Spiritual Director?

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Hi. šŸ™‚ Since I was in RCIA, I have heard of ā€œspiritual directorsā€, but I have never really understood specifically who they are, or how you get one. Is that just another name for the spiritual guidance given by priests? Or is it a specific profession in the Church? If the latter, how can you come into contact with one and get a spiritual director? Or is it something else entirely? I like the idea of a spiritual director and would possibly like to have one myself, but I am unaware of their exact nature. Any information would be greatly appreciated. šŸ™‚

God bless. šŸ™‚
 
At seminares (ā€œpriest schoolsā€) spriritual directors are the men, priests, who are the head of the schools on the theological matters while the ā€œworldyā€ director is the ā€œleaderā€ of the school towards the authorities and the students and professors.
 
A spiritual director is a trained person that accompanies you on your faith journey. Some, but certainly not all priests and religious are spiritual directors, as it is a specific calling from God. Typically you meet once per month for about an hour with a spiritual director to share your life and relationship with God. The director is there to listen for the movement of God in your life and to help you recognize it. Spiritual directors come in all shapes, sizes, both sexes and a variety of religions. I myself was trained at a three-year program at Mt. St. Maryā€™s College in Los Angeles. It is a great gift from God to have a good spiritual direction relationship, both for yourself and the director. I recommend that you start praying for oneā€¦ God knows what you need. Some of the places that they may be found are at abbeys, Catholic colleges and universities and religious orders. Your parish priest may know of someone in your community. You can also look up Spiritual Directorā€™s International online as they have a locating process. Just like a therapist, one size does not fit all. You need the right ā€œfitā€. I pray you come to know the joys and blessings of that most sacred relationship.
 
Above post is very good, I agree completely.

The importance of a spiritual director, especially for new Catholics (Iā€™m discerning the priesthood and have just come into the Church last year) is that you are better able to focus on what is truly important as you mature spiritually. As Iā€™m sure you have come to know, your spiritual life can be overwhelming. You have certain desires (for both good and bad things), thoughts and feelings when you pray or make decisions, as a new Catholic especially, that can be very confusing. As you meet with a spiritual director (it is very important that it is not just any priest or religious, but someone who you feel extremely comfortable with and can trust and relate to) they get to know you better, and can tell you which of your thoughts or feelings you should focus on, and which are not so important. A good director will come to help you know yourself better: what God wants from you, how you can best serve Him, what faults to work on, and most of all he/she will help you to accept who you are, the good and the bad, as exactly who God has made you to be.

Like the above post said, a good spiritual director is a very personal thing. Mine is a very holy, orthodox priest who is also a very talented psychologist. We often discuss unconscious thoughts that affect my actions, past experiences that have formed who I am today, etc. His goal is to help me understand who God has made me to be, and to love that person completely. Now for me, this critical, very challenging method is perfect, I love our talks (weekly for me, as he is also my confessor, but for most once a month is good) and I grow tremendously through them, but for someone else, his approach could be intimidating. Like I said above, make sure you find a spiritual director who you think you could tell ANYTHING to, because it is crucial that he knows you completely.

And, as was also said above, PRAY for the right director. Ask God to give you the person who will best help you grow in love and faith with Him. Thatā€™s all I did. I prayed for the right one, went to confession behind the screen, liked the priestā€™s advice a lot, got his card, and he turned out to be the perfect director for me. Blessings to you on your journey! God will provide everything you need if you decide you would like spiritual direction.

Sorry for the long post, I tend to go on and on. šŸ˜›

In Christ and Our Lady,
Frank
 
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