When you meet someone who is totally given over to God’s will, they shine.
With St Teresa of Kolkata – they said that, when you walked into a room, you could see her from miles away, said Auckland auxiliary Bishop Michael Gielen to a gathering of 50 young people who were interesting in learning more about discerning a vocation.
“Brothers and sisters, do you want to shine? . . . Jesus wants you to shine,” Bishop Gielen said at the February 3 event, titled “The Upper Room – New Year, New Yes; Finding Freedom in God’s Will”, held at the Shakespeare Tavern in Auckland city.
“We call it the Upper Room, because that is where the Holy Spirit comes,” Bishop Gielen told the gathering, which was limited to 50 people, and a vaccine pass was required for entry. The event, which was organised by Fr Tony King-Archer and Cheryl Surrey, was also accessible online through Zoom.
Bishop Gielen warned his young audience that, if they wanted a “comfortable ride in this discernment of life journey, I have got bad news for you”. But he added, “God has an idea, God has a plan and all he needs is your ‘Yes’, and he will do such beautiful things with it”.
After discussing purpose in life, worship of God, and being in relationship with God, Bishop Gielen stressed the importance of living a “sacramental life”.
“We are living this relationship [with Jesus] through the sacraments, through reconciliation. Through support of others, through the Eucharist. Through prayer. That is foundational – you cannot know God’s will and you cannot have freedom if you do not have these things in your life.”
After noting that “God is more interested in your growth than in your comfort”, Bishop Gielen said that “God sends along people to make you grow. It is hard when Jesus takes the scissors. That is a vocation – to truly say to the Lord, help me grow. When we grow, we become the best person he has called us to be. When we are comfortable, we are like a fat cat in front of the fire. We get fatter and fatter, and we do less and less. Ultimately we die.”
So Bishop Gielen set out several steps for people to take in order to “truly know God’s will”. He referred to actions in the life of Venerable Suzanne Aubert as examples of some of these steps.
First, be open to God’s will. “That is the very first prayer that we have to pray. God, lead me where you will. . . . Guide me, show me what you want of me, and I am truly open. That is one of the courageous prayers you can ever pray. God will lead you anywhere.”
Secondly, aspire to inner freedom, which involves acknowledging the obstacles that are in our hearts, such as “disordered attachments”.
“Everyone is attached to something – some weakness, some particular disorder in their lives, whether it be substances, whether it be relationships, whether it be technology. We are attached. . . . That becomes our God,” Bishop Gielen said.
He added that every plague that God sent to the Egyptians represented a god that the Egyptians had in their society. God sent the plagues to show that he was stronger than their gods.
Bishop Gielen recommended prayer for the desire to be free from disordered attachments – “anything in the area that we have allowed to become our God”.
“I know that takes time, we have got to pray for it. Especially serious sin. That is the first thing we own up to – we bring it to reconciliation, we bring it to God. If it has really got a hold of you, you give it to God. The more you do that, the more freedom you get.”
Thirdly, Bishop Gielen challenged his audience to dare to dream. He shared aspects of his own vocational journey when, at a young age, he felt the desire to become a priest.
“What is your heart drawn to? Not your head, not your wallet, not your other areas. . . . Allow yourself to dream. . . . and be courageous enough to answer that dream.”
Next, Bishop Gielen told the young people to be aware of where God might be “nudging them”. Where is their “inner compass” heading?
“God cannot lead you if your sail is down. . . .The rudder doesn’t work if the boat is stationary. . . . If you are not praying every day and prioritising your relationship with [God], he can’t guide you, your sail is down. You have got to keep that sail up, which means being in regular relationship; even when it is not going well, you are talking to him.”
When you are “learning how to do God’s will”, he said, “you will fall many times, and you feel you are going back to confession for the same thing over and over again”.
Bishop Gielen referenced a saying by St Teresa of Avila, which he had found helpful personally – “when we are sinning, if we keep going back to God, God will win. If we give up, evil will”. She said it is where you put your effort.
The bishop encouraged his listeners to do research on what vocational options may be open to them. God might lead them to unexpected places, he said, sharing the example of one of his cousins who is now a Poor Clare Sister in Wales.
“Speaking selfishly, as a bishop of New Zealand, I don’t want any of you to leave New Zealand and discern orders overseas, OK?” Bishop Gielen added. “That is my will, which doesn’t count for much, but it is my will. God’s will may be for you.”
After people follow all these steps he had outlined, it is important that they feel joy, freedom and peace. While no one ever feels totally at peace when discerning a life-long commitment, the bishop said, it is important to discern the difference between nervousness and anxiety over this step and not feeling free in doing it, which may be a sign that a person does not have a vocation. Bishop Gielen advised discussion with trusted other people at this stage.
The finally, make a decision to follow the steps he had outlined, Bishop Gielen advised. “What is the old saying – no decision is a decision.”
“What I found in my life . . . is that one decision leads to another one. God can’t lead you to where he wants you to go, until you have taken that step, and then that step and then that step. He is waiting for you to take them, and you need the courage to say, yes Lord, I will do that for you.”
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