I have an upcoming talk on discernment of spirits for the Charismatic Renewal of my Archdiocese. I didn't need any reminding of it due too the spiritual warfare I am having to put up with this week. The enemy would rather I put a sock in it. It did get me thinking though about what people might be expecting versus what I intend to talk about. Most of us like to be a lightning rod for the Holy Spirit, and at the center of the action as if somehow we are indispensable to Gods plan. We might even fancy ourselves at discerning Spirits as did the sons of Sceva (Acts 19:11-20). They did well in discerning the demonic but were ill equipped to deal with it when it turned on them and they ended up fleeing in their underpants (and I don't think they even kept them). Well it is a very important Charism, of course, but not to be desired for the wrong reasons or one might end up on the wrong side of things. It's not pleasant to butt heads with the demon. I would rather not, and I'm very happy to be without a particular calling in that area. However I know a little about discernment of spirits in the inner walk towards sanctity and this is where the main battle is won or lost. That will be my focus with a reference to the infused gift of discerning spirits at the end. The enemy is very proficient at changing tack, and as soon as we make some headway towards the Lord He appears as an angel of light disguised in varied religious and spiritual disguises. They all end up in the same place which is to affirm ourselves through our religious principles or spiritual gifts. God becomes our plaything and we lose the first intimacy we had with him because we made an idol of the things of God. The power gifts are very enticing in this arena. Healing and deliverance can place us firmly at the center of our own universe if we do not remain detached from them and keep in our memory at all times the place from which we were rescued by Divine Mercy. Peter was in the right place. Tradition says his cheeks were furrowed by the constant tears shed as he remembered the pleas of Jesus "Could you not keep watch with me one hour"? He was fertile soil for moving in the power gifts of the Holy Spirit.