Gifts of spiritual direction

Spiritual direction can have many benefits. These may include enabling you to:

• Identify and trust your own experiences of God.
• Integrate spirituality into your daily life.
• Discern and make difficult choices.
• Share your hopes, struggles and losses in the context of strengthening your faith.
• Develop a sensitivity for justice and empathy for others
• Live the essence of your religious affiliation with integrity

What does a spiritual director do?

A spiritual director is one who sits with and listens to your story and experience with the expressed purpose of discerning, with the help of the Holy Spirit, where God might be moving and speaking in your life. Spiritual direction can be a beneficial process for you if you desire to deepen your awareness of God in your life – in the profound experiences, mundane activities, suffering, transitions, and disillusioned aspects of life and faith. Your spiritual direction session may include some exploration of different spiritual practices that may help you increase your intimacy with God.

Spiritual direction is:

• An ancient practice in Christianity dating back to the Desert Mothers and Fathers.
• A spiritual process in which you are invited to notice, savor, and deepen your ability to listen to God’s direction for your life.
• A personal relationship characterized by a foundation of mutual trust, respect, warmth, genuine care, honesty, and openness
• A contemplative, confidential relationship grounded in God-centered, mutual listening to the unique spiritual unfolding in all aspects of your life.

Spiritual direction is not:

• Psychotherapy
• Counseling
• Theological teaching

About Ignatian Spirituality

Ignatian spirituality is a spirituality for everyday life. It insists that God is present in our world and active in our lives. It is a pathway to deeper prayer, good decisions guided by keen discernment, and an active life of service to others.