Dear Friends,
The Jesuits West Province’s apostolic planning vision is to be a community of Jesuits and apostolic partners that fully embraces discernment in common. This is an exciting vision and one that will help us listen to the Spirit’s invitation as we shape our apostolic future together.
First practiced by the early Jesuits, discernment in common seeks to elicit how a group of people is moved together at the “soul level” to make an important decision or choose a new direction.
For the last several months, a small group of Jesuits and lay collaborators has worked together to build capacity so that Jesuits and lay collaborators can begin to engage in this practice. The group (Steve Sundborg, SJ, chancellor of Seattle University; Cindy Reopelle, executive director, SEEL Spokane; Allan Deck, SJ, provincial assistant for spiritual ministries; Tim Caslin, provincial assistant for secondary and pre-secondary education; Billy Biegler, SJ, provincial assistant for Jesuit life; and Tracey Primrose, provincial assistant for communications) has put together resources to get you started.
This 10-Point Primer on Discernment in Common is a simple and valuable how to guide.
The fascinating history of discernment in common as used by St. Ignatius of Loyola and the first companions is the subject of this article by Dominic Chai, SJ.
Steve Sundborg, SJ, talks about his experience using discernment in common as well as his work to share this important spiritual practice with the province in this article.
This is the video link.
