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Spiritual Direction

Spiritual Direction: A Hunger to Know God

To be able to discover the actual will of the Lord in our lives always involves the following: a receptive listening to the Word of God and the Church, fervent and constant prayer, recourse to a wise and loving spiritual guide,and a faithful discernment of the gifts and talents given by God…   John Paul II

“Where is God in my life?”, “What is God inviting me to?”, “What is my prayer like?”, “How do I know what God wants me to do?”, “What is my concept of God like?”, “Do I know myself?”

 

 These are some of the questions people bring to the graced relationship of spiritual direction. The “spiritual director” or companion does not answer these questions, but rather helps the person to explore and deepen his or her own relationship with God. A spiritual director focuses on what happens when a person listens to and responds to a self-communicating God.

The director is primarily concerned with the person’s actual experience of his or her relationship with God rather than with ideas about God. Since God works in all areas of our lives, we experience God not only in moments of prayer but at work, in the family and in society – literally in any and all spheres of life. The spiritual director can help one to notice where and how God is present and how best to respond to God’s invitation.

 

What is Spiritual Direction?
Spiritual direction is meeting with a trained and experienced director to reflect on how God is present and active in your life right now, and how God might be calling you into deeper relationship. God is the Director; the human director serves as the vessel through which the Spirit works to uncover and discover the Divine at work in your everyday experiences. The content of the direction session is simply your life: whatever aspect, story, or experience you feel moved to bring to prayer and reflection. You the seeker, your director, and the Holy Spirit meet in holy conversation so “you may have life and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)
Above all, your spiritual director listens and helps you to come clear about the hints and guesses, the invitations, and the “nudgings” of the Spirit in your life. He/she helps you to be aware, to notice, to “wake up” to the spiritual relationship you have with God. Your director may help you with discernment, spiritual practices, methods of prayer, and at times suggest scripture and other spiritual reading that may enlighten your path. He/she is present as a compassionate, and respectful witness to the joys and sorrows of your journey. Together you pray for that “closer walk” with God. Prayer is part of your session and your director continues to hold you in prayer between sessions.

What Spiritual Direction is Not
Spiritual direction is not psychotherapy, counseling, or any other type of therapy. It is nota dependent relationship in which your director holds all the wisdom and answers to your
problems. Your director does not “tell you what to do”, but rather helps you to discern
what God may be calling you to be or to do. God is already at work in your life. You
come to your session ready to be still, and together with your director, in the presence of
the Holy Spirit, to listen to the truths of your story as God reveals God’s self through the
everyday happenings of your life.

Who Are Spiritual Directors?
Spiritual directors have been called to their ministry. There is a yearning for “connectedness” in this human life. God calls us through interaction with other persons. We are meant to tell our stories. To do that, we often need someone with the gifts and wisdom to listen and to hear the holy truth underneath our story line. A spiritual director is first and foremost called, and gifted, and then seeks the training, knowledge, and skills to wholeheartedly respond to God’s prompting to be the vessel through which God’s Spirit can work.
Sometimes other names are used for a spiritual director such as guide, companion, or mentor. The director is not a guru, but rather a seeker him/her self who has, as Marjorie Thompson says, “traveled some distance along the path of the Christian life.” Your director also meets on a regular basis with a spiritual director and so on, as we disciples listen and pray each other into our divine potential.
Spiritual directors may be lay persons, clergy, or members of a religious community. They can be male or female, married, or single, of any religious denomination. The directors listed in this resource are all Roman Catholic. Qualities most evident in good spiritual directors are listening skills, compassion, the ability to both challenge and encourage, a knowledge of today’s Church as well as a solid grounding in the tradition of the faith, especially sacred scripture, and an ability to integrate it with everyday life. Seekers look for a trustworthy companion with a mature faith who is also on the journey, yearning for God, always growing and learning. Spiritual directors keep strict confidentiality. This is vital as it enables you to share openly what is on your mind and in your heart.

What is Expected of Me Between Sessions?
Directees often express a desire for guidance in their spiritual practices or their use of scripture or other spiritual reading. If you and your director surface some practices or readings that you might like to try, your guide will be checking with you to see how those practices are coming along. It is expected that the seeker will prepare for the upcoming session with some reflection. Reviewing one’s journal if applicable, or simply a quiet time of reviewing the past month is helpful preparation for the session.

What Happens in a Spiritual Direction Session?
A spiritual direction session typically lasts 45 minutes and is held in a space prepared by the director, perhaps at his/her office, or at a retreat centre, or the provincial house of a religious order. The space prepared is a place of quiet and prayer, set apart from the busyness of daily life. The seeker enters a safe and caring environment in which the sharing is confidential.
The session begins with a quieting of some sort as both seeker and director enter into the sacred time and space. Perhaps a candle is lit, a chime sounded, silence is held, spontaneous or other prayer is voiced. The seeker always determines the content of the session as he/she responds to an opening query from the director such as, “How has your month been?” or “How has God been working in your life these last weeks?” or “How would you like to begin?”
As the session unfolds, the seeker brings his/her lived experience into the light of prayerful reflection. The director listens, witnesses, and helps to clarify, at times challenges, and draws out the “God thread” in the seeker’s story. The director may pose questions such as:

• How were you called to trust God in this experience?
• How is your heart? What lies heavy on your heart? Is your heart opening? What is    restricting your heart?
• What do you desire? For what do you yearn?
• What does this have to say to you about God? What does God have to say to you about this?
• Is God nudging you to some action in your life? Is God asking you to wait?
• For what are you most grateful? Least grateful?
• What are your hopes and dreams for tomorrow?
• How would you like me to pray for you this month?

As the session draws to a close, the director may summarize what he/she has heard in your story or may emphasize an insight the Spirit has brought forth in the session. He/she may recommend prayer forms, scripture, spiritual reading, or spiritual practices for the next month. Perhaps the director will share a poem or prayer with you to end the session. You, your director, and the Holy Spirit may sit in silence for a few moments before leaving.

What are some practical details about Spiritual Direction?
Seekers and their directors have a committed relationship and so punctuality and respect for each other’s time is a given. Life being what it is, sometimes appointments have to be rearranged. Advance notice is always appreciated. Most sessions last for one hour and often your director will have another seeker scheduled shortly after your hour ends.
Keeping the time frame can be challenging, but the time frame needs to be held as closely as possible. Sessions are generally scheduled every four to six weeks. If it seems there is too much that needs saying in one hour, sometimes a session every two weeks is appropriate. Some seekers might desire more frequent sessions during a period when life is especially tumultuous. For some seekers every other month works best. These arrangements can be discussed with your director during your initial conversation and adjusted as needed throughout the relationship.
The decision to enter the relationship must be done prayerfully and must be a “good fit” for both seeker and director. Some directors ask that once you have entered into the spiritual guidance relationship, you commit to it for a period of four to six months in order to give it an adequate chance to develop. Other directors ask each time, “Would you like to schedule another appointment?” The decision by either party to withdraw from the relationship is to be respected by both persons.

POINTS FOR SPIRITUAL DIRECTION
Take some time to prepare beforehand so your points are well ordered and as clear as possible.
Focus first on your efforts to overcome your root sin and the fulfillment of the duties of your state in life - usually the most important part of Spiritual Direction. It is particularly important to focus on specific recent examples of your root sinful tendency. General statements like "I've been proud" are valueless.

• What progress have you made?
• What difficulties have you encountered?
• Has any part of the program become routine? Are you avoiding or ignoring some of your resolutions? Why? \

 

Resolutions:

• In the last Spiritual Direction, what recommendations or resolutions were made?

 

Prayer.

• Have you been faithful to your prayer commitments?
• Are you giving quality time to your acts of piety, or just fitting them in when most convenient?
• Are you making sacrifices to get your prayer time in, or just doing it when other occupations don't take your time?
• How are you doing your meditations?
• Are you making concrete resolutions, checking them periodically, and keeping them faithfully?

What is the general state of your soul: dry, distracted, preoccupied; or serene, docile, confident and trusting in God's grace?

 

Apostolic work

• Are you directing your time with real dedication, with a spirit of faith, hope, and love? Or does the spiritual life seem like an imposition on your time?
• Are you working with purity of intention for the glory of God and the advance of his Kingdom, or for personal satisfaction, human respect, desire for the esteem of others?

 

Formation of the conscience:

• Is your conscience lax and easy in giving you concessions?
• Do you rationalize all your conduct away so you are always right?
• Are you working to form a delicate, sensitive conscience that seeks to please God at every moment?
• Do you tend to scrupulosity?

 

For more information see: http://www.catholicspiritualdirection.org/