(continuation from previous article)
9. Let us come to the point
Dear young people,
if we look at our days, we make choices from morning to night, we are called upon to decide on simple things in our daily lives, but sometimes we are also faced with choices about things that affect our lives and are of vital importance. Fortunately, most of the choices we make concern the sphere of the simplest things, otherwise it would be very difficult and tiring to accomplish this important task. However, the important decisions are there and therefore deserve our attention.
First of all, remember that we must never get caught up in the rush to make decisions quickly. If you have to choose between two things, especially when it comes to important realities of life (walking towards marriage with that person, taking concrete steps towards consecrated or priestly life), you must take the right time to discern what is right.
A second aspect to consider is to remember that you are free to choose what you want or what you think is right. For although God is all-powerful and can do everything, he does not want to take away the freedom he has given us. When God calls us to live where we can be fully happy according to His will, He wants this to be done with our full consent and that we choose not by force or compulsion, but in complete freedom.
Thirdly, I remind you that when choices conflict it is essential to let yourselves be guided: freedom must be accompanied, because it is difficult to find the way alone. Making fully free choices involves being clear about the good that others can receive from me, and how fully realised I can be when I am for others. I have already written to you on this subject, but let me remind you that it is here that we are most in need of an outside voice to confirm, or correct, or dissuade you from choices that mark your future.
One of the questions that obviously arises from this movement of choices, especially the most important ones, is: how can we be sure that we have made the right choice? The question is a legitimate one, because no one wants to make a mistake and we would all like to make the right choice once and for all. We would almost like to be able to choose once and never have to go back on it again and be comfortable in what we have already decided. In this sense, I think I must emphasise an important aspect. You have to understand well that choosing, making decisions, can never be something ‘once and for all’, but it is a process, a process that has sometimes even long timescales, that allow one to go deep into things and thus achieve more and more moral certainty that what I have done is the right choice. Whatever the state of life, it is not required that, at the moment of choice, you are already perfect, aware of all that this choice requires. You are not called to a blind forever, but rather to a journey towards a forever that is conscious and strong of the decisions made daily, the result of a portion of goodwill guided by prudence and constancy.
In order to live the time of choice well, the first movement must be cultivated well, digging into one’s life without relying only on emotions and without calculating only with intelligence. The balance of all the components of the person must always be sought and ensured, but especially at the beginning you must make sure that the choice you have made has a solid foundation. Once the initial choice has been made, there is no need to worry if bitterness or lukewarmness arises in the early stages. In fact, there is a risk of changing your mind often and quickly: once you have made your choice, do not look too much to the left or to the right. Sometimes it is easy, sometimes even seductive, to get distracted, explore or take other paths. Looking too much elsewhere can lead you down a different path, doubting and regretting the original choice you made. If this happens in times of euphoria and discouragement, in times of crisis, what is important to do is certainly not to make decisions at that moment and not to change the initial decision, but to stay in the moment, waiting for a quiet time that can allow you to calmly re-read what characterised the crisis and then make decisions about it, always according to conscience and in an accompanying movement. If one always tries to keep one’s will firm in pursuing the chosen good, such as a serious engagement journey, or a stable community life experience for religious or priestly life, God will not fail to bring everything to a good end. As we have already said, this path requires many individual “yeses”. every day. Even the most seemingly indifferent actions become fertile if they are oriented towards the Good to be pursued. It is a matter of perseverance that becomes daily fidelity.
Office for Vocational Animation
