Spiritual Directors

Spiritual Direction Goals

The purpose of spiritual direction is to assist others to see the presence of God in their lives, to find the truth of their own existence and encourage them to be faithful to it. There is a necessity for someone whose soul has been awakened to find a soul friend with whom to share their whole life interior journey and help them see God at work in their lives.

All spiritual directors (companions) who are authentically called to this ministry want to assist directees (companions) in realizing their spiritual goals or desires—growing in relationship with God, entering into discernment regarding a particular decision (See discernment below for further description), righting a relationship with another, discovering the presence of God in the ordinary, learning how to pray, or living a life of greater justice or compassion. Whatever the spiritual desire of the directee, spiritual directors (companions) want to assist their directees (companions) with these endeavors. The spiritual director is not a therapist, solving life’s problems, but a guide caring for the directee’s soul, helping the directee see God working in his or her life.

Discernment

1. Most fundamental task of discernment: to see beyond surface appearances to the intangible spiritual identity, e.g., a felt sense of one’s authentic identity in God. To help directees (companions) to see and experience their foundational identity in God; then help directees (companions) distinguish authentic and inauthentic expressions of that identity in the actual practice of direction.
2. The process of distinguishing or sifting through interior movements to discover whether their origin is from God or some other source—one’s own ego, cultural conditioning, e.g., that which moves you away from God rather than toward God.
3. The process of weighing alternative courses of action in order to choose the one that seems most congruent with God’s will.