Spiritual Directors - what are they and why have one?

  • Thread starter Thread starter SPONP4US
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

SPONP4US

Guest
I had never heard the term Spiritual Director/Advisor before coming onto online discussions here and elsewhere. I have also now seen the recent movie/docu drama “Love and Mercy” , about St Faustina and the we’ll depicted scenes of her relationship with her spiritual director, but of course since it’s a movie, no doubt with alot of artistic license.

My question is, what exactly IS a spiritual director? Who should it be and what exactly do they do for a person bad their spiritual path to God.

Also if I where to pray and it come to light showing hat my spiritual life may benefit me and others as well a God, how do I go about finding a spiritual director and asking them to … Be one? :).

I know one Priest quite well and we have a lot in common as people , he is great to open up to and talk with. But he isn’t the best of confessors (though great at other Priestly duties), at least that’s what I find. I figured a spiritual director must be someone you can also confess to aswell. I could be wrong but I hope some of the answers given may answer this for me.

Thank you, in Advance
 
Last edited:
It seems to me that spiritual directors are like coaches for improving one’s spiritual life.
In my experience, I see them mostly helping
  • people who are discerning vocations or are in religious life
  • people who are dealing with some major faith or life issues
  • people who are well-connected enough with their local parish or with a religious order that they know a priest, deacon, or lay minister willing and able to serve as their competent spiritual director
I can’t imagine any priest wanting to bother to be my spiritual director. I’m not wrestling with a faith or life issue and I’m not young enough or otherwise in a position to have a possible vocation to priesthood, deaconhood or the religious life. Nor am I in some job (such as parish or diocesan or Catholic school staff) where I’d be meeting lots of potential spiritual directors. I also wouldn’t really want to have a person who isn’t ordained or in a religious order as a spiritual director.

Therefore, spiritual direction for me mostly involves talking to God and the saints and doing a lot of DIY. I’m a low priority for spiritual direction, I’m lucky if I get a 2 minute useful pep talk at confession. There simply aren’t enough spiritual direction resources to give personal help to everyone. I just chalk this up as helping me with my humility.
 
Last edited:
Our archdiocese has a list of people willing to be spiritual directors and publishes guidelines for the process. Like a physician or psychiatrist, you may not “fit” with the first one you find. I’ve also seen similar lists and offerings from religious orders. The person simply needs to be grounded in the faith well, and it helps to have a knack for coaching/guiding others to discover their own faith life in a fuller way. Many people choose a priest so they can doubly fulfill the role of confessor at the same time, but that isn’t strictly necessary.
 
I have the same priest as my spiritual director for 12 years. He has been invaluable in helping me to grow in my spiritual life. When I first met him I was in a bad place spiritually and at first he became my regular confessor. The spiritual direction grew out of that.

When I first began meeting with him I saw him once a month and now I meet with him every 2-3 months. Because I don’t see him that often I go to confession with a different priest.

As for what happens when I meet him for spiritual direction, I talk about my relationship with God, my prayer life, whatever spiritual book I’m reading at the time, and any issues or struggles I may be having such as dryness or distractions in prayer. He helps me stay on the right track with suggestions for spiritual reading. He helped me to discern joining the Secular Carmelites. And he has the patience of a saint 😀

I am very blessed to have him in my life. Priests are very busy and many do not have time to offer regular spiritual direction and some are not very good with it. Like all of us, each priest has different gifts.
 
I have been involved in The Charismatic Renewel for 20 year. Spiritual direction, is, practically speaking, spiritual counseling.

I’ve had three priests as spiritual directors. The first one advised me to sit down and eat relaxed meals. The second one said that everyone has ‘some’ sin he cannot overcome. The third said, “Every six months is plenty for confession.”

Lay Catholic missionaries I had met at a Charismatic retreat, called me. They were in the USA fundraising, and needed brochures printed. I agreed to do that.

They offered me prayer time. The man discerned an ancestral curse.

He said there was a book nearby with the prayer I needed. There was such a book, but the prayer was not listed in the table of contents, It was appeded to the end without a hint.

But he found it! While he prayed outloud, his wife interceded on behalf of God’s spiritual protection for everyone present.

When the man finished the prayer (1/2 hour), my total sensory perception was heightened! I saw beauty. I felt connected to my world, like I was no longer an outsider.

I slept 24 hours! When I awoke it was the first time I had ever felt love in my heart! I never let go. It burns with passion for God to this day!

Satan filled mind with horrible images as I read the Bible.

“Wisdom will first fill the heart with fear and dread! But if one perseveres, She will reveal Her gifts, more precious than fine pearl, silver and gold!”

I went from fear to peace in two weeks! I have since committed myself to God. I live simply, reciting my Daily Rosary and The Chaplets of Saint Michael, and The Divine Mercy.

God taught me how to make a remarkable device, which I sell in 25 different countries. I work in exchange for money about 100 hours per year.

The remainder I devote to God. We both want full communion between us.

My siblings died between 2000 and 2012. I went blind in one eye, from a rare disease. My son disappeared for two years. I nearly died of septicemia. I had an amputation and was off my feet for 9 months. I don’t have a drivers license, because I can’t see well.

But I consider my life to be the pinnacle of earthly existense. blessed beyond compare, because I was lost, and now am found!

The blood of Christ severed my spiritual bondage.

So, I learned, those who seek to counsel others are usually less effective than those God places in your path!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top