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Discernment Questions for the First Sunday after Christmas

  1. What are the thoughts that occupy your mind?

    • Random thoughts often enter our minds when we’re trying to think about something else, but perhaps there’s a particular concern or anxiety that seems to rise up with regularity.

      • What is this?

      • Who does it involve?

      • Is it something that needs to be reconciled, so that you can let this thought go?

      • How will you let it go?

    • Write all of this down

  2. What words need to be removed from your lips, so that your speech begins to conform to the way of love?

    • Maybe you struggle with sarcasm, which is not necessary bad, but it can do harm if we let it. Maybe you’ve said something hurtful to someone recently.

      • How might to repair what your words have fractured or broken?

      • Is your speech building others up, or do complaints frequent your mouth?

      • What about your speech needs to change?

  3. How do your actions conform to the faith you confess?

    • The places you frequent, the things you consume, the service you offer others, are these drawing you and others closer to Christ or are they turning to in our your self?

      • Are your deeds ordered by your own will, or is the love of God for others that which governs your habits of life?

      • What needs to change about how and what you do each day?

St. Augustine's Breastplate

Remember, Christian Soul,​

That thou hast this day,

and every day of thy life,

God to glorify.

Jesus to imitate.

A soul to save.

A body to mortify.

Sins to repent of.

Virtues to acquire.

Hell to avoid.

Heaven to gain.

Eternity to prepare for.

Time to profit by.

Neighbors to edify.

The world to despise.

Devils to combat.

Passions to subdue.

Death, perhaps to suffer.

Judgment to undergo.

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