Learning About Discernment

Life is all about choices and how we try to always make the right ones. Choosing between what is clearly good or bad is easy. The challenge lies when it is now a choice between two good options. What will you choose then? How will you go about making that decision?

We presented these questions to our participants as they joined the pilot run of our newly created Discernment Course specifically for Pathways students. Our mission is to nurture future leaders with our Core Values, one of them being the Discernment, particularly Ignatian discernment.

The Discernment Course launched its pilot run last January with 51 of our university senior and junior Pathways participants taking on the journey. In a mix of asynchronous and synchronous sessions, we learned more about St Ignatius de Loyola, his life, and the example he set for discerning God’s will. We also learned about the Ignatian Spiritual Exercise of the Examen for daily reflection. This simple exercise aims to help build our spiritual attunement to God’s voice in our lives and helps us make sound decisions for the greater good. 

At their own pace, participants looked inward and reflected on their relationships with others and with God. Despite being quite an abstract and spiritual concept to teach, one of our participants shared how she saw the course: “I’d say that being [religious] is not really a requirement when you start [the course.] It won’t spoon-feed you steps on how to discern but it will help you learn to introspect and evaluate your experiences and behaviors.”

Our participants especially appreciated the lessons they shared with their peers and facilitators in the Discernment Circles. Through group sharing in these circles, participants were able to look back at the modules they had finished and bounce off each other’s realizations. On top of this, they were able to take the time to step back and examine their present situations.

While the pilot test ended in March, this really is just the beginning of what we hope will be a continued process of reflection and discernment for our participants. After all, their continued practice of discernment enables them to become examples of discernment for others.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the following for helping us create this Discernment Course:

With the support of:
Ateneo Junior High School Faculty (CSIP and CLE departments)
Ateneo Junior High School Guidance Office
Loyola Schools Campus Ministry Office (LS CMO)
Gokongwei Brothers School of Education and Learning Design (GBSEALD)

Our Consultants:
Fr Francis D Alvarez, SJ (GBSEALD)
Arvin Basa (LS CMO)
Michelle Severino (LS CMO)

Our Intern and Illustrator:
Christine Nolido (AB Communication, AdMU Batch of 2023)

Our Facilitators:
Kristina Alfonso
Antonio Alinea, Jr.
Apple Bustamante
Jaymark de Asis
Bernadette Ilao
Bro Renier Mariano
Mike Ramirez
Grace Reyon
Cholo Santos
Bro Richard Sumera
Charles Glen Unidad
June Vasquez