As Christians, we are called to look unceasingly into our lives and the world surrounding us so that we become attuned to God's will. This is called discernment of spirits and is a hallmark of an authentic follower of Christ. As we see in today's Gospel, Jesus reprimands us for being able to understand perfectly those things that we deem important to our individual daily needs but fail to dig deeper into those that particularly connect us to other people. Confirming our inclination to sinfulness, St Paul tells us: "For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing." (Rom. 7:19). Unless we accept our weaknesses and sinfulness and work on them through discernment and recollection, we will not be able to live in harmony with others according to God's plan. In our daily life encounters, we must always humbly open our hearts and ears to his loving presence in order to be free from sinfulness and death. The fruits of this openness may be found in the repentent sinner after the sacrament of reconciliation: God pours his love and enlightenment into the heart of the one who discerns.