Spiritual Direction

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Hi All,
I emailed my parish secretary and she said our pastor is unable to take on any new spiritual direction appointments. I was wondering if you guys have any suggestions?
It’s not so much I need confession (which I went to a month ago) as I do actual spiritual direction.
Thanks
 
A couple of thoughts…

Monks are sometimes open to giving spiritual direction if you have a monastery nearby. The Brother’s at the Cistercian monastery here in suburban Atlanta are very open to giving spiritual direction.

You could also see if there is an Opus Dei house in your area or even just an Evening of Recollection where a priest of Opus Dei comes and does meditations, a bennediction and hears confession. A priest of Opus Dei comes to Atlanta from the Opus Dei center in New York City once each month and gives an Evening of Recollection for Men on Friday evening and a Morning of Recollection for Women on Saturday morning. He is then available for 1/2 hour sessions of spiritual direction on Saturday afternoon.

These are priests and brother’s with two different types of spirituality, one cloisterd and contemplative mystics and the other clearly “In the world” (but not of the world) as was the founder of Opus Dei St. Josemaria Escriva. But I offer the suggestions to you for what they are worth.

Good luck.
 
If you go to confession you might find the opening to say I really need more direction on x, could I set up a time to meet with you. He then will either make arrangements or give you ideas of who to talk to or he may tell you to contact his secretary at which point you can explain you already tried that.
 
Try phoning your diocesan offices and ask how to locate a spiritual director

TS
 
Does your parish have a deacon? They are great to ask also!
 
Ask some of your fellow parishoners if they do spiritual direction and if they could recommend anyone.

All these suggestions are good, but I would like to add the most important part.

Pray that you will be guided to the spiritual director that God wishes you to have. I will pray for you as well.

God bless.
 
Great question and a wonderful exercise. Be advised it does take work. If you want a great way to get the most out of a Spritual Director read the book, To Save a thousand Souls. This book is actually about a vocation director, he illustrates what is really needed from both sides of spiritual direction.
  1. Be able to bear your soul. If your director is a priest he can also give absolution, of course.
  2. What are you doing to exercise your spiritual muscle? Daily readings, Daily Mass, LOTH or your prayer schedule, so to speak.
  3. Are you willing to read books? Introduction to the devout life. St Francis DeSales is a great book to read. It also illustrates a step by step process for a very good confession.
My director is an oblate of St Francis DeSales. Unfortunately most diocesan priests would if they could but are involved in so many day to day Church activities to keep the church running it limits availability.
Good luck and God bless,
 
One suggestion - ask your pastor to make a recommendation on who to go to. And most important, do not forget to put this in the Lord’s hands and pray for a director.
 
Thank you all for your suggestions. I will try emailing my Deacon this week. I believe him and the pastor were out of town this week.
Also, I have read that spiritual direction is not psychotherapy, so what is it exactly? What if you want to simply discuss things that have been going on in your life with your pastor and get religious/spiritual advice back? Kind of like a WWJD answer?
 
scc11 said:
Thank you all for your suggestions. I will try emailing my Deacon this week. I believe him and the pastor were out of town this week.
Also, I have read that spiritual direction is not psychotherapy, so what is it exactly? What if you want to simply discuss things that have been going on in your life with your pastor and get religious/spiritual advice back? Kind of like a WWJD answer?
Click to expand...
What is Spiritual Direction?

There have been several different types or models of spiritual direction throughout the centuries. Some of us, especially those of us who have read the lives of the saints, have various ideas of what spiritual direction has entailed in the past. There have been relationships of spiritual guidance similar to father/son, teacher/student, master/servant, and confessor/penitent (such as is still common when spiritual advice is given in the confessional). There were also examples in the lives of the saints of spiritual friendships.
Modern spiritual direction most often refers to a relationship which is more like spiritual companionship or friendship where the director is present as a spiritual friend who listens with the intent of helping the directee recognize how the Holy Spirit is leading and working in one’s life. The emphasis is on helping the directee develop a good prayer life and relationship with God. The director does not tell the directee what to do in a way that requires obedience. The directee has the final decision as to what to do in her spiritual life. Questions are asked to get to know the directee, her present life circumstances and spiritual life.

The goal is to help the directee to discern how the Holy Spirit is personally leading, recognizing that God has a special and distinct plan for each person’s life and everyone is not called exactly the same way. In this sense, there are no better or worse callings or vocations, as the best calling for an individual is God’s plan for that person in particular no matter what it might be. Like scripture says, there are many members of the body and all are good and necessary. The idea is to determine and encourage the directee to be the unique person that God made them to be, doing the things that God is personally asking of each of us.

While God has a unique calling and plan for each person and gives individuals different talents, gifts and vocations (and trials and sufferings) as just described, there is also the recognition that God has certain standards and principles that apply to everyone. Jesus gave us a way to know these truths when He founded the Catholic Church to spread his message. Jesus told the apostles, “Whoever hears you, hears me.” This still applies today to the pope (and bishops) who are direct successors of the early apostles through the laying on of hands throughout the centuries. He promised to remain with the Church until the end of time and to send the Holy Spirit to lead until all truth. He gave us the Bible which is the inerrant Word of God. He also gave us various saints to teach us how to be closer to God especially saints who have been spiritual directors themselves such as St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross.

Besides utilizing the teachings of the Church, Bible and Saints for guidance on general principles, there is another dymanic that sometimes happens in meeting with a personal spiritual director. When the director and directee have the intention of prayerfully coming together in God’s presence to discern the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it is not only the two people joining together, but Jesus himself there with them. As Jesus said, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matt 18:20)

The preceding was pulled from this site. This was the best oversight that I could find. I do not recommend doing Spiritual direction online, it is best, in my opinion, done in person face to face.

catholicspiritualdirection.org

God bless.
 
If there’s a Jesuit house or college nearby, try contacting them: Giving the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola is one of their cardinal features, and they excel at teaching and directing this form of prayer. The Exercises are really a process of developing a deeper and more personal, while reverent, relationship with God, understanding one’s motives and influences from what Ignatius termed “the spirits” (influences from the Holy Spirit versus the world, the flesh, and the enemy,) and drawing closer to God by studying Scripture and using it as a basis for personal prayer. They can be done in several formats–a thirty day retreat, an eight day retreat, or what is known as the “19th annotation,” that is, in a retreat format done while one remains in their own daily world. When done in the 19th annotation format, the Exercises are done over a period of about thirty weeks. There is a strong emphasis on understanding the ramifications of sin in one’s heart, in one’s relationships, and its offense against God, and firm purpose of amendment (the Daily Examen.) The entire conclusion of the Exercises is to bring a Christian approach to one’s daily world, in one’s own very unique way.

I found out about the Exercises years ago while doing coursework at Fordham, and had always intended to launch into them. It’s been many years, and now I am partly through them, working with a Jesuit as a spiritual director. I have never known more challenge to deepen my faith, and put it into practice in my life. I couldn’t recommend it more heartily.
 
odile53 said:
If there’s a Jesuit house or college nearby, try contacting them: Giving the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola is one of their cardinal features, and they excel at teaching and directing this form of prayer. The Exercises are really a process of developing a deeper and more personal, while reverent, relationship with God, understanding one’s motives and influences from what Ignatius termed “the spirits” (influences from the Holy Spirit versus the world, the flesh, and the enemy,) and drawing closer to God by studying Scripture and using it as a basis for personal prayer. They can be done in several formats–a thirty day retreat, an eight day retreat, or what is known as the “19th annotation,” that is, in a retreat format done while one remains in their own daily world. When done in the 19th annotation format, the Exercises are done over a period of about thirty weeks. There is a strong emphasis on understanding the ramifications of sin in one’s heart, in one’s relationships, and its offense against God, and firm purpose of amendment (the Daily Examen.) The entire conclusion of the Exercises is to bring a Christian approach to one’s daily world, in one’s own very unique way.

I found out about the Exercises years ago while doing coursework at Fordham, and had always intended to launch into them. It’s been many years, and now I am partly through them, working with a Jesuit as a spiritual director. I have never known more challenge to deepen my faith, and put it into practice in my life. I couldn’t recommend it more heartily.
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I second this!! 👍

I did the 19th about 2 years ago, and still “work the exercises” in my daily life.
It was a life changing experience that has challenged me to become the person that God created and loves. :getholy:
 
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