THEORY AND PRACTICE OF SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

By: J. Angel Anaya

THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION ON A SPIRITUAL DIRECTION CASE STUDY

Key points found in the case study:

 Harold has not been close to Church since college. He came back to Church after
the baptism of his first child 3 years ago.
 Harold has never heard of spiritual direction before.
 He is looking for “something more” than just Sunday attendance to mass. “I think
something is missing, that there must be more to life… I am not sure I even know
how to pray… God does not seem to be listening… I am not really sure why I
came here.”

MAIN “CONTEXT” ISSUES IN HAROLD’S LIFE

I can perceive Harold as a “new comer” who is taking seriously his journey of

faith. He has been distant from the Church since college, and though he eventually has

attended mass, it has been infrequently. Since the baptism of his child, it seems as if he

discovered a newness and richness in coming to Mass every Sunday with his wife. But it

did not stop there. His late feeling of emptiness and his struggle with prayer are an

evidence that he is longing for more, and he is ready to start a serious journey of faith, in

a more committed and profound way.

SOME MAJOR OBSTACLES IN HAROLD’S PRAYER LIFE

A relationship is not the result of improvisation. It seems like Harold is going into

a deeper level of communion and relationship with God. Since he is now questioning

“God seem not to be listening,” that is a sign of growth in his relationship with God,

though he does not know what is going on.

In the first spiritual direction session, first of all I would explain –in a very

general way- what spiritual direction is all about, and the need to make a monthly

commitment to an hour session of dialogue about his spiritual resolutions and his

repercussions in all the areas of his life.

Second, I would focus in explaining how prayer life is also a life of relationship that

must be nurtured with confidence, closeness and dedication. Besides, I would encourage

him to keep up with his life of prayer and his sacramental practices, which already are

nurturing him in the journey he has started. I would encourage Harold to be cautious in

keeping specific times for prayer and give him a brief explanation of the stages of

spiritual growth, and how his feeling that “something is missing” is actually a great sign

of moving on in spiritual life. After that introduction, I would make sure he is aware of

the integrative nature of prayer, that is, that prayer should foster growth and harmony in

the four basic relationships proposed by Chester P. Michael, namely:

1. The Love of God: “expressed primarily in a regular, daily regime of prayer.”1 To

put this aspect down on earth, I would ask Harold to write down a concrete way in

which he will commit himself to develop this aspect of his spiritual life. An

example of this, could be to suggest him to have 15 minutes quiet time of prayer,

aided by the readings of the liturgy

2. The love of neighbor: loving care for individuals (close relationships) and loving

care for people to the community to which he belongs. Again, going to the

practicality of each area, I might not ask for a concrete action in this respect, but I

would make him aware of all what he does, that actually covers this aspect:

1
Michael, Chester P. An Introduction to Spiritual Direction, Paulist Press, Mahwah, NJ, 2004. p. 8
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working, saving for his family, working extra-hours, helping co-workers in their

struggles and being attentive to have an act of kindness, etc.

3. A proper love to self: a relationship with our inner self and with our body, taking

proper care of body and soul. Here I would ask him to check his dietary habits,

physical exercise, enough rest, things that would help him to build self-confidence

and a positive attitude of mind, etc.

4. Love for nature and the environment: as a response to God who “calls us to be

good stewards of all the natural resources of the Earth.”2 In this respect I would

encourage Harold to make their family participants of his environmental efforts:

e. g. going green, recycling, participating in an ecological awareness group, etc.

THINGS I WOULD LIKE TO TALK ABOUT IN SUBSEQUENT SESSIONS:

I would talk with Harold about the benefits of spiritual direction. I would use the

4 benefits of spiritual direction presented by Michael in his book as follows:

1. Accountability, that is a regular time for meeting (once a month of every other

month) in which Harold would share how well he has accomplished the

resolutions or amendments that he an me agreed on at earlier meeting.

1. Objectivity, that is, through spiritual direction Harold will be able to share his

experiences and struggles from an unbiased point of view, without saying that my

point of view will be always right, but an attempt to see the realities Harold has

been experiencing from a different perspective from a perspective of faith.

2. Encouragement: In our spiritual journey all of us need encouragement and

affirmation, especially when facing time of trials of failure. To have someone who
2
Ibid. p. 9
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would encourage and help me to see the big picture is an advantage that will keep

me in the right track.

3. Challenge: As a spiritual director I’m called to help others to work harder and to

reach the full potential God has given to each of us. I would be careful to

encourage in Harold to have a courageous spirit to the challenges he will face, in

the measure he grows in prayer and intimacy with God. I also would warn him

that in spiritual life we need some kind of confrontation, so that he will walk in

the spiritual path without self-deception that may come up as a result of our self-

indulgences and non faced failures.

Finally I would recommend Harold the reading of a spiritual book for beginners (I

would suggest “Introduction to the Devout Life” by St. Francis de Sales. That would

be his daily spiritual reading, and I would check the understanding he is gaining from

the reading and his efforts to live it out.

SKETCH OF A PERSONAL GROWTH PLAN:

As a spiritual director, I’m aware that I’m not supposed to be a stumbling block

between the person and God. The perfect example given by Michael is the metaphor of

the midwife. Thus the primary function a spiritual directors is to use “whatever wisdom,

insight, experience and knowledge he or she has, in order to help the directee to be more

open to the Will of God, more receptive to receiving God’s graces, and more generous in

responding to God’s call.”3

Since Harold is not familiarized with what a process of spiritual direction is all

about, I would start with a very simple plan of personal growth, and from that, I would
3
Ibid. p. 23
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encourage him to take up greater challenges. For now, my Quarterly Personal Growth

Plan, based on the insights given by Chester Michael would be as follows:

Quarterly Personal Growth Plan

1. Dedicate 15 minutes to personal prayer, meditating the liturgical readings of the

day and asking: What does the Lord is trying to tell me here? What character I

identify myself with? How can I make this real in my everyday life?

2. Journaling: I would recommend it since the beginning of any process of spiritual

direction, based on the success and usefulness it brings in helping a person to be

aware of his spiritual progress. More than asking for a systematic Ignatian way of

doing examination of consciousness, I would just recommend him to jot down

ideas, thoughts, resolutions and interior movements that he has gained during his

personal time of prayer. I would encourage him to share with me those insights or

doubts that have impressed him the most.

3. Examination of consciousness: A brief review of how I lived out the resolutions I

have made in each of the five areas. Each resolution or goal, as Michael

recommends, must have a completion date.

4. Sharing successes and failures with the spiritual director (perhaps once a month at

the beginning of the process).

5. Renewing the goals of resolutions after a period of time: In this way, Harold

would state new goals or propose new strategies to deal with those goals that did

not succeed.
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CONCLUSION

To be a spiritual director is something implicit in our calling to the priesthood.

We are called to be shepherds and guides of the flock God has entrusted to us, and our

role consists mainly in encourage, support, and –taking again the metaphor of Michael-

as a midwife, helping others to give birth the grace of God in their lives and to growth to

the potential God has given to each person. Our role is more in the line of being an

instrument in God’s hands to help others finding themselves and God working within

them.

In the case of Harold, knowing his background and his recent experience of

conversion, I would go slow and with great care, not to overwhelm him with devotional

practices and readings but gradually suggesting him new challenges giving him the

freedom to accept or refuse them.

The spiritual life is a process of conversion where the principal agents are the

Holy Spirit and the willingness of the person to follow the Spirit’s inspirations. We are

here only to help the person to discover what can be self-deception or a real work of the

Spirit. For this, we need to be able to start with ourselves, letting God be the principal

agent, and us his instruments.