Discernment means to cut away from until knowing what is best. Discernment is between two good things, while temptation is between a good thing and a bad thing. God is always speaking to us and we need to make sure we are speaking to Him because authentic discernment comes through Christ.
Acknowledging what we are experiencing in our lives.
Relate it to where we are currently at.
Receive God's message and listing to what He has to say.
Respond to what He tells us.
Our final session of the morning, before our closing Mass, was about calling down the power of the Holy Spirit to change our lives. And as we prayed, not just for ourselves, but also for our brothers and sisters, our host Dan Harms challenged us to appreciate the power that's already within us, by virtue of our Confirmation.
Come Holy Spirit, fill our lives.
With that prayer, Kris Frank invited us to consider more deeply who the Holy Spirit really is. Like many of us, Kris pointed out that he forgot about the Holy Spirit in his faith life when he was younger. The Spirit, however, is easily accessible and inviting the Spirit into our lives will change us for the better.
As we drew closer to Mass, the speaking team led teens in prayer and worship to call upon the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
They first explored the Spirit's true purpose and identity by explaining what the Spirit is NOT. It is not an emotion. It is not a feeling. It is a person. It is God's living water in its simplest, purest, and most powerful form. While our own spirit may be weak, the Holy Spirit is stirring strongly inside each heart. The Holy Spirit is changing us into His instruments of peace and filling us with the power to conquer all fears, heal all hurts, and have victory over all spiritual deaths. Each member of the team took turns asking the Spirit to pour out their favorite life-giving gifts on all of us.