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Vol. 45 No. 46
February 7, 2007 |
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Spiritual direction offers opportunity for
deeper relationship By Pete
Sheehan
Senior Reporter |
Manhasset — Anyone wanting a deeper relationship with
God — not just priests and sisters — can benefit from
spiritual direction, two spiritual directors recently told
parishioners at St. Mary’s Church here.
“We assume that God is present in all human experiences,”
said Evelyn Sheehan, a retired teacher and adjunct spiritual
director at St. Ignatius Retreat House here. Spiritual
direction can help individual Catholics discover God in
their experiences and learn how to respond.
“It is not intended for an elite group,” she noted, “but for
anyone seeking a deeper relationship with God.”
Sheehan and Good Shepherd Sister Thomas More, a psychologist
for the Dioc-esan Tribunal and adjunct at St. Ignatius
Retreat House, spoke to groups of parishioners at St. Mary’s
Feb. 1 about what spiritual direction is, how to find a
spiritual director, and how spiritual direction can enhance
a person’s relationship with God. Both Sheehan and Sister
Thomas More are spiritual directors.
Jo-Ann Metzdorff, pastoral associate at St. Mary’s, said
that the parish’s adult faith formation committee decided to
sponsor a morning and evening session on Feb. 1 as a way to
make people aware of spiritual direction as well as to
introduce them to St. Ignatius Retreat House, which is
operated by the Jesuits. About 25 people attended.
“St. Ignatius Loyola (founder of the Jesuits) was a layman
when he developed the Spiritual Exercises,” a system of
contemplation, meditation, and examination of conscience
used in spiritual direction and retreat work, Sister Thomas
More said. “They were based on his real experiences as a
layman, what he learned from days that were dark and days
that were light.”
Those kinds of experiences, she continued, can be occasions
when God is communicating with us.
Spiritual direction is not the same as pastoral counseling,
which concerns itself with a specific problem, or as the
Sacrament of Reconciliation, which focuses on confessing
sins, Sister Thomas More said. Rather, spiritual direction
“is a way of becoming more aware of what Gods wants, what
God sees for you.”
Spiritual direction necessarily implies a “director,” who
listens to a person relate his or her life and prayer
experiences. “It’s not telling another person what to do,”
Sheehan said, but it does involve encouraging the person to
reflect on those experiences and offer suggestions to help
the person make sense of them.
“A spiritual director helps me to deepen my awareness of the
presence (of God) and to trust the presence,” Sister Thomas
said. The focus is experience more than knowledge.
At the end of the session, Sister Thomas More asked
participants to reflect on moments in their lives when they
felt close to God.
One woman spoke of a time of stress when she suddenly felt
peace. One man recalled a brush with death as a child when
he felt that God or an angel had saved him. Another person
told of visiting Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the site
of reported appearances by Mary, the Mother of Jesus.
“In spiritual direction, we would help validate that
person’s experience,” Sheehan said, and help that person
reflect further on what his experiences reveal about his
relationship with God.
In choosing a spiritual director, Sister Thomas More
recommended a person of prayer who is also committed to
spiritual direction for him or herself. She also recommended
that a spiritual director be a person of compassion,
sensitivity, balance and maturity, who can listen actively
and be touched by another’s experiences.
Retreat houses like St. Ignatius have people on staff who
are available as spiritual directors and who have been
certified for it, Sister Thomas More said.
Metzdorff pointed out later that the Cenacle Retreat Center
in Lake Ronkonkoma has spiritual directors and lists of
others who have been certified. “Or people’s parishes might
be able to refer them to spiritual directors.”
“We’re fortunate,” Sister Thomas More said, “with the people
we have on Long Island.”
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Last modified:
11/17/2007
© Copyright 2007 The Long Island Catholic |
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