The following reflection, “Knowing the Mind of God” is taken from Volume 6 of my recent four-volume series, An Encounter.
One of the most difficult movements in the spiritual life is learning to know the mind of God. Across Church traditions, many paths have been given to help us grow in this. The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola guide us in discernment. The Benedictine practice of lectio divina invites us to listen with what Saint Benedict calls “the ear of the heart.” These and many other practices point in the same direction, namely, learning to recognise how God speaks and how he leads in the concrete situations of our lives.
The more we grow in knowing the mind of God, the better prepared we become for those moments that are not clear. Life often presents grey areas where the path is not immediately obvious. In those moments, instinct can’t suffix. We need wisdom that helps us see rightly and act faithfully.
Saint Paul offers an important insight. “For what person knows a man’s thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also, no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Cor 2:11). His point is simple, yet profound. Just as we come to know another person through a shared life and interior connection, so too we come to know God through the Spirit of God given to us.
We can glimpse this through human relationships. Parents often come to understand their children in ways that go beyond what is said aloud. Over time, they begin to recognise patterns, tendencies, even unspoken needs. One might object it is not perfect knowledge and I agree, yet it is real. The same can be said of a husband and wife who have lived together for many years. There is a depth of knowing that grows through presence, attention, and shared experience. They sense what the other is thinking or feeling without needing many words. Knowledge grows through relationship and deepens through closeness.
In the same way, knowing the mind of God is not first about mastering ideas or principles. It begins with receiving what God reveals and sharing in his life. As the Church teaches and as is well documented in Sacred Scripture, God makes Godself known and abides in the person who welcomes him. Without that revelation, we would not know him. In Scripture, God speaks. In the sacraments, he gives himself and in prayer, he draws us into his life.
God also reveals his wisdom through the order he places in creation and in our lives. There is a kind of divine priority, a way in which things are meant to be held and valued. When that order is recognised, there is clarity and spiritual understanding deepens, wisdom too. Wisdom restores order. It helps us see what belongs where and know the mind of God. Knowing the mind of God, then, is closely tied to living in that order. It is learning to see as God sees, to value what he values, and to respond accordingly. One can receive this gift through prayer, attention to God’s Word, and through a life open to the Spirit.
The Gospel gives us a glimpse of this authority of divine-centred knowing at work in Jesus. Jesus teaches with a clarity that does not come from human reasoning alone. His word has power and authority because it flows from perfect unity with the Father. The people recognise this. His authority reveals not only what he says, but who he is. That same Spirit is given to us in the measure sufficient for humans. Not so that we may control or master the things of God, but so that we may be drawn into them. Over time, the heart recognises what is of God and what is not and gradually begins to understand with clarity.
We continue to ask for the grace to know God, listen well, and grow in wisdom that orders our lives according to divine truth.
Reflect
Where in my life do I face uncertainty or grey areas that require discernment? How am I creating space to listen for God’s voice and grow in knowing his ways?
Pray
Lord, you have given your Spirit to guide and teach me. Open my heart to listen more deeply. Order my desires according to your will, and grant me the wisdom to see as you see and to act with faith and trust. Amen.
Readings: Year II: 1 Corinthians 2:10-16; Luke 4:31-37
New Book Release: Special Announcement
I am delighted to share that the remaining four volumes, Volumes 4–7, of An Encounter, my seven-volume series published by Paulines Publications West Africa, are now available.
With these four volumes, the seven-volume project is now complete.
An Encounter offers reflections for the Sundays and weekdays of the liturgical year, covering Ordinary Time from Week 1 through Week 34. The Sunday reflections span Years A, B, and C, while the weekday reflections cover Cycles I and II. Each Scripture reading has its own reflection. The series also includes reflections for Solemnities, Feasts, and selected popular Memorials celebrated throughout the year.
Altogether, the seven volumes contain 763 individual reflections, each accompanied by points for study, reflection, and prayer.
I thank God for the grace to complete this seven-year project. I am also deeply grateful to the Paulines for their patience, commitment, and collaboration, especially in bringing these final four substantial volumes, each approximately 336 pages, to completion.
Copies are available through Paulines Publications West Africa.
May these reflections help readers encounter the Word of God more deeply and allow that Word to speak to the ordinary circumstances of daily life.
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