The membership of the Kithu Dana Pubuduwa is a people who have accepted Jesus Christ as their one and only Lord have as the basis of their lives to journey in accordance with 'God's will' or 'the mind of God'. The training and example we received from our founder is the discernment of God's will when taking decisions regarding one's personal life, family life and as a movement. It was in 1996 that the 'Discernment group' became a part of the tradition of the Kithu Dana Pubuduwa. As a movement from the Divasi ekathuwa downwards activities of sections and services were subjected to the discernment obtained from the Discernment Groups.
If the almighty God does not reveal it there is no way that the will of God be discerned only through the human will, human mind or the human intellect. (Ephesians 5:13 -17) It is seen that God's will can be discerned in one of two methods.
- God almighty directly revealing His will
- God's will discerned through a search for it.
At this time we are interested in discerning God's will by engaging in a search.
The Basic Experience in the Discernment of God's will.
At this moment we are concerned with a person who is officially tasked with The Discernment Of God's Will in the Kithu Dana Pubuduwa. He or she must be in conformity with the following 04 principles.
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He/She must be a person who has received the experience of encountering the Risen Lord Jesus Christ.
This is because a disciple of Christ is one who has encountered the Risen Christ, and who has an ongoing relationship with Him. Also one who has a thirst to subject himself to the directions of the Holy Spirit. No one who is not based on the above is fit to be part of a discernment group. -
He/She must be a person who considers the Bible as the 'Hand book' of life.
This is because the Bible is the record of individual and collective experience of God and because the people of the Pubuduwa treats the word of God as a measure, a help and a direction for their lives. Therefore a member of a discernment group must be a person who gives pride of place to the Word of God in their lives. -
He /She must be a person who complies with the living tradition of the Church.
Following the written record of the New Testament, what the Holy Spirit taught the early church over a period of 2000 years - in other words all that the Holy Spirit definitely taught the people of God in a continuous and a growth promoting way; all the truths and ways of living is what we call The Living Tradition of the Church. The living tradition of the Church and the dogmas of the church has come to us via official church documents, Papal encyclicals and Church Councils. Because the people of the Pubuduwa are a group of disciples who belong to the Catholic and Apostolic Church we are part of the living tradition of the Church. A person outside of this state definitely cannot be a member of a discernment group. - He/She must be one who contributes to the tradition of the Kithu Dana Pubuduwa.
How the discernment process works
This works in three ways
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Complex awareness.
During this stage a discussion is carried out regarding whatever the discernment is about. The rights and the wrongs about it, arguments about the politics, the law, the economics, the spiritual aspects and the social implications; in short any aspect that comes to mind is thoroughly gone into. -
Enlightened Awareness – Step one
Those involved in the discernment is asked to empty their minds of everything they talked about during the earlier stage and enter into a deep prayer. The duration of this prayer varies according to what the discernment is about. It may be even one to two weeks. During this prayer they ask for prayerful insights into the matter at hand. These are noted down. -
Enlightened Awareness – Step two
There are two 02 sections in this step.- Directions or words received during prayer is put together and announced in common.
- After emptying one's self of what was shared by yourself prayerful attention is given to a few enlightenments which can be considered most appropriate are chosen after deep prayer.
Following this the main group participating in the discernment (If the discernment is regarding a Community – the community leadership, if it is a national issue – the Divasi Ekathuwa) make a decision as to which enlightenment was received by divine inspiration. Finally the discerned word is made public and steps taken to implement the same.