BOOK REVIEW

What God wants for you in matters large and small

Reviewed by Andrew Junker, The Catholic Sun
May 17, 2007

Men and women make hundreds of decisions large and small every day of their lives. We are a people of options, of choices, of free will.

And while many of these constant forks in the road seem to have no bearing on the grand scheme of things — whether you take your coffee black or with cream and sugar — others have great, far-reaching consequences not just for the decision-makers, but also for others close to them.

Franciscan Father Michael Scanlan has offered a method for discerning the answer to these more important questions in his book, “What does God want? A Practical Guide to Making Decisions.”

The Diocese of Phoenix’s vocation office suggests Fr. Scanlan’s book on its Web site for men and women discerning their vocation.

The five tests

Determining God’s will can be a tricky business and requires time spent in thought and prayer, Fr. Scanlan advises. But there are also five “tests” he suggests that will aid the decision-making process.

He lists them as: conformity, conversion, consistency, confirmation and conviction.

Though these tests do not have to follow each other in a precise order, Fr. Scanlan writes that he has found the method most effective if one moves through them progressively.

For example, conformity relates to “God’s revealed will” in the Scripture, tradition and authoritative teaching of the Church. If faced with a decision that would contradict any of those sources, then a person would not have to worry about applying other tests to the choice. God will not contradict what He has already revealed.

While the conformity test seems simple enough, our passions and desires often conspire to complicate the matter, Fr. Scanlan writes.

He presents little vignettes to the readers of real life scenarios where these important decisions are played out.

For the chapter on the conformity test, we meet Sandra and Peter, the former being divorced and the latter being married to a woman addicted to prescription pain pills.

They know each other from their parish and carpool together. During these rides, they share their stories and comfort each other in their disappointments. They are interested in the faith and encourage each other’s spiritual lives.

One night, after being dropped off at her apartment, Sandra asks Peter up for a drink. They embrace and then pull back.

“‘Is this right?’ they both said at the same time. They looked at each other with desire. They were both thinking, ‘This is so good. How can it be wrong?’” Fr. Scanlan concludes the story.

Though this story may seem a bit melodramatic or even soap opera-ish, the conflicting desires and genuine confusion in the scene are relatable to everyone, whether or not the particular situation rings true.

We feel sympathy for Peter and Sandra, because we too have created ethical morasses to wander about in. And we know how hard it can be to make the right decision, the one God would want.

“We are often tempted to justify or rationalize sin,” Fr. Scanlan writes. “We can tell ourselves that the morally right course is ambiguous even when it’s not … Christian discernment can become difficult and uncertain when it shouldn’t be.”

Fr. Scanlan describes his book as “practical” because it offers a particular method for untangling these decisions that can appear “difficult and uncertain.”

His use of little scenes throughout the book aids the reader enormously, because they show that discerning God’s will takes place in real, concrete situations. They help humanize the concept of figuring out what God desires for you.

‘The biggest decisions’

Fr. Scanlan spends about three-quarters of the book explaining and offering examples of the different tests for determining God’s will.

He uses the last section of the book to investigate more fully how to approach the largest decision in anyone’s life: his or her vocation.

The book’s progression from smaller or more immediate decisions to the one that will change lives makes a point that recalls Christ’s words in the Gospel of Luke:

“The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.”

Fr. Scanlan argues that in order to be ready to make larger decisions like marriage or the religious life, a Catholic has to already be consulting God on smaller matters.

The book is such a success because its program of discernment is comprehensive. Followers of Christ, whatever their situation, will find solid advice on how to conform their lives more closely to God.

At the same time, the book will set readers on a path toward understanding who God has called them to be, whether it is as father or mother, or priest or sister.

Andrew Junker is a staff writer for The Catholic Sun. Comments are welcome. Send e-mail to letters@catholicsun.org.