Why Find a Spiritual Director?
You may have seen this link in our previous newsletters encouraging you to find a spiritual director. Some of you might be wondering: what is a spiritual director?
According to the Office of Ignatian Spirituality’s website:
The primary job of a spiritual director is to accompany you on your spiritual journey. Trained directors are excellent listeners, who help you reflect on your spiritual life.
Seems pretty simple, right? A spiritual director need not be a priest, or a Jesuit, or even a man! but rather an individual, male or female, who has been trained to help you to hear God’s voice and see Him working in your life. A spiritual director does not take the place of a priest/confessor or a therapist. They occupy a unique place in the life of a Christian.
We asked some of the Catholic Artist Connection board members about their experiences in spiritual direction:
Cole Matson, vice president and executive director:
Having a spiritual director has meant having someone with whom to share the deepest stirrings of my spirit and my deepest yearnings, and hearing that person reflect back what he hears God doing in my life and helping me sort out what’s coming from the Holy Spirit and what’s coming from the evil spirit. I would never again want to go without a spiritual director to help me stay on the straight and narrow, while also encouraging me to listen to the peaceful and energizing promptings of the Spirit, and let them free me from my fears.
Melissa Maricich, secretary:
Having a spiritual director has brought a sense of ease and peace to me in knowing that I am doing what I can to be diligent and responsible in uncovering and discerning the path God is inviting me on. Having a director helps take some of the pressure off of oneself in having to discern everything completely on one’s own. It also is comforting in helping one not feel totally alone while walking through particular experiences or times in one’s life that are challenging.
Hopefully most of us have some family or friends who are able to help walk with us and share in our difficulties or sorrows, but at times there are circumstance in our lives that sharing with many friends or looking to them to help us make decisions would not be prudent. In these cases especially it’s a gift to have someone to share our burdens with and be able to feel more concretely that we are not alone in enduring the path and growing in holiness.
For all these reasons, I think everyone should cultivate some kind of relationship with a person who is trustworthy, holy and wise who they can turn to for guidance and help whenever necessary.
However, I think it is important to remember that you do not need to have a spiritual director. I think like many things, there are times and seasons in one’s life where certain practices make more sense than at other times. I would say spiritual direction makes special sense when discerning vocation, or when one is at a crossroads or is struggling with something particular in life. All of which is to say that both cases are perfectly legitimate.
We do not need to be in a crisis to avail ourselves of spiritual direction - we can have a director when nothing particularly dramatic is happening, but neither do we need to have a director to be spiritually proactive adults and grow in holiness.
Deniz Demirer, board member:
Fr. Michael Sweeney, OP., changed my life. There are many spiritual traps. Many. A good spiritual director can lead you to see where the traps are. Our discernment process can be perverted and distorted if there is no one to guide us…
If you’re hesitant to look into spiritual direction, pray about it! Try a session before you commit to the practice.
Contact the Office of Spiritual Direction using the website above to find an SD in your area. If you can’t find one online, contact your local diocese. They may be able to help you.
If you have had a positive experience with a spiritual director and would like to recommend them to fellow Catholic artists, you can always email us at catholicartistconnection@gmail.com.
