Episode 1 – Introduction – The Second Week Rules for the Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide to a Greater Discernment of Spirits with Fr. Timothy GallagherIn this opening episode of The Second Week Rules for the Discernment of Spirits, Fr. Timothy Gallagher reviews the foundation of the First Week Rules. He returns to the basic pattern of discernment: be aware, understand, and take action. He also revisits spiritual consolation and desolation, along with the practical rules that help us receive what is of God and reject the discouraging lies of the enemy.
Fr. Gallagher then turns to a new and more subtle challenge. In the life of St. Ignatius, genuine spiritual consolation and good, holy thoughts sometimes appeared at the wrong time. At Manresa, consoling spiritual illuminations interfered with needed sleep. Later, in Barcelona, similar consolations distracted Ignatius from the Latin studies required for priesthood.
These experiences opened Ignatius to a deeper level of discernment. A thought can be good in itself and still lead in the wrong direction. The Second Week Rules help us look not only at the apparent goodness of a spiritual movement, but also at where it leads and what its consequences will be. This episode prepares the way for the eight rules that guide this greater discernment.
Discerning Hearts Questions for Reflection and StudyPersonal Reflection1. How well can you recognize spiritual consolation and spiritual desolation in your own experience? 2. When a thought or spiritual experience seems good, do you also consider where it is leading you? 3. Can you recall a time when something good distracted you from something God was actually asking of you? 4. What do Ignatius’s experiences with sleep and his Latin studies teach you about looking at the consequences of spiritual movements? 5. How might the practice of being aware, understanding, and taking action deepen your discernment?
Group Reflection or Study1. Why does Fr. Gallagher begin the Second Week Rules with a review of the First Week Rules? 2. What is different about Ignatius’s experiences at Manresa and Barcelona from the spiritual movements addressed in the First Week? 3. Why is it significant that Ignatius never doubts that the thoughts and consolations themselves are genuinely good? 4. What do the consequences of Ignatius’s consolations reveal about their true spiritual source? 5. How does this episode challenge the assumption that anything that feels spiritually consoling must necessarily be followed?
This series is based on Spiritual Consolation by Fr. Timothy GallagherYou can find the book hereAlso, here are the 2 handouts mentioned by Fr. Gallagher in Talk 1:Guidance for a Greater Discernment of Spirits with Fr. Timothy Gallagher O.M.V.
For the PDF document:
Handout Number 1 – The Text of the 8 Rules of the Second Week
https://www.discerninghearts.com/Gallagher/The_Text_of_the_Rules.pdf
Handout Number 2 – Examples – Discernment of Spirits – 2nd Week rules
https://www.discerninghearts.com/Gallagher/EXAMPLES-DISCERNMENT_OF_SPIRITS-SECOND_WEEK_RULES.pdf
Examples used by Fr. Gallagher in the first conference talk:A Review of the First Set of Rules:George: “This morning in the chapel, prayer was difficult. In spite of so many and fervent appeals to Christ’s love, there was no feeling in me of response from the Beloved. I then turned to Our Blessed Lady and said something like this – “Please ask your Son to grant me the grace to love Him more and more… This was said only a very few minutes before the end of the half-hour which had been arid. Suddenly I felt a very sweet touch which warmed my whole being and stirred me to feelings of deep and moving gratitude to the Beloved and to his Mother.”
William Kernan, My Road to Certainty: “I looked out of the train window to the California countryside which I was rapidly leaving behind me – the orange groves shimmering in the light of the late afternoon sun the little bungalows which appeared here and there for a moment and then were gone as the train sped on, and the mountains far out on the horizon… An upsurge of gratitude swept through me and warmed my heart, and I thanked God for His Providence and goodness that had kept me all the days of my life and which, I was sure, would keep me safe forever. I could go on thinking of tomorrow in terms of today. Something would always be the same in every tomorrow; something would be certain – God.”
Married man, 38 years old: I had had a serious knee surgery five months earlier, and things had been slowly getting better with my knee. Recently, however, it seemed worse. This day, I saw the doctor and returned discouraged by his report: If my knee did not improve, how would I ever do my work for the years to come? How would I meet my family’s needs? I had felt tired already on rising, but when I got back from the doctor’s, I felt stripped of all energy. In the evening, I usually pray Evening Prayer. This day, I felt so tired and discouraged that I never said it. When I tried to pray at the end of the day, the same thing happened: I was tired, discouraged, and afraid, and it was hard to pray. Somehow, God seemed very far away, and I felt alone. I wound up spending time on the smartphone that I didn’t really want to spend.
I slept poorly that night and rose with a sense that it would be hard to pray at all this new day. The fear and discouragement were still there. I asked the Lord to help me get through this and to help me live the day well. As usual, I went to Mass before work. Mass was helpful; the readings spoke to me: they told of God’s care for his people in distress: “In you the orphan finds compassion,” “I will love them freely” (Hos. 14:2-10); “I relieved his shoulder from the burden” (Ps 81), and of the great commandment to love God with all our heart (Mk 12: 28-34).
After Mass, overcoming some initial resistance, I said the Rosary on the way to work, and that too lifted my heart. In the late morning, I had a meeting with a client who was grateful for the help I had given him. That was an uplifting time, and afterward, I was grateful and thanked God for it.
Some of the series by Fr. Timothy Gallagher found on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts
The Discernment of Spirits: The First Week Rules /w Fr. Timothy Gallagher, OMVThe Daily Prayer of Discernment: The Examen Prayer with Fr. Timothy GallagherThe Discernment of God’s Will in Everyday Decisions with Fr. Timothy GallagerThe post Greater Discernment: An Introduction to the Second Week Rules – Fr. Timothy Gallagher – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.