WHAT IS SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

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Spiritual Direction focuses on one's relationship with God and prayer.

Spiritual Direction is “help given by one Christian to another which enables the person [a directee] to pay attention to God’s personal communication to him or her, to respond to His grace, to grow in intimacy, and to live out the consequences of that relationship” with Jesus Christ, God's Self-revealed.

Practice of Spiritual Direction by Barry and Connolly p8).

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What is the Role of a Spiritual Director?*

Instructive

Directive

Contemplative

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Who comes to Spiritual Direction?

People experiencing a faith transition or loss, changes in self-perception, challenges within the normal flow of life, life transitions, changes in careers, or a yearning for God, to deepen their prayer life, to understand more of their interior life, to discover more profoundly their unique relationship with Christ, and or finding God’s desire for their life.

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What does Spiritual Direction Involve?

Spiritual direction involves the soul and all its facilities (intellect, memory, and will), one's desires, and direction in life (both temporal and eternal) in relationships with God, others, and the self as the central focus.  This is a form of pastoral counseling where two people come together listening to the whispers of the Holy Spirit's direction for one to grow in holiness for service.  It is multi-dimensional, using all of the skills in counseling - assessment, planning, and 'treatments (such as prayer). Healing, health, and well-being are accompanying results. The focus and frequency change over time, for the intermittent goal is temporal, while the end goal is eternity. 

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Ignatian Spiritual Direction Focus is on Discernment 

'Ignatian Spiritual Direction addresses what is in one’s daily life as they pray their way through life’s complex decisions and interpretations of their spiritual experiences in those everyday life circumstances."

Fr. Joseph Tetlow, SJ paraphrased from Handing on the Fire

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Spiritual direction in the Ignatian tradition services the whole person, holding the balance at the threshold between prayer and everyday life. It is by prayer and self-examination that brings forth good fruits through the grace of God's gifting for us to discern the good we are to do. It helps one interpret the dynamic interplay of the head, heart, and hands.

 

What we think is what we do and feel

What we feel is what we think and do

What we do is what we think and feel

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 “Since the God we seek is a busy God, we cannot let our interior life and prayer float above our daily life in our lifeworld. Our spiritual life is rooted in an experience of God freeing us from our sin so that we can present our bodies and everything we experience in a day, lifelong as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship…."

( Joseph Tetlow SJ, page 30-31 Handing on the Fire)

 

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In looking for God, we often find ourselves

Who we are

Whose we are 

What we are called to be and do

(Ignatian Principle and Foundation SE 23)

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Letting God Mold Us

“Few people understand what God would accomplish in them if they were to abandon themselves wholly into God’s hands and if they were to allow God’s grace to mold them.”  

(St. Ignatius) 

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How does Ignatian Spiritual Direction help?

Ignatian Spiritual Direction helps one discern their way to find what God means for them to become and where the best action to take. Ignatian director supports "the whole person in prayerfully discerning the next good thing as they try to find God in all things." This is the process of discernment coming to a decision after prayerful attention to the heart, head, and hand on what will bring an increase of faith, hope, and love.

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What does a Catholic Spiritual Director do?

A spiritual director helps the directee to notice the presence and call of God in the circumstances of their everyday lives and to help find the words for talking about their encounters that deepen the experience of being in a relationship with one’s Creator.  The director also guides one in sorting out the various interior ‘voices’ within and around them for discerning God’s will.

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At times, spiritual direction sessions may enter into the other forms of spiritual companionship in order to assist the directee in finding God’s call in their life. Depending upon the circumstance, the (human) spiritual director accompanies the retreatant/directee as a spiritual counselor,  a companion, a facilitator, a coach, a teacher, a mentor, and always as a holy listener, for it is the Holy Spirit that is the Spiritual Director. 

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See FAQ

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