Curious: Spiritual Direction

[carmenchristi]

Monthly, more or less. Sometes it's more like every 2 months because he is often gone for weeks at a time preaching spiritual exercises.

[Kylie Spinelli]

I put once a month, although I'm about to switch to a director that due to distance it will be every two months (and if I do move then it will become monthly again).

 

BTW -- the only time I've heard of meeting with a spiritual director on a weekly basis is in one of two circumstances (a) where you and your director are getting to know one another, so you meet every week for a few weeks at the beginning, or (b) if you are doing the 29th annotation of St. Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises, where if you are doing it one-on-one (and not a group setting) then you *have* to meet weekly for continuity, for about 8 months.

 

 :)

 

Can I just tell you how much I love your signature?? :nun2:

[FutureSister2009]

Let's see if you guys can answer or explain this. The Vocations Director in my Diocese is a Priest. It seems as though on the Diocese's Vocation website that it's all about Priests. Does that mean he is the same as a Spiritual Director or does he just concentrate on Priests? I am kind of confused about it.

[EmilyAnn]

Let's see if you guys can answer or explain this. The Vocations Director in my Diocese is a Priest. It seems as though on the Diocese's Vocation website that it's all about Priests. Does that mean he is the same as a Spiritual Director or does he just concentrate on Priests? I am kind of confused about it.

The diocesan vocation director is in charge of priestly vocations only. 

[Sister Marie]

Let's see if you guys can answer or explain this. The Vocations Director in my Diocese is a Priest. It seems as though on the Diocese's Vocation website that it's all about Priests. Does that mean he is the same as a Spiritual Director or does he just concentrate on Priests? I am kind of confused about it.

 

A vocation director is not the same as a spiritual director.  Spiritual directors are meant primarily to help all people discern the will of God in their daily lives and to help them grow in holiness in their relationship with God whether they are discerning a particular state in life or are already committed to one.  Vocation directors help men and women discern where God is calling them vocationally.  The vocation director for the diocese is a priest because he is primarily charged with helping young men discern the diocesan priesthood.  However; he probably receives requests and is knowledgeable about religious life for both men and women and is able to direct them to persons who can guide their discernment further.  Some diocese have a woman religious who is in charge of some office for religious life but mostly they work on organizing events for discerners that encompass a variety of religious communities (like vocation presentations in high schools for example) or on communicating on a diocesan level with vocation directors throughout the diocese. 

 

Spiritual directors can be women or men, ordained, lay, or religious.  It is best to look for someone who has been through some type of educational program to be a spiritual director.

 

Vocation directors for women religious are the individual sisters in certain communities who are responsible for helping young women discern a vocation to their respective community.  (However, most will do their best to give you any assistance they can even if you discern you are not called to that particular community :) .) 

 

I hope this helps clarify things for you.

 

edited for really weird wording of something :)

Edited February 10, 2013 by Sister Marie

[Lilllabettt]

Personally, I never had much success talking to a diocesan priest about religious life. The two vocations are so different.

[HisAlone]

I put once a month but I really only meet with him every few months. The rest of the communication is via email - usually regarding specific questions. My SD is my parish priest but he used to be vocation director for his seminary and he is a very holy priest...I trust him.

Regarding SDs, BE CAREFUL. My diocese has a SD formation program but it seems to put out very "ooey gooey touchy feely Kum-Ba-Ya" type SDs. I don't know about all of you, but I need help applying proven methods for spiritual growth NOT "Let's light a candle, hold hands and say a really emotional prayer" type of direction. So...I guess what I'm saying is just because someone is certified in spiritual direction doesn't mean they are automatically the right person for you. Personally I would seek out the holiest person I know and learn from them.

[OnlySunshine]

Personally, I never had much success talking to a diocesan priest about religious life. The two vocations are so different.

 

I agree in some respects.  My former SD was a diocesan priest at my former parish.  He didn't understand anything about religious life since he'd never been around religious or had SD training.  I understand that SDs are not supposed to give you all the answers but he never once questioned anything I was doing even though it is clear to me now that I was immature and unprepared.  An example was when I applied to the Carmelite community after only one visit and I didn't even consider that their apostolate might be too difficult for me.  I was off my medication and unequipped to deal with the stresses of emotionally disturbed children.  Had I asked more questions of the Provincial Superior, I would have probably made a more prudent decision.  Hindsight is 20/20 as they say. 

 

My pastor, on the other hand, has been around religious his whole life and is very aware of their living habits.  We also have an associate pastor who is from a religious community but works for the diocese (kind of like an extern priest) but neither one is available for regular direction.  I just stopped asking because I was hitting dead ends everywhere.  It made me realize that, if I never enter religious life, I feel called to seek out a program to form spiritual directors.  The lack of them in this diocese is startling.  :ohno:

Edited February 11, 2013 by MaterMisericordiae

[kg94]

I have a spiritual director who I meet with maybe once every 3-4 weeks, or just whenever I need to speak to him. He is a Religious priest and is very helpful when it comes to helping me discern thoughts and desires I have. It is useful to be able to have someone who knows your life situation and can help you see the bigger picture if you like. It is very easy to get sucked into the whole idea of the Religious Life, and sometimes it's useful to take a step back and reflect and talk it over with someone. It is also important, however, to know that even with a spiritual director, you are still the only person who can discern your own vocation. No one can tell you what that is, or where your life is going. Only you can discern and find that out. The biggest mistake I find a lot of people make is to think that they have to seek everywhere to find out exactly where God wants them, but then they forget to look at themselves, their interior desires in their heart, their motivations for certain 'likes' and 'dislikes', and also the consequences of leading a particular type of lifestyle. For example, my friend's mother wants to push her into becoming a Religious, but I took my friend to one daily Mass with me and she couldn't focus and afterwards was laughing straight through the Rosary and apologised later that she found it too intense - believe me when I say that she is perhaps not called to the Religious Life. Another person that my SD sent to a convent after she thought she might have a vocation came back telling him that she could never do it. It is important to discern with communities you might be drawn to, and actually spend time there, stay there and see where if it draws you in. When the time is right, and when something is right, you will know - there is no explanation for it, but you will just know. The same applies to spiritual direction and finding a spiritual director. I followed in obedience a desire to switch parishes some time ago b/c I knew I was meant to be elsewhere, and I had also been praying about spiritual direction for over a year before I had the urge to ask someone to be my SD, but I didn't say it directly, I asked them about spiritual direction, and then prayed about it, then they offered, but asked me to pray more about it, then after a while I came to the decision that I did want that person to be my SD, so that's how I got a SD.

There are a lot of Religious communities who like you to have a spiritual director. Some will give you a SD when you enter, others might suggest someone, but it should be someone who sort of knows you already.

SDs have to be people you feel comfortable with, who you can share things with, and be completely open to. If you hide anything from them, they will not have the full picture and cannot help you in the way you need. I have a Religious priest as my SD and I find it useful b/c it means he is my confessor as well, which means the whole picture is presented to him, which means he can really help me to address issues in my life and really see how I can use my gifts to really serve the Church and do God's will.

 

Think about it, and if you want, contact me: vocationoperation@live.co.uk

scholar-kg@hotmail.com

 

God Bless, and prayers as always,

Kim

 

Edited February 11, 2013 by kg94

[nikita92]

I don't have one either. Unfortunately..I am like Mater for the time being...I don't have a car...(it is being worked on until who knows how long) my town does not have a religious community to turn to...I don't know if..the Carmelite Monastery a few towns over..even offers something like that. Also...I think it is important to have a "connection" with that person(when they find one)as well.

[kg94]

Pray about it. And be assured of my prayer too. Know that if it's right for you and the time is right, you will eventually find a good SD who will be of great help to you. GBY.

[petitpèlerin]

I used to see mine once a day. Now I see him once a year. (I used to live next door to the priory. Now I live six time zones away.) But when I want to get his take on something we e-mail, and he comes through for me.

 

The thing about me and spiritual direction is that I've had the world's best spiritual director for years but I still don't quite completely get what it is or how to do it right. I just know that when I met him I knew immediately that I had to get to know him and learn from him. Fortunately he also took an interest in me, we did some normal stuff together (like having lunch after daily mass, working in the yard, etc.) and through those things developed a relationship in which I could talk to him about anything. (By the way, he's Franciscan. And I tend to be more like a typical guy than a typical girl in that I can open up to people through shared activities. I can't just sit down in a room and pour my heart to a stranger just because he dresses the part.) My priest was/is my first spiritual director and although I'd like to have one where I am now, I just can't seem to establish the same level of trust with someone. But there is a young brother here ("young" meaning still in formation, but older and more mature than myself) who I like and respect and trust very much. Like my spiritual director, he has a way of saying the thing that I need to hear, that sheds light where I need it. I don't know if there is really such a thing but I consider him a "spiritual big brother".