Day 1

One of my fellow Phatmass-ers posted this website up just now and it looks fantastic so I thought I'd look through it. It's basically an online discernment retreat, there are eight "days" and it has some wonderful questions and reflections. It does suggest keeping your responses to the questions as a kind of discernment journal so I thought I'd post them here since this is pretty much a discernment journal. 

What would I delight in doing? What does my heart long for? 

I would love to be able to spend plenty of time in prayer and focusing on God. I would love to be able to do this in connection with others. I would delight in being able to give something to others, even if they do not realise it. My heart longs to serve God with everything. I want every moment of my days to be of service to Him. I long to be free from the things that distract me from having that complete focus on God. 

Is there a passage from the Bible that has been with you for a long time, or that keeps coming back to you?  What is it?

My favourite quote is this one: 
I gazed into the visions of the night.
And I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven,
one like a son of man.
He came to the one of great age
and was lead into his presence.
On him was conferred sovereignty,
glory and kingship,
and men of all peoples, nations and languages became his servants.
His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty
which shall never pass away,
nor will his empire ever be destroyed.
Daniel 7:13-14


I heard it for the first time at Mass and it's just stuck with me.

When do you feel closest to God?

I feel closest to God when I receive the Eucharist and attend Adoration regularly. The sacrament of the Eucharist never fails to astound me, just the great wonder of such a gift that Christ has given us. 

When does God seem the most distant?

Aside from the obvious of sin, I feel most distant from God when I am in doubt. Not of God or of faith but of myself.