By DEXTER DUGGAN
PHOENIX — Although those seeking a direction in life may turn to searching for God’s will, a Phoenix chaplain reminded listeners that another ruler from beyond the Earth also has a plan for their lives, Satan.
Fr. Ignatius Mazanowski, FHS, chaplain of the Phoenix Guild of the Catholic Medical Association, explored a number of aspects of seeking to conform to God’s will during the group’s August meeting at Phoenix diocesan headquarters.
However, according to the outline of his presentation that Mazanowski distributed, he also said, “Satan does not want you to find God’s will and in fact he, too, has a plan for your life. Satan’s plan involves death, slavery to sin, and despair. God’s plan involves life, freedom to love, joy, peace, and fulfillment.”
The chaplain cited St. Ignatius of Loyola saying that a decision pleasing to God may induce the Devil to make a person have second thoughts, so the person should increase prayer and meditation time and good deeds.
If a person’s response to Satan’s temptations only results in efforts to grow in holiness, “he’ll have an incentive to leave you alone,” the priest cited the saint saying.
The Catholic Medical Association guild here recently changed its name from the Phoenix Catholic Physicians Guild. It began the day’s program with adoration, opportunity for Confession, and Mass, followed by lunch and Mazanowski’s presentation.
A common misconception, the chaplain said, is that God wouldn’t call a person to something he’d really want to do, or that God really doesn’t want the person to be happy and fulfilled in life.
But the reality, he said, is that whatever is God’s will for a person’s life “is the only thing that will in fact make you truly happy and fulfill you completely, even if it requires tremendous challenges to overcome and difficult choices to make.”
Although one objection may be that finding God’s will is too hard, and it probably wouldn’t even work, the real issue often is doubt and laziness, he said.
Mazanowski said that “God does in fact want to reveal His will for your life. The rewards for taking the time and putting forth the effort is more than worth it.”
He warned against thinking that small decisions don’t have serious consequences. “The slope is often slippery. Making small decisions based solely on what you want will gradually lead you to make big decisions against God’s will.”
Earlier in his presentation, Mazanowski said the decision must be to put oneself completely in God’s hands, not only 90 percent, “through asking Jesus and the Holy Spirit to come into your heart, mind, and soul.”
He quoted St. John Paul II that Jesus “is waiting for you when nothing else satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are attracted; it is He who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your life.”
Mazanowski recalled God’s instructions, as recorded in Genesis, for Abram to go forth in a way that required faith and trust: “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.”
Discerning God’s will for an individual’s meaningful work “includes understanding the deepest desires God has placed on your heart,” he said. “Often these God-given desires lead us to be passionate about something specific. It is possible that over the course of your life, God may have more than one ‘work’/’ministry’ for you to do.”
Mazanowski cited an author who quoted psychologist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl saying, “Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life. Everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated. Thus, everyone’s task is as unique as his specific opportunity to implement it.”
The priest said: “God wants to change your character, draw you closer to Him, and purify your heart, motives, and intentions when you go through the process of making important decisions. He wants to draw you closer to His heart. This is why it often is difficult, humbling, and involves a lot of effort. . . .
“God’s plan for you is beyond what you can image and it is an adventurous way to live,” he said. “God will take you to a place you never thought you would go, ask you (to) do things you never thought you could do, and He will do it in His way and in His time.”
Philosopher Thomas Merton had said, “Our destiny is the work of two wills, not one,” God’s and the person’s, Mazanowski said.
“God’s will often involves picking up our cross and following Him,” he said, citing a contemplation on suffering that said people keep looking for a better or a different cross to carry, not the one that actually came their way.
God Uses The Media
After Mazanowski’s talk, local author and writer Joyce Coronel, asking the gathering how people can be drawn into the Gospel message, said that people want to be loved and they want the truth.
Social media are one way of conveying the message, Coronel said, recalling that when she was interim editor of the Phoenix diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Sun, something had to be posted online every morning and afternoon.
If there wasn’t something fresh on social media, she said, “it’s a missed opportunity. . . .
“God uses the media. . . . It’s the Lord Himself,” Coronel said.
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