Spiritual Direction and Confession

[Caesar]

Does discussing your sins with a Spiritual Director count as confession?

 

[mommyof4]

Only if he gives you absolution.

 

[puzzleannie]

Does discussing your sins with a Spiritual Director count as confession?

only if he is a priest, hears your confession and absolves you, you express contrition and do penance.

 

[Aureole]

You could always request your Spiritual Director to be your Confessor as well. It’s not a bad idea since you would be meeting your Spiritual Director regularly and thus would be Confessing regularly as well.

 

[demerzel85]

Personally, my regular Confessor and Spiritual Director are seperate.

 

[Aureole]

Same here, but you could have one person for a regular Confessor and Spiritual Director. It may actually be useful since you don’t always want to be completely honest with your Spiritual Director but you always must be completely honest with your Confessor.

 

[InLight247]

Do I want to be completely honest with my spiritual director?

It is good to have the spiritual director as the confessor especially if the purpose of spiritual direction is to strive for holiness. This way, one will hold himself accountable and make better efforts to rid of venial sins.

It defeats the purpose of spiritual direction if complete honesty is lacking.

 

[jennyr]

I think it can be really good thing if your confessor is your spiritual director, then he knows you better and what your faults/issues continue to be.

 

[Aureole]

InLight247, I think you misunderstood me. One always ought to be completely honest with their Spiritual Director. However, no one enjoys telling their faults and failings to another person and may neglect to mention something or gloss over it slightly. In the Confessional this isn’t likely to happen since we ought to name our faults and failings and not neglect or gloss it over.

 

[InLight247]

InLight247, I think you misunderstood me. One always ought to be completely honest with their Spiritual Director. However, no one enjoys telling their faults and failings to another person and may neglect to mention something or gloss over it slightly. In the Confessional this isn’t likely to happen since we ought to name our faults and failings and not neglect or gloss it over.

Points understood.