Thy Will Be Done?

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A phrase in the “Our Father,” also called the Lord’s Prayer, has always been a problem for me. To me, this phrase expresses the aspiration that we, and everybody else, follow God’s will. And in context, the implication seems to be that God’s will will be done on the arrival of God’s kingdom (“Thy Kingdom Come”).

But following God’s will is easier said than done, as expressed in the Book of Wisdom in the Hebrew Bible.

Who can know God’s counsel, or who can conceive what the Lord intends?
For the deliberations of mortals are timid and unsure are our plans.
For the corruptible body burdens the soul and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns.
And scarce do we guess the things on earth and what is within our grasp we find   with difficulty.
But when things are in heaven, who can search them out?
Or who ever knew your counsel, except you had given wisdom
and sent your holy spirit from on high?

Does It Answer the Question?

Ok, this is a hint. God gives wisdom through the Holy Spirit. But does it really directly answer the question, “How are you supposed to know God’s will?”

Many spiritual writers say that's done through listening to the Holy Spirit. Others say, by listening to others. Through prayer, say still others. No doubt, all of the above have their usefulness. But I like best the answer of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits: through discernment.

St. Ignatius, a Spanish priest and theologian, founded the religious order of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, in 1541. Its mission, according to the Jesuit web site, is one “of justice and reconciliation, working so that women and men can be reconciled with God, with themselves, with each other and God’s creation.”

Discernment is about finding the voice of the Spirit of God “speaking to us in the ordinary and practical details of our lives. By trying always to listen to the Spirit, without being attached to our own desires and ideas, Jesuits wish to find where the Spirit of God is leading and respond with humility and joy.”

Ignatius of Loyola
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For me, there are a couple of key phrases here. One is “trying always.” The other is "without being attached to our own desires and ideas.”

I suspect that most of us – including those who are searching for God and those who have in some sense found God – are accustomed to make decisions using strictly practical criteria, the principal one being what is better for us in the short term.

I believe “trying always” is an important phrase because we probably aren’t always going to succeed in listening to the Spirit, and “trying” is probably the best we can do. And we will always be inclined to attachment to “our own desires and ideas.”

But those of us who search for God in the Christian tradition know that discipleship isn’t a walk in the park. When Jesus said his “burden is light,” I believe he was talking about “cost vs benefits” - that the benefits way outweigh the costs.

No, Jesus also said in Matthew’s gospel, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Big Changes

I’ve been coming to the conclusion that, for most of us, this may require big changes regarding how we look upon the world and others, particularly the poor, the outcasts, the marginalized and those who think and look different from us.

I’ve been reading a book called, Lazarus at the Table by Bernard Evans – a summary of what the Catholic Church teaches about social justice. Evans paraphrases Pope Paul VI’s 1967 encyclical “On the Development of Peoples,” which I believe most people – including most Catholics – have pretty much ignored. It has a lot to say about our attitude toward these “others.”

“…The Christian’s response to the poor must go beyond contributing money and volunteering time. It also involves changing social and economic systems as well as public policies in ways that benefit persons and nations in need.”