Pathways runs 2nd Discernment Workshop

Pathways’ very own Discernment Workshop began its second run on Saturday, 11 November 2023, and concluded this 15 December 2023. After our pilot run earlier this year, this school year’s sophomores, juniors, and seniors learned more about the Ignatian spiritual exercise in a more enriched format. They were joined by several volunteer facilitators with backgrounds in education, psycho-spiritual counseling, and human resource training, among others.

This Discernment Workshop aims to provide Pathways participants with the opportunity to explore their relationships with others, themselves, and God. We do this by fostering an environment that allows students the space to freely share their reflections in a hybrid format - asynchronously over Canvas and synchronously in offline face-to-face discussions. Students are grouped into Discernment Circles (DC) where they are encouraged to share their insights with their peers and facilitators or Discernment Guides.

We began the DC sessions with a guided Examen, a prayer of reflection in Ignatian tradition. The DCs were introduced to each other and their expectations for the program. They took time to share their insights, experiences, and even apprehensions with their peers and guides.

Discernment in Ignatian tradition is often simply put as choosing between good and the greater good. Through prayer and careful reflection, one can better understand what it is that moves them toward certain choices. With Discernment as one of our core values in Pathways, our participants are invited to reflect on how they make decisions.

As this run has just concluded, we hope that our participants will find this workshop to be useful in their lives, to be a time where they can step back and reflect, and realize the value of pausing. We hope it will become a lifelong habit.