Father Weinandy's Discernment Process

[utunumsint]

Hi All,

As you may already know, Father Weinandy was a high level member of the UCCB who decided to write a highly critical letter to Pope Francis. Without going into the details of his letter, I am wondering about the discernment process he went through before deciding to write to the Pope.

Here is the story: A note from Father Weinandy - The Catholic Thing

To make a long story short, he wanted God to give him a very specific sign that he should write to the pope with the following criteria:

Blockquote Tomorrow morning I am going to Saint Mary Major’s to pray and then I am going to Saint John Lateran. After that I am coming back to Saint Peter’s to have lunch with a seminary friend of mine. During that interval, I must meet someone that I know but have not seen in a very long time and would never expect to see in Rome at this time. That person cannot be from the United States, Canada or Great Britain. Moreover, that person has to say to me in the course of our conversation, ‘Keep up the good writing’.”

I wonder if this is a wise way to discern the will of God? It seems to me that there are parallels to this process in scripture. What do you think? For example, Gideon. The idea seems to be that it is not foolish to ask God for a sign. But perhaps it can be presumptuous?

God bless,
Ut