominate my interpretation of the church we are glimpsing through theological action research with the Practices. Such an account then makes a necessary demand on this largely lay and in-the-world church, that it learns how to discern the Spirit, the following of whom is our only security and remedy for the anxieties of fragility. Such a practice-learnt insight finds resonance with the normative voice articulated by Pope Francis when he repeatedly makes clear the necessity of becoming a church characterised by discernment:
How can we know if something comes from the Holy Spirit or if it stems from the spirit of the world or the spirit of the devil? The only way is through discernment, which calls for something more than intelligence or common sense. It is a gift which we must implore. If we askwith confidence that the Holy Spirit grant us this gift, and then seek to develop it through prayer, reflection, reading and good counsel, then surely we will grow in this spiritual endowment. [167] The gift of discernment has become all the more necessary today, since contemporary life offers immense possibilities for action and distraction, and the world presents all of them as valid and good. All of us, but especially the young, are immersed in a culture of zapping. We can navigate simultaneously on two or more screens and interact at the same time with two or three virtual scenarios. Without the wisdom of discernment, we can easily become prey to every passing trend.17
Pope Francis is, of course, speaking as a Jesuit - one deeply formed in Igna-tian spirituality with its emphasis on discernment. His account of discernment eloquently expresses this tradition, in naming the complex ways in which insights from human sciences, our own experiences, the guidance of others and church teaching are all involved in and transcended by the divine grace of discernment.18 For Ignatius himself, it is clear that discernment is no easy matter, requiring wise guidance as well as attentiveness to a variety of what we might recognise, in this context, as theological voices. So, in the Rules for Discernment which append Ignatius’ Exercises (probably completed around 1523-1524),19 much attention is paid to attending to the ‘interior movements’ within the person who is discerning. Affect, mood, demeanour as well as fruits evidenced in action are to be carefully considered. However, this attentiveness to the interior is not straightforward, as it is clear that both ‘the evil spirit’ and ‘good spirit’ act differently on different temperaments, or at different times for people, depending on what might be most effective towards their different ends.20 Furthermore, rational contemplation of the affective experiences of consolation and desolation - so key to Ignatian discernment - is complicated by the recognition that one might feel consoled though the action of the evil spirit, who often “assumes the appearance of an angel of light”.21 The church called into discernment is called into a place of true difficulty and even apparent confusion as we seek ever more deeply the step to be taken which brings us, and the world, more fully to Christ.
It is important to note that for Ignatius, we are not without guides in this testing and on-going life process of growth. First there he recognises the importance of the wise and experienced accompanier with their qualities of openness, attentiveness and care for the individual discerning; indeed, there is a sense in which there is no really ‘individual’ discernment for Ignatius, both because of this relationship and as a consequence of the process’s engagement with normative authorities as well as that of personal experiences. Then the centrality of the Gospel account of Christ’s life and Passion in the Exercises holds the discerner close to the Person of Jesus throughout. Added to this, we should also note Ignatius’ Rules for Thinking
What account of church? 235 with the Church.22 These are ultimately uncompromising in insisting that “we must put aside all judgment of our own, and keep the mind ever ready and prompt to obey in all things the true Spouse of Christ our Lord, our holy Mother, the hierarchical Church”.23 Ignatian discernment is clearly not about figuring ‘our own truth’ in matters already established in our faith tradition. A tension is set up here between a clear sense of obedience and the dominant and persistent sense that, none the less, the Christian life can be nothing other than a slow, complex way of discernment if we are truly to make progress toward Christ.
Whilst I might prefer a somewhat moderated account of the normative authority of “our holy Mother, the hierarchical Church”, there is nonetheless a principle of the struggle to discern in continuity with normative church accounts and traditions in Ignatius which coheres with much of the learning from the Practices. For, at their best, the normative structures and traditions of church were enabling of lay participation in the missio Dei in the world.24 Yet practices of discernment are, it is clear, far from straightforward, and the question is provoked as to how far Christians are enabled for such crucial work today.
Perhaps this is one of the ways in which the normative and formal voices of theology can be re-construed, not as corrective, expert or authoritarian, but as at the service of discernment in the world. By the same account, the small-institutional church approach, which I am proposing, suggests that this institution exists to serve this outreach not only through sacraments, preaching and pastoral care but also through enabling of a culture for discernment, where honesty, the sharing of experience and thought, traditions, and normative practices in free and attended-to conversational living becomes a primary practice of church. In such conversation, in keeping with the traditions of discernment, attention is given with generous openness not only to the normative, the expert, or the experiences of lived faith, but rather, what is attended to primarily is the way in which the Spirit interrupts and opens up these conversations, enabling our discernment of the next step - but perhaps not much more.2'1
