Enhancing initial formation for spiritual discernment of private revelations in the Redemptorist Vice-Province of Nigeria

Abstract

This study was motivated by the pastoral need to effectively guide the laity who  often come to Priests and Religious seeking guidance in discerning private revelations such as dreams, locutions, visions, and prophetic messages. Christians have become victims of false prophets, fraudsters, and charlatans, who pontificate claims of private revelations as means for manipulating others. Despite this, there is little in the formation program to prepare Priests and Religious for spiritual discernment of private revelations. The main objective of the study was to explore ways of enhancing initial formation for spiritual discernment of private revelations in the Redemptorist Vice-Province of Nigeria. This qualitative study adopted an exploratory research design. The study utilized an Interview Guide for data collection. The purposive sampling technique was used to select 16 formators to participate in the study. Thematic analysis was used to generate themes from the data that was collected. Findings revealed that through competent formators, change of mindset, spiritual direction, spiritual reading, introducing a new course, focusing more on learning, and community sharing, candidates can better be prepared for discerning private revelations.