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Discernment Acquiring Heart Of God
Enter the true art of discernment: more than simply a tool for making decisions or a method for mastering God's will, discernment is a process by which we learn how to remain in Christ, taking on his stance toward life, allowing him to inspire and direct our everyday choices. Precisely because it is an art of communication between persons, discernment cannot be reduced to a psychological technique for running our spiritual lives; rather, it is rooted in relationship.
Jesuit priest Marko Ivan Rupnik blends the wisdom of ancient Church fathers collected in the volumes of the Philokalia with the keen insights of Renaissance giant Ignatius of Loyola, liberally sprinkled with present-day examples. The result is a book of spirituality both eminently practical and lyrically enticing.
"In contrast, Acquiring the Heart of God eschews step-by-step spirituality. Father Mark Rupnik, a Jesuit priest and fine art painter, regards discernment as essentially a personal dialogue with a revealed and living mystery, the triune God of love.
"The bulk of the book is really a preface to discernment, diagnosing the pitfalls and temptations of what are classically called the purgative and illuminative stages of spiritual development. In light of the individualism and relativism rampant in contemporary culture, this patient approach makes sense. God's will is bound to be difficult to discern until we learn to stop seeking our own will and start following the paschal way of Christ.
"Father Rupnik explains discernment in the Ignatian tradition, but he emphasizes developing a relationship with God over specific techniques. Discernment: Acquiring the Heart of God is virtually an anti-guide book, for its thesis is that, in the end, discernment is an art."
-wvano (Philadelphia, PA), Amazon.com customer review