THE BEST

OF THE
REVIEW — 3

THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY

OF
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

Edited by
David L. Fleming, S.J.
 Foreword

W hen the first issues of Review for Religious were published in 1942, the
topic initially chosen for reader involvement and discussion was spiritual direc-
tion. The founding editors—Jesuit Fathers Adam Ellis, Gerald Kelly, and
Augustine Ellard—opened up the topic with a five-page editorial entitled
“Spiritual Direction by the Ordinary Confessor.” The editors suggested that a
forum for exchange of ideas might be established through letters and positive
suggestions. To aid the discussion, they subsequently published articles on
“The Need of Direction,” “Cooperation with Direction,” “Manifestation of
Conscience,” and “The Prudent Use of Confession Privileges.” Almost a year
later, in volume 2, number 3 (1943). The editors put together a concluding sur-
vey from the various letters and reflections which had been submitted from the
REVIEW readers.
Almost a half-century later, we find that the interest in the topic of spiritu-
al direction has grown stronger and far more widespread than just in reference
to religious and priestly life and direction’s relationship to the confessional
forum. The articles which have appeared in REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS over the
recent years provide at kind of gold mine for coming to a deeper understand-
ing and appreciation of the Christian ministry of spiritual direction.
For clarity and a progression of thought, I have given a certain structure to
this book in the way in which I have grouped the articles. I have written an orig-
inal introductory article on direction from the perspective of what I see is neg-
lected in most contemporary treatments—the perspective of its being based in
the gifting of the Spirit and so truly meriting its being a Christian ministry.
Then in the first section, I group those articles which give some aspects of a
Christian spirituality foundation. The second section contains those articles
which spell out some of the identifying factors of spiritual direction itself. I have
selected a few articles in the third section which give an indication of the inter-
action between direction today and contemporary psychology, with some selec-
tions especially focusing on the currently, predominant Jungian contribution to
the understanding of our human and spiritual makeup.
In the fourth section, we start looking at the actual working of the ministry
of direction by first touching on its beginning stages. The fifth section attempts
to take in various aspects of the process itself, with its subdivisions of a) God
and our experience, b) prayer and examen, c) will of God and discernment, and
d) dialogue. In the sixth and final section, I have grouped some articles repre-
sentative of issues, related to direction, such as supervision, the sacrament of

iii
reconciliation, and a model of direction in a group form.
All the articles in this collection have value beyond the period of time in
which they were written. But immediately it will become apparent that even a
period of some ten years does make a difference in the style of writing and in
the ways ideas are expressed or certain emphases are taken. For example, a
number of articles will not be written in the inclusive language style which has
become prevalent in the last few years. So, too, the power of imagination and
the role of the unconscious are not as clearly reflected as they tend to be in
some current thinking. Yet for all the weaknesses that any collection of articles
written over a number of years and written by various authors has, I believe that
the book provides a rich resource to stimulate personal reflection, study, and
discussion.
The Christian ministry of spiritual direction is a many-splendored gift of
the Spirit’s outpouring upon the Church. I hope that the varied emphases and
the wisdom of these articles will serve to deepen our understanding, apprecia-
tion, and use of this most precious gift for our own growth in Christ.
David L. Fleming, S.J.

iv
 Table of Contents

Editor’s Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .v
Introduction
Spiritual Direction: Charism and Ministry
by David L. Fleming, S.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

I. Spiritual Direction: Needed—a Spiritual Context

Spirituality and Ordinary Human Experience

by Angelo M. Caligiuri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Toward a Method for the Study of Spirituality
by Edward Kinerk, S.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Am I Growing Spiritually? Elements for a Theology of Growth
by Matthias Neuman, O.S.B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
Three Questions for the Spiritual Journey
by Joel Giallanza, C.S.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

II. Spiritual Direction: Identity—a Christian Ministry

Spiritual Direction in the Church
by John R. Sheets, S.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
Spiritual Direction and the Paschal Mystery
by Gregory I. Carlson, S.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
Spiritual Direction
by Frank Wallace, S.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82
The Three Dimensions of Spiritual Direction
by Alice McDowell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
Models of Spiritual Direction
by David L. Fleming, S.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106
Spiritual Direction as Pilgrim and Companion
by James G. McCready, S.J . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113

III. Spiritual Direction: Its Interaction with Psychology

The Distinction Between Psychological and Religious Counseling
by Robert Rossi, O.S.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123
Depth Psychotherapy and Spiritual Direction
by Eugene Geromel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148
Staging, Typing, and Spiritual Direction
by John O’Regan, O.M.I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159
Jungian Typology and Christian Spirituality
by Robert A. Repicky, C.S.B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165
Jungian Types and Forms of Prayer
by Thomas E. Clarke, S.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179
The Spiritual Direction of “Thinking” Types
by Carolyn Osiek, R.S.C.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195
IV. Spiritual Direction: Its Beginnings
Beginning Spiritual Direction
by David L. Fleming, S.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .207
On Entering Spiritual Direction
by Shaun McCarty, S.T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .212
Letter to a Beginning Spiritual Director
by Matthias Neuman, O.S.B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .226
Letter to a Person Beginning Spiritual Direction
by Gerald E. Keefe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233

V. Spiritual Direction: a Process

A. God and Our Experience
Our Images of God
by Michael T. Winstanley, S.D.B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238
Asceticism in the Christian Life
by Steven J. Scherrer, M.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .247
Guilt and Healing
by Tad Dunne, S.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .258
In Sweat and Tears: Working It Through with God
by Eugene Geromel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .266

B. Prayer and Examen

Teach Me How to Pray
by George Brennan, M.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .272
The Psalms Can Teach Us To Pray
by Gerard Mackrell, S.M.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281
Using the Scripture in Prayer
by Hilary Ottensmeyer, O.S.B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .288
Centering Prayer: Refining the Rules
by M. Basil Pennington, O.C.S.0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .294
When You Can’t Pray: Removing Obstacles to Prayer
by Mary C. Coelho . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .302
The Daily Examen
by Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .312
The Examen: A Tool For Holistic Growth
by John Govan, S.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .318

vi
 C. Will of God and Discernment
Seeking God’s Will
by Charles J. Healey, S.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .326
Discerning the Spirits in Prayer
by William Sampson, S.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .333
Discernment of Spirits in Ignatius of Loyola and Teresa of Avila
by William K. Delaney, S.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .340
Discernment in the Spiritual Direction of St. Francis de Sales
by Richard J. Sweeney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .354

D. Dialogue
Conversion, Pastoral Counseling, and Spiritual Direction
by Robert Struminski, S.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .368
Dreams in Spiritual Direction: Help or Distraction?
by Ronald Barnes, S.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .381

VI. Spiritual Direction: Special Concerns

The Practice of Supervision in Spiritual Direction
by William A. Barry, S.J., and Mary C. Guy, O.S.U . . . . . . . . . . . . . .401
Pilgrim and Penitent: Direction and Sacramental Reconciliation
by Shaun McCarty, S.T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .410
Group Spiritual Direction
by Winifred Corrigan, R.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .422
An Experience of Group Direction
by Donna Lord, G.N.S.H. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .430

vii
Introduction
Spiritual Direction: Charism and Ministry

David L. Fleming, S.J.

The Setting: Four Life Situations

S ister Matilda is tired of teaching high school girls and decides that her new
ministry should be “more spiritual.” She determines that retreat and spiritual
direction work would suit her just fine at this time of her life.
Father Abe feels that he needs a break from the administrative office duties
which he has had these past twenty years. In his sixties, he would like a lighter
schedule, and he thinks that he will let it be known in the parish and diocese
that he is available to be a spiritual director.
Susan is married, and her three children are all in school. She wants now
to give more time to her parish activities. Susan has a master’s degree in coun-
seling, and so she is considering using her skills in the “At Home Retreat”
movement and also offering some group spiritual direction.
Rudy has just finished some years of volunteer service in Latin America. He
is more convinced than ever of the importance of lay ministry in the Church.
He knows that he is friendly and easily approachable and likes dealing with peo-
ple and their problems. He plans to go to the Jesuit School of Theology for
training in pastoral counseling and spiritual direction.

Need for Theological Clarity

These four examples of Christian interest in spiritual direction ministry
could be multiplied many times over and with many variations in age, experi-
ence, motivation, and desires. Although we know only the initial interest shown
in spiritual direction in each of these stories, we find ourselves immediately
alerted to the absence of some basic theological thinking about the place of
spiritual direction in the Christian tradition.

3
4 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

From the personal circumstances described in each situation, we have no

evidence that any of these four people are apt candidates for being spiritual
directors. We would question whether any of them knows why direction is
rooted in the Christian tradition and why it comes to be an identifiably
Christian ministry. We could also question whether they have had the experi-
ence of personal spiritual direction in their own lives over a certain period of
time. Are they even now receiving direction? Is there just a simple transfer of
counseling skills to spiritual direction work? Does being a “service personnel”
person in the Church—a priest, brother, sister—automatically qualify for being
a spiritual director for others? Is spiritual direction work one more job qualifi-
cation for which they can receive training at some theology school?
The questions which these simple life situations raise are significant for the
larger question of ministry training in the Church today. It is true that break-
ing out from the clerical domination of ministries prevalent since at least the
time of the Council of Trent has led to a new vibrancy of Church life. At the
same time serious questions are being raised not only about the adequacy of tra-
ditional seminary training for priest candidates in terms of the contemporary
demands on priestly ministry, but also about the means of identifying, forming,
and authorizing those who exercise any of the ministry roles in the Church or
more generally in the Christian name today.
Spiritual direction is just one of the specialized ministries which demand a
greater understanding about their place in Christian theology and about the
elements necessary for their practice. For we are beginning to realize the dan-
gers of good-willed but inept and unqualified people putting themselves for-
ward as directors in a milieu which does in fact have a dearth of good directors
in proportion to those seeking direction. Without entering into the complexi-
ty of the training of spiritual directors for our Church today, I intend to high-
light a few theological issues which are absolutely necessary for any considera-
tion of Christian spiritual direction. If we clarify our theological foundations of
direction, I believe that we provide a better base for identifying and forming
people who perhaps are being called by God to take their place in exercising a
spiritual-direction ministry.

Gift/Charism: Root of All Christian Ministry

As in every other Christian ministry, spiritual direction is rooted in God’s
call first and then our human response to that call. When we are baptized in
Christ, we do not take out a brochure of Christian ministries and busily pick
out which ones we think that we would like to exercise. Yet in the midst of a
wonderful proliferation of ministries available to be exercised by us as members
of Christ’s Body in our time, we seem to be coming upon a very secular-style
approach which lets everything depend on “what I want” or “what I need” and
“what I judge my talents or interest to be” as central to ministry work.
Spiritual direction as a Christian ministry cannot be chosen from this kind
of focus on self. Direction is first of all a charism, a gifting of Christ’s Spirit in
 Spiritual Direction: Charism and Ministry / 5

a special way to a particular person. St. Paul in three different places in his let-
ters (Romans, Corinthians, and Ephesians) explicitly alludes to some of the var-
ious charisms which the Spirit has poured out upon the community members
of the Body of Christ. Some of the functions he names sound so ordinary in the
life of any community grouping, such as administering, teaching, exhorting, and
yet for Paul there was a wholly new depth to the kind of service a Christian
could bring to the community because of what he or she had been given by the
Spirit. Grace—gifts of the Spirit root the exercise of the Christian’s new min-
istry or service role in the Christian community—not just natural talents or
gifts, previous secular job or training, or even the simple charitable desire “to
be useful.”
In combination with the personal awakening to their charism and their
acceptance of it in service, baptized persons also receive confirmation of this
gift in a normal human way by means of other people with whom they live or
work identifying it and calling for its use. Commonly, people who have some
intimations of a God-given discerning ability find that others seek them out and
want to share their life situations, joys, and difficulties with them and value
their counsel, advice, and support in their own attempt to grow as Christians.
Through our Christian experience, we have become aware of a process that
normally takes place in the recognition of ministerial gifts. In that process the
following four elements are identified: 1) a person’s growing sense of being gift-
ed in a certain way, 2) one’s being confirmed in this gift/charism by the experi-
ence of a special quality of interaction with others, 3) a person’s deciding freely
to exercise this gift for others, and 4) one’s seeking out ways of training and
refining the gift given. When the Church began to institutionalize the selection
and formation process of priesthood candidates at the time of the reforms of the
Council of Trent, there developed an organized process of a testing along the
lines which we have described so that the ordained minister was one who is
community—approved and community-qualified. Although today this selec-
tion and formation process needs continuing adaptation to our Vatican II situ-
ation for priest and deacon candidates, the lack of a similar kind of screening
and qualifying process for nonordained ministers has become evident.
Currently spiritual direction is one example of a ministry which calls for our
identifying and acknowledging of its charism root—a gift of the Spirit—as the
indispensable foundation for anyone who seeks to exercise this ministry. In
addition, then, we need to define better ways for the Christian community to
give its own confirmation of the call and to provide appropriate resources for
training and development.

Direction: Christian Theology Base

A. A Personal and Trinitarian God
Spiritual direction is not just one more helping relationship in human soci-
ety. Its very base in a Christian theological tradition provides a necessary con-
tent to its practice.
6 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

Direction is one of the charisms made evident in the Pentecostal gifting of

the Spirit to some individuals in the Christian community; it has been and
always will be present in some form in all Christian communities. While direc-
tion through the ages and even to our own times takes on many forms, for
example, individual and group, written and oral, incidental and ongoing, we
hold a centrality for direction more traditionally understood as an ongoing
relationship between two individuals, in which one is recognized as the helper
for the other in the progress of living ever more fully one’s Christian life.
Direction is called spiritual, not just in some “other than material” or earthy
sense, but direction is spiritual because its source is the Spirit of God. For direc-
tion is rooted in our faith in a Trinitarian God, a God identified as Father, Son,
and Spirit. This God is personal, not seen or related to in terms of forces or
powers, or abstractions or neuter cases. Jesus used a love-word, Abba, as his
apparently favorite imagery of his relationship to this personal God. In the
Gospel of John, we hear Jesus saying to Philip that “anyone who sees me sees
the Father.” And so from the early Christian community down to our own day,
Jesus has given us an entrance-image into a Trinitarian God who is personal. It
is also in the Johannine writings that we hear Jesus identify himself as our “par-
aclete” when he announces that his leaving us is important for his sending
“another paraclete” who will stay with us always and have no other message or
mission than to help make Jesus as our Lord known to us in fuller and more
intimate ways.
Direction, then, is taken up with the relationship of the Christian to the
Christian God. As we well know, not all images of God are Christian, and some
imaging of God is not only a distortion of the Scripture images but also totally
incompatible with the Gospel. A person needs to be well-grounded in an ade-
quate theology of God and Jesus in order to be a Christian spiritual director.
Christian spiritual direction necessarily faces us not with a God of our preju-
dices or of our own making but a God of revelation and yet a God of our own
experience.

B. Christian Prayer
An essential part of this relationship between a Christian and the Christian
God gets expressed in that special conversation-communication mode we call
prayer. In the Christian tradition, prayer, like direction itself, is not viewed as
just one more human activity, common to anthropological studies and usually
found as a part of all religions. Rather, prayer is seen as a specific gift of the
Spirit of Christ, and so Christian prayer takes on a new depth of meaning and
content from its very source in the Spirit.
Christian prayer is always a relational expression, and in the very act of
praying, we come to a deeper sense of the limit- boundaries of the self and the
God we adore as the “God of our life.“ In other words, in our Christian pray-
ing, we speak out the conviction that we are not God and that everything we
have and are has God as its source. In Christian prayer, there is not a getting
lost or absorbed into some kind of an all-devouring fog or some sidereal black
 Spiritual Direction: Charism and Ministry / 7

hole. An interpersonal love marks the various expressions of Christian prayer,

whether it be petition for needs, sorrow for sins, or thanksgiving for life.
The way of praying taught by Jesus focuses on a personal God of love, one
who acts and is concerned for us individually and for our world, and who has
plans for us all in which our free cooperation is invited. If we take Jesus’ way of
praying as summed up in the Gospel story of his teaching the “Our Father” or
if we more generally observe his own praying throughout the Gospels and his
various teachings or stories about praying, we find a consistency in approach to
God and to the content of prayer.
Direction encourages our growth as Christians by keeping us in contact
with the ways of praying as Jesus prayed. Not every method or way of praying
is automatically adaptable to the kind of relationship which Christian prayer is
meant to engender. A spiritual director must be able to be discriminating about
the ways of praying which call forth the growth proper to a Christian praying
in the Spirit.

C. A Bringing About of the Kingdom

Spiritual direction does not concern itself only about growing in relation-
ship with God. The Christian God is a God whose activity through creation,
incarnation, and the Paschal Mystery is bringing forth a fulfillment (the Pauline
pleroma) which is beyond human imagining. We believe and we hope in a God
who makes all things new, and we know that in Jesus the in-breaking of this
divine reality has reached a new and definitive form for ourselves and for our
world. We as Christians take on a special responsibility for allowing it to hap-
pen in our own lives. This in-breaking of the Kingdom always catches us by
surprise, even with all our efforts to lead better Christian lives and despite all
our falling back and remissness in embodying Christian values in our lives and
works in this world.
The focus of spiritual direction is as wide as a person’s whole life. No activ-
ity, no suffering, no relationship, no good action or bad action is exempt from
being looked at in spiritual direction. In fact, just as ordinariness is the typical
context of God’s dealings with the Israelites in the Old Testament accounts, so
we find that the God who speaks and the God who calls and acts in our lives
works ordinarily through human agents and through commonplace circum-
stances and events. It is in the listening to these experiences and growing in a
discerning heart that we begin to realize that any of our human experiences is
potentially a religious experience. For it is through our experience that we begin
to learn a language of God, forming and focusing our lives. The ministry of
spiritual direction is that attempt to help translate our religious experience into
a language that we can more readily understand and so more fully respond to.
A spiritual director knows that God’s call is constant and all of us are necessar-
ily involved in the bringing about of that part of the Kingdom where God is
working in and through us. Christian spiritual direction looks for no nirvana of
escapism in which people are left sitting around, feeling good about their prayer
experience. Christian spiritual direction necessarily makes all Christians—those
8 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

busy in the activities of secular life and those identified as cloistered contem-
platives and those who follow the vocation of hermit—prophets who are
responsible for a Kingdom still to come.

D. The Passion and the Resurrection

Because the Paschal Mystery remains the central theology dogma of the
Christian faith, the passion and resurrection must take a consciously central
place in the ministry of spiritual direction.
Jesus relates to every Christian as the one who is their savior. Every person
must face how Jesus is savior for him or her—whatever form the question may
take from being a savior from, to a savior of, or to a savior for. Sin, suffering, and
death in all its forms, culminating at last in the apparent termination of one’s
human life, clamor for integration in each person’s relationship with God.
Christian theology has given a certain shape to our thinking about the integra-
tion and wholeness of human life in the light of the mystery of redemption.
Spiritual direction is the attempt to facilitate the incorporation of this basic
doctrine into the life-story of an individual Christian. The mature growth in
Christian spiritual life takes place in proportion to a person’s ability to enter
into a passion and death with Jesus.
The full richness of Christian growth becomes evident when in spiritual
direction a person learns to discover that the personal God who is more readi-
ly recognized in the treasured experiences of life and of love is the same one
who remains intimately close in the dark moments and the secularly nonvalued
or “throwaway” experiences of life. Through direction God more literally
becomes acknowledged as the “God of my whole life”—a God found in passion,
dying, and death and the same God who is our joy, hope, and source of all life.
Christian spiritual direction retains the cross as the central image which chal-
lenges us humans to a mature and integrated spiritual life.

Direction: A Life Lived

Granted a more correct understanding of the essential notes of Christian
theology in spiritual direction, is there a way of training or refining this gift of
the Spirit found in certain members of the Christian community? Because of
the modern day development of psychology and counseling, we are inclined to
be far more conscious today of skills and technique training in spiritual direc-
tion than in previous ages. Valuable as the contribution of psychology and
counseling has been, it sadly has at times obscured the theological foundations
and content of contemporary spiritual direction. But besides our consistent lack
of focus on the theological foundations of direction, we also seem to pass over
too lightly that the most important element in the refining of this ministerial
gift of direction lies in one’s own continuing development of one’s spiritual life.
Workshops and training programs in spiritual direction will fail to produce a
spiritual director if a spiritual life is not seriously pursued. For it is in the lived
spiritual life that the most basic formation is done by God in the potential spir-
itual director.
There is a tradition that St. Teresa of Avila identified that a director should
 Spiritual Direction: Charism and Ministry / 9

possess a certain theological foundation as the most essential quality for giving
good spiritual direction. At the same time, Teresa had an expectation that a
director would be pursuing his or her own spiritual growth. From her experi-
ence, Teresa knew that pious sanctity or the good-willed attempt to help anoth-
er was not enough for proper spiritual direction. And so her careful distinction
about the more essential quality in a spiritual director was not to deny the good
of a certain holiness of life lived by the director, but to stress that the director
must possess a certain theological acumen. Teresa’s sense of criteria I would
hold to be even more essential for today’s spiritual director than in previous
ages.

Spiritual Direction: Concluding Reflections

Today, then, what is commonly missing in considerations about spiritual
direction is its distinctive Christian theological base. We must begin with the
fact that direction is a charism of the Spirit, and the Spirit gives these gifts
where the Spirit wills. No one can claim a gift that is not given by God. Today
as people put themselves forward for various ministries, this Christian fact of
gifts which differ from person to person as well as the lack of certain gifts in any
one individual is often being obscured or even ignored.
We need to pay greater attention to the fact that direction is a Christian
ministry. The Christian context of spiritual direction gives a specific content to
who God is, to how we pray, to our relationship to our world, and to the human
reality of sin and death. These most basic elements of our Christian faith seem
to attract little attention in the whole spiritual-direction project as it is consid-
ered in our day.
There is no doubt that we have a richness of resources, previously
unknown or undeveloped in Church history, that we can bring to the study and
practice of spiritual direction. Yet we need to make sure that these very
resources clearly provide support for the most distinctive elements which iden-
tify spiritual direction as a Christian ministry. For ultimately only if we build
upon spiritual direction’s Christian theological foundations will we find that
this ministry will be productive for the growth in holiness of Christians today.
I. Spiritual Direction: Needed—
A Spiritual Context
Spirituality and Ordinary Human Experience
Toward a Method for the Study of Spirituality
Am I Growing Spiritually? Elements for a Theology
of Growth
Three Questions for the Spiritual Journey
Spirituality and Ordinary
Human Experience
Angelo M. Caligiuri

Volume 37, 1978, pp. 454-460.

T he conciliar call to renewal has generated and/or facilitated the develop-

ment of a rich variety of “spiritual” movements within the contemporary
Church. Spirituality is no longer the explicit concern and interest of the
few—spiritual directors, formation personnel, spiritual writers, and others—
and the implicit but seldom articulated interest and concern of the majority
of Christians. Today, the growing number of priests, religious and laity who
have participated in programs of spiritual renewal and who have, in varying
degrees, undergone a “conversion experience” have contributed to the
increased and very conscious interest and concern for spirituality appearing
in all segments of the Church’s life.
The appearance of houses of prayer, diocesan renewal centers, centers
for directed retreats, as well as the increasing number of priests and religious
who are discerning a call to specifically “spiritual ministries,” are all indica-
tions of this growing interest in spirituality.
Spirituality is becoming less the acknowledged and rather exclusive con-
cern of a relatively small number of Jesus’ followers, and more the acknowl-
edged concern of every person who has come to know the Father’s love in
Jesus, and who strives to respond to that love in his particular walk of life.

12
 Spirituality and Ordinary Human Experience / 13

Because, for many, this expression of interest in spirituality is grounded

in a unique, grace-filled experience, be it of a directed retreat, an encounter
weekend, through a charismatic prayer group or community, and so forth,
there is a tendency to equate “spirituality” with the kinds of prayer, activity
and feelings experienced during these “extraordinary” occasions of one’s life.
And no matter how much time and energy are exerted during these peri-
ods to help persons “reenter” the mainstream of their ordinary living situa-
tions, reentry for many, more often than not, seems to be somewhat difficult,
if not problematic.
I would like to suggest that, at least to some extent, this situation obtains
because, in the flow of ordinary human experience, we recall and remember
the extraordinary experience of God’s Spirit, not as a stimulus and challenge
to discover and ground our spirituality in the ordinary, but as a norm against
which to judge the spirituality of our daily living. When this happens, we feel
that ordinary human experience is a hindrance to spiritual growth, with the
result that we long for and try to recapture experiences of God which are
unique and extraordinary gifts. And then, instead of being present to the
spiritual that is in the flow of ordinary human experience, we are tempted to
merely tolerate the ordinary until we can once again experience the extraor-
dinary.
When, and to the extent that this happens, we can begin to experience a
certain amount of frustration in our ordinary apostolates. And instead of
being willing to live with the healthy tension that accompanies trying to be
a contemplative in action, activity can come to be seen as an obstacle to our
spiritual growth, and the ordinary flow of experience as devoid of any per-
ceptible and personally nourishing presence of God.
It is within this context that I would like to reflect upon the spiritual
dimension of our ordinary human experience.
In speaking about the spiritual dimension of our human experience, we
are necessarily employing the word spiritual from within the context of a
more fundamental understanding of what we mean by the term. It certainly
should not be surprising to realize that there can be significant differences in
the meaning which persons perceive and intend to communicate when they
hear and use the word. Spiritual frequently attempts to describe a dimension
of human experience which is acknowledged as going beyond the purely
human, a dimension that results from the interaction between the human
and some other worldly force, be it personal or not.
At this level, our understanding of the word spiritual will necessarily
reflect our understanding of the nature of this transcendent force. And so we
can legitimately speak, for example, of a Buddhist or of a Hindu spirituality.
In speaking of the spiritual dimension of our human experience, however, I
am concerned primarily with a Christian understanding of spirituality, that
is, with the way in which the personal God who reveals himself to us in Jesus
Christ is at work in our human experience.
14 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

Having clarified my understanding of the word spiritual, I would like

now to attempt to explicitate the specific meaning contained in the phrase
spiritual dimension of our experience.”
It is a basic truth of our Christian faith that God our Father, has created
each of us in his own image and likeness, and that he wills all of us to share the
fullness of life with him in eternity. However, given the history of our human
race and of the abuse of freedom which characterizes our way of life after the
fall, we humans could not achieve this purpose without the intervention of
God. And so the Father sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem us, and enable
us to return once again to the Father. Jesus did this by his life, death, resur-
rection, and ascension, that is, by his paschal mystery. Now in his life among
us, Christ revealed to us some of the ways in which God is at work in our
midst trying to lead us back to himself.
One of the basic truths which Jesus reveals to us is that the Father is
drawing us to himself. As Christians, we believe that God the Father is
actively at work in our lives, drawing us ever more closely into unity with
him. Christ not only reveals this truth to us, but he also teaches us something
about how the Father will draw us to himself. In explaining to his disciples
why he must return to his Father, Jesus says that unless he goes, the Holy
Spirit will not come upon us. And it is the Holy Spirit who will teach us all
things and draw us to the Father. It is the Holy Spirit, then, who is our new
life, who is the sanctifier. For every Christian living after the ascension, then,
our new life in the Lord is the result of the Holy Spirit’s enlivening and ener-
gizing activity in us. In effect, this means that to speak of a Christian spiri-
tual life means to speak of the Holy Spirit. Unless we possess God’s Spirit,
we cannot speak of a spiritual life or of any kind of spirituality in a Christian
sense.
In speaking of the spiritual dimension of human experience then, I am
first and foremost speaking of the presence and activity of God’s Spirit in
human reality. Spirituality is primarily the work of the Spirit in our lives.
Now if these faith facts are true, that is, if it is true that God the Father
is acting to draw us to himself by sending the Holy Spirit to work among us,
then it would seem to follow that the heart of Christian spirituality is the
effort to discern and respond to the life-giving promptings of God’s Spirit.
At this point in these reflections, a further question legitimately arises.
Just how does God’s Spirit work in our lives?
In trying to arrive at some understanding of this question, we are given
help by noting the life and teaching of our Lord, and by reflecting on the
experiences of the early faith community which are recorded for us in an
inspired way in the Scriptures.
The fact that Jesus became fully human, and that he lived in a very
human setting, indicates that it is in our human lives, in the reality of human
experience, that we are primarily going to encounter God’s Spirit at work,
for nothing truly human is foreign to God. This is not to say that God’s
 Spirituality and Ordinary Human Experience / 15

Spirit cannot, has not, or is not, working among us in extraordinary ways, for
God’s ways are not our ways, and his Spirit breathes where he will.
It does say however, that because of the Incarnation, the usual way in
which God works among us is in our ordinary human experience. Since the
supernatural presupposes and builds upon the natural, God’s Spirit usually
and ordinarily works among us in and through our ordinary experience, in
and through the real situations of our daily living.
If we take this a step further and consider just what we mean by human
experience, I think we can get some further insight into how God’s Spirit is at
work in our lives, and hence of the spiritual dimension of our experience. In a
rather simplistic way, we can describe human experience as a human being’s
awareness of himself and of his presence to all that is not totally identifiable
with himself.
In other words, there is a two-fold dimension to human experience, the
subjective, the human subject, the person; and the objective, that which is
not totally identical with the person. When we are present to and aware of
how we relate to what is other than ourselves, be it an idea, an emotion, a
brick wall, a refreshing drink, a cool breeze, or another person, we are expe-
riencing. “We,” then are an essential component of our human experience.
When each of us speaks of our experience, we are necessarily speaking of a
phenomenon of which we are an essential component. Without our person,
without us, it simply would make no sense to speak of our experience.
Now, if I, the unique person that each of us is, is an essential element of
my human experience, and if God’s Spirit is primarily at work in my ordinary
human experience, then it would seem to follow that God’s Spirit is very
much at work in each of us, as individuals. If we want to be aware of the spir-
itual dimension of our human experience then, we must first of all be in
touch with ourselves, we must get to know ourselves the best we can, become
aware of all the various levels at which we operate, so that through a grow-
ing sensitivity to ourselves, we can gradually begin to discern which of our
inclinations and feelings are caused by purely human dynamics, and which
are the result of God’s Spirit calling us to greater life in the Lord.
When we speak of the spiritual dimension of any human experience, we
are first of all speaking of our personal relatedness to God, of our own faith-
filled presence to God’s Spirit at work in us. To be sure, our spirituality is
ultimately the work of God’s Spirit in us; however, we must cooperate. We
must develop a posture of active receptivity, whereby we dispose ourselves to
see the gift of God; whereby we are able to discern the movements of God
and listen to his promptings. And this involves a true personal asceticism, a
true discipline, whereby through prayer we gradually are able to let go of all
our false idols, of all that is really our own god and spirit and, in full free-
dom, be able to perceive and respond to God’s Spirit in us.
Some writers have described the spiritual life as the gradual tearing
down of all of our defense mechanisms, so that we eventually let go of all our
16 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

own ideas of what and who we should become, and allow ourselves to
become what God wants us to become. And it is toward this goal, this dying
to our old self, that God’s Spirit is trying to lead us in our personal lives.
It is precisely at this level of our spirituality, at the level of the develop-
ment of our personal relatedness to God’s Spirit, that we can benefit from
what the human sciences of psychiatry and psychology can offer us. As we try
to get in touch with ourselves so that we can discern God’s Spirit, we realize
that while part of our interior activity is conscious and deliberate, another
part is situated below the level of our conscious awareness.
In our efforts to develop an authentic personal spirituality, which means
to perceive and respond to the Holy Spirit as he is working in our personal
life, we have to get to understand ourselves. And the behavioral sciences can
help us do this. They tell us a great deal about our human nature on which
the grace of God is acting. They can identify unhealthy attitudes and prac-
tices as well as unsuspected styles of self-deception.
As mentioned earlier, the phenomenon of our human experience in
which God’s Spirit is at work drawing us back to the Father, includes a two-
fold dimension: the subjective, that is the person who experiences; and the
objective, that which is not totally identifiable with ourselves, that which is
experienced.
Thus far I have tried to reflect a bit on the work of God in the subjec-
tive element of our human experience, ourselves. I would now like to reflect
briefly on God’s Spirit at work in the objective dimension of our human
experience.
Our ability to be sensitive to God at work in the objective dimension will
necessarily be related to our ability to sense God’s Spirit in our personal
lives. This is because we are the only ones who can experience, who can be
aware of and present to all that is not I.
Granted that each of us has a personal spirituality which we are deepen-
ing through faith and prayer, then we will also be able to discern how God
is at work in the objective dimension of our experience, that is, in all of cre-
ation, and especially in other persons. Our own growth in our personal spir-
ituality, our own sense of how God is at work in each of us in a unique way,
will make us more sensitive to his presence in all the other unique individu-
als that form the relational context in which we live our daily lives.
It is our own personal spirituality that will open up to us the spiritual
dimension of our human experience. It is our faith-filled presence to God’s
Spirit in our lives that will make us more present to that same spirit at work
in the lives of those we meet and in the world around us.
Simply put, it seems to me that there is no spiritual dimension to any
human experience apart from the presence of a person who is alive, sensitive,
and responding to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in his real life-situa-
tions. For it is the Holy Spirit whom the Son has sent to draw us back to the
Father.
 Spirituality and Ordinary Human Experience / 17

But where there is such a person present, then all human experience has
a spiritual dimension. Because Jesus became man, there is no human experi-
ence that is foreign to, or incompatible with, the presence of God.
It is the presence of a faith-filled person to the ebb and flow of human
experience which uncovers and reveals the spiritual dimension of that expe-
rience. It is the presence of a faith-filled person who discovers the spiritual
meaning of a human event, an event which, considered impersonally in its
physical dimensions, is the same event which a nonbeliever experiences as
devoid of any transcendent meaning, if not as totally meaningless. This is
not to fall into a kind of modern day fideism, for the reality of meaning nec-
essarily includes the presence of a human subject who alone is the discover-
er and revealer of meaning. To speak of the meaningfulness of human expe-
rience, is to speak necessarily of the presence of a human person, for whom
alone meaning has any reality.
All of which means that if we are going to be able to perceive and
respond to the presence of God’s Spirit in the flow of ordinary human expe-
rience, a presence which is most significant in terms of our own growth in
our love relationship with God, in terms of our spirituality, we must be aware
of how we experience God. We must be growing in our familiarity with how
he is at work in our personal lives. For it is one and the same Spirit who is
present in each person and in all of creation.
And it is towards this end, the end of helping us recognize and own how
we experience the presence of God’s Spirit in our personal lives, that we are
gifted with an extraordinarily intense and clear experience of God during the
especially graced times of retreats and other conversion experiences.
We must be careful then, not to let these extraordinary experiences of
God’s presence with which we have been gifted during times of special grace
to become the criteria according to which we evaluate or try to get a sense
of the quality of our spirituality.
We must not try to experience God in our ordinary daily human experi-
ence in the same way we did during these times of extraordinary grace. We
must not try to recreate such freely given experiences, nor be present to our
ordinary daily life with a sense of loss because we “long” to return or to live
in the memory of what was in the past.
God’s enlivening Spirit is just as powerfully present in the flow of ordi-
nary human events as he is during extraordinary periods of retreats and other
special times devoted totally to one’s life in the Lord. The lasting reality of
these otherwise “unreal,” extraordinary situations is precisely the personal
growth in our sensitivity to how God’s Spirit is at work in our life. It is this
heightened awareness that enables us to discover and be present to that same
Spirit of God at work in our life in and through our ordinary life situations.
While it is certainly possible and in fact a reality, that, as a result of an
intense period of prayer and grace, an individual may come to discern a call
to enter into a new type of spiritual ministry, it is just as possible that this
18 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

desire is a veiled attempt to recreate and recapture on a more lasting basis

the experience of a past time of spiritual grace. This should lead all persons
who feel drawn to leave a ministry in which they have been most effective
and fulfilled for a more “spiritual” ministry to be truly present to all the
dynamics at work in their desire. For while a sense of personal restlessness
and dissatisfaction with one’s former ministry may be a legitimate sign of
God’s call to a new ministry, they can also be symptoms of a subtle attempt
on our part to recapture what was, an effort to try and find a lifestyle which
one thinks will make of the extraordinary, the ordinary. In such situations it
is imperative that the individual be truly open to the community’s needs,
input and reflections, in discerning whether or not this call is from the Lord.
For most of us, it is in and through our presence to our ordinary daily
experiences that we are going to mature in our life in the Lord. And it is to
help us become more present to God’s Spirit at work in our daily life situa-
tions that we are graced with the profound experience of his presence dur-
ing extraordinary times such as retreats.
If holiness is the work of God’s Spirit in our lives, and if spirituality is
our attempt to respond to his Spirit, then it follows that for most of us, our spir-
ituality must be primarily rooted in our ordinary human experience, in our
ability to be present to and respond to God’s Spirit at work in the ordinary.
Toward a Method for the Study
of Spirituality

Edward Kinerk, S.J.

Volume 40, 1981, pp. 3-19.

A former professor of historical theology once described spirituality as a

“glob” area. He explained this rather inelegant label by pointing out that spir-
ituality enjoys an unlimited wealth of resources but possesses no tools for get-
ting those resources organized. ”I understand what it means to do history or to
do theology,” he objected, ”but what does it mean to do spirituality?” Students
contemplating work in spirituality will take small comfort in his remarks but
they will know exactly what he meant, for, unlike most other academic disci-
plines, spirituality lacks both formal definition of its content and methodology
proper to itself. Studies in the history of spirituality, prayer, religious life,
Scripture, psychology, theology, and any number of authors and movements
can be most beneficial in themselves, but where does one find the unifying prin-
ciples to bring all this knowledge together?
The occasional reader, who finds this or that work personally rewarding,
will not be troubled by such abstract concerns, but this vagueness of content
and style can be a formidable handicap for those who undertake a more thor-
ough study, either for their own enlightenment or with the thought of being of
service to others. In the latter case one must analyze spiritualities, interpret
them in their historical-cultural context, compare and contrast them to other
spiritualities, and finally develop criteria for criticism and evaluation. The tools
for such reflection are not commonly available in the way that they are for other
disciplines, including theology.1
Part of the difficulty lies in the very nature of spirituality. Except for the

19
20 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

Christological controversies of the fourth and fifth centuries it has been rare for
theological speculation to elicit passionate responses on the part of Christians.
Spirituality, on the other hand, always makes at least an implicit appeal to the
heart; it is much closer to people’s lives and emotions than is theology. This is
to be expected, but it places the ”academic” study of spirituality in an awkward
corner precisely because the material lends itself so immediately to practical
application, the pastoral. Consequently, spirituality as a discipline finds itself
more often called upon to train spiritual directors and retreat givers than to
engage in reflection. This onesidedness is risky. Spirituality cannot afford to
neglect the mistakes or the riches which are a part of its heritage; nor can it
forego with impunity the arduous task of using the theoretical process to cor-
rect the subtle mistakes of common sense.2
In a recent article for REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, Father Alan Jones chroni-
cled the split between devotion and theology—head and heart—and called for
the redevelopment of mystical theology in order to “combat the tendency to
anti-intellectualism today, particularly in areas where religious experience is
concerned.” 3 Using William Johnston’s definition of mysticism as ”wisdom or
knowledge that is found through love,” 4 Father Jones suggested contempla-
tion—which includes all levels of knowing—as the means of bringing reflection
into religious experience and religious experience into theological reflection.
Father Jones’s concern to bring head and heart together must be a constant
preoccupation for spirituality; the great classics were developed more in the
chapel than in the library, though they depended on both. However, I believe
that we have an auxiliary task which is less ”creative” and more ”organizational”
in character. In order to bring the vast and often unwieldy material from the
history of spirituality into the arena of our prayerful reflection it must first be
arranged into digestible form. The purpose of this article will be to suggest
some questions or distinctions by which such arrangement can proceed: in
other words, a method for the study of spiritualities. Of course, this is an ambi-
tious undertaking, and I will protest in advance that these are remarks ”toward
a method.” But since the need is great, I hope that any venture in this direction
might prove useful.
Spirituality needs (1) a definition of itself, (2) some tools for analyzing a
particular spirituality, (3) some guidelines for relating a spirituality to other
spiritualities, and (4) some criteria for evaluation. In the pages that follow I will
make attempts in the first three areas and then conclude with some limited
thoughts about the fourth.

What Is Spirituality?
Everyone has a notion of spirituality, but efforts to pin it down in defini-
tion can be frustrating. It is everywhere yet nowhere; its scope is so vast—
potentially as vast as the sum and depth of all human experience—that work-
able content virtually disappears.
Spirituality has been described as “lifestyle.” If we realize that this means
 Toward a Method for the Study of Spirituality / 21

more than length of hair and particular preferences for food and clothing, this
definition is actually quite good. A person’s spirituality is the way in which he or
she lives in accordance with basic values. The famous Swiss theologian Hans
Urs von Balthasar has given this a more philosophical formulation: ”The way
in which [an individual] acts and reacts habitually throughout his life according
to his objective and ultimate insights and decisions.”5 The strength of such a
definition lies in its completeness; its weakness is that it is too complete. We are
left afloat on a sea of private human experience with no markers to make this
or that dimension of experience stand out. These definitions are good because
they include everything, but they are not workable because they distinguish
nothing. And without distinctions analysis is impossible.
What should we look for in a workable definition? First of all, a definition
of spirituality for the purpose of study should limit the material to what is
expressed. Nothing can be studied unless it is communicated in some way. It is
true that spirituality must deal with the mysterious depths of the human person
in relationship to God and that this mystery often defies conceptualization.
However, it is usually open to communication through symbolization; and this,
too, is a form of expression. Spirituality studies expressions, and these expres-
sions can be conceptual or symbolic: they can be words, or they can be art,
music, architecture, or indeed any form of human activity. Of course, an indi-
vidual’s full experience of his or her relationship with God can never be ade-
quately expressed, not even symbolically. This is simply a difficulty which the
study of spirituality must accept; we can only examine what is expressed and yet
we know that the expression is never exhaustive of the reality.
Secondly, a definition of spirituality should contain the idea of personal
growth. There is no spirituality for an animal, nor do we ever speak of God’s
spirituality.6 What distinguishes the human condition is growth beyond self,
self-transcendence. There is a restlessness which is a constant striving to move
from the less authentic to the more authentic. This is why spirituality gravitates
so readily to psychology, and it is precisely the point at which the greatest care
must be exercised not to confuse the two.7
Finally, as indicated earlier, a workable definition must contain markers:
terms in the definition which orient the material by distinguishing what is
important from what is unimportant. Without some means of making distinc-
tions the material of spirituality presents an undivided sameness inimical to
study. Markers differentiate that material; and this, in turn, facilitates questions
for analysis. The particular selection of markers will necessarily be somewhat
arbitrary. Here I have chosen to view any spirituality primarily from the stand-
point of expressions of the authentic and expressions of the inauthentic.
A spirituality, then, is the expression of a dialectical personal growth from the
inauthentic to the authentic. There are three ingredients in the definition: expres-
sion, dialectical personal growth, and authentic-inauthentic. Expression need
not be clarified further. Growth has been called dialectical to underscore the fact
that all spiritual growth is a simultaneous ”yes” to one thing and a ”no” to
22 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

something else. Each step toward the authentic demands a corresponding rejec-
tion of the inauthentic.8 The Gospel of Luke manifests this dialectical charac-
ter in its expression of the beatitudes: every benediction has its corresponding
curse (Lk 6:20-26).
Inauthentic and authentic are the markers referred to above. The total authen-
ticity of a human person would be his or her complete self-transcendence in love.
Conversely, total inauthenticity would be complete self-alienation, self-centered-
ness in hate. For our purposes, however, expressions of the authentic and inau-
thentic will normally be but partial representations of these absolute states. In a
famous line from the Imitation of Christ, for example, compunction is an expres-
9
sion of the authentic while vain knowledge is an expression of the inauthentic;
they are signposts along the way. Furthermore, specific expressions of the
authentic and the inauthentic are not always univocal, even within the same spir-
ituality. In the Cloud of Unknowing, meditation on Christ’s passion can be either
an expression of the authentic or the inauthentic, depending on the stage of one’s
contemplative development.10

Questions for Analysis

In an age as hermeneutically conscious as our own, it need not be stressed
that a prerequisite for the analysis of any spirituality is some understanding of
its historical-cultural context. To be unaware, for instance, that the end of the
Roman persecutions coincided with the great movement to the desert in the
fourth century would be to miss the opportunity for many insights into the
roots of desert spirituality. The historical-cultural context is available for any-
one who wishes to take the time to do some research. Our project assumes that
this research can and will be done, but we are concerned here with something
more general.
Questions for analysis must serve two purposes. They must provide a
means of organizing the material of a spirituality in such a way that the mate-
rial can be more easily assimilated. In other words, they must teach us how to
read and how to retain what we read more effectively. The other purpose is that
of comparison and contrast. The questions for analysis must be such that they
can be asked more or less equally of any spirituality. It is only by putting the
same questions to many different bodies of material that we can begin the
process of comparing similarities and contrasting differences which will lead us
to deeper understanding.
The first question flows immediately from the terms of the definition: what
are the expressions of the authentic and the inauthentic? An effective way to
begin answering this question is to make a list. Reading through the Spiritual
Exercises of St. Ignatius, for instance, we would observe that shame and confu-
sion, sorrow, tears, anguish, intimate knowledge, poverty, humility and grati-
tude11 are but some of the expressions of the authentic; and we could do the
same for expressions of the inauthentic. Making a list is a good way to begin
because it directs us to the text with a simple and specific objective: how does
 Toward a Method for the Study of Spirituality / 23

the spirituality express what it values and what it rejects? An exhaustive list is
rarely possible or even desirable, but we do want to be certain that we initiate
our analysis by carefully gathering all of the pertinent expressions.
A list gives us the concrete expressions from which to work, but it is too
one-dimensional to be of more than limited value. By itself a list cannot single
out those expressions which are of special importance, nor can it fit them into
a pattern of meaning. What we lack is an organizing form12 which could give
the expressions depth and a relationship to one another. In the Spiritual
Exercises an excellent illustration of such a form is the image of the Two
13
Standards: the Kingdom of Christ versus the Kingdom of Satan. The
Kingdom of Christ gives depth and relationship to the expressions of the
authentic while the Kingdom of Satan does the same for the inauthentic.
Intimate knowledge, poverty, humility, gratitude and the like contribute defi-
nite nuances to the understanding of the nature of these two kingdoms; and the
expressions, in turn, receive their full meaning only in relationship to the com-
plete image. The Two Standards are the unifying image for expressions in
Ignatian spirituality.
While Ignatius himself gives the organizing form of the Two Standards, it
is often necessary to uncover a form which is not itself one of the particular
images used in a given text. Such would be the case in the Life of Antony by
Athanasius.14 Clearly the text does not lack for images, but the best organizing
form is rather the structure which Athanasius employs to develop his story: a
series of four withdrawals by Antony, each one into greater solitude. The
author uses these withdrawals to highlight periods of development in Antony’s
life, and each period unifies a corresponding set of expressions of the authentic
and the inauthentic. In the first withdrawal Antony left his home to live on the
outskirts of the village with an older ascetic. The expressions of the authentic
and the inauthentic are characteristic of a “novitiate” period: zeal, faith, desire
for purity of heart, imitation of the older ascetic were set in opposition to anx-
iety over family, money, fame, difficulties of asceticism and sexuality. In the sec-
ond withdrawal, closing himself into a tomb, the chief expressions of the inau-
thentic are wild imaginings, terror and the temptation to flight, while defiance
of the demons, perseverance and faith are expressions of the authentic. From
the tomb Antony went to live in an abandoned fort in the desert where he was
besieged by the demons. A hint of weariness from the clamor of the demons is
the only expression of the inauthentic while expressions of the authentic reflect
Antony’s growing strength: confidence, utter equilibrium, purity of soul, and so
forth. Antony’s final withdrawal was to the ”inner mountain” which is described
in paradisal terms. The expression of the inauthentic most characteristic of this
period is pride in the power God has given him; while the expressions of the
authentic are the manifestations of the power of the Spirit working through
Antony: overpowering the demons, curing the sick, instructing the monks and
confounding the heretics.15
It is not always possible to find a single form or image which will tie a body
24 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

of material together. One rather difficult text is the Imitation of Christ. In his fine
analysis of this spiritual classic, Bernard Spaapen has noted that “the truths which
they [the four books of the Imitation] enfold have not been arranged according to
a precise play, a rational structure, or a psychological dialectic.”16 Much of the dif-
ficulty is due to the style of the work: a collection of thoughts useful to the spir-
itual life, possibly by more than one author. There is a variety of equal themes,
and so no single form can be found which could give unity to all the expressions.
The most one can do in such a situation is to discover, or invent, several forms
which together best gather the material into useful patterns.
As a corollary to the organizing forms we can also examine the expressions
of the authentic and the inauthentic for stages of spiritual growth. All spiritual
life is a type of growth but in many well-developed spiritualities there are spec-
ified stages,17 and the key for detecting these stages lies with the expressions of
the authentic and the inauthentic. When a particular expression of the authen-
tic becomes an expression of the inauthentic, then a stage of spiritual growth
has been crossed. An example of this has already been furnished from the Cloud
of Unknowing: meditation on Christ’s passion is an expression of the authentic
for the beginner but just the opposite for someone more advanced in the spirit
of contemplation. Sometimes the stages of growth will be the structure giving
unity to the material, but this will not always be the case.
The second question for analysis comes from the idea of personal growth.
A spirituality which reaches the state of expression does not appear out of the
vacuum, but it is the maturation of much personal experience. One or many
have traveled a similar dialectical journey from the inauthentic to the authentic
and from this experience comes a wealth of valuable insight. This insight, which
embodies both the techniques and the lived experience of the journey, can be
called wisdom, and it is the object of the second question: what is the wisdom of
a particular spirituality?
To discover the wisdom of a particular spirituality we must look at its teach-
ing. In what special manner does a spirituality propose to find God, and what
experience flows from its techniques of encounter? In the Life of Antony, for
example, wisdom comes especially from the experience of solitude, which for
the desert fathers meant struggle with demons representing every imaginable
thought or feeling. The wisdom of the Life of Antony is expressed in a long
speech by the hermit to a group of other hermits assembled for the occasion.18
This speech, often called a speech on discernment, is a description of what to
expect in solitude and how to deal with whatever (or whomever) occurred. The
wisdom of the desert employs some of the most colorful and varied imagery in
the history of spirituality, but it is always characterized by the detection and
diminishment of interior turmoil in order to find and preserve apatheia.19
A very different example, though with striking parallels, is found in the wis-
dom of St. Ignatius. The Spiritual Exercises express wisdom not in speeches but
in appendices: rules for thinking with the Church, rules for eating, rules for dis-
cernment, and so on. Ignatian wisdom, however, is not contained equally in all
 Toward a Method for the Study of Spirituality / 25

these rules but in one special and famous set: the rules for the discernment of
spirits.20 As mentioned above, the primary image of Ignatian spirituality is the
Two Standards, and the goal is to serve with Christ who wishes to spread his
Kingdom and defeat the Kingdom of Satan. Now these kingdoms will enjoy
victory or suffer defeat as a result of our particular choices. However, the king-
doms are distinguished from each other less by the object of a particular choice
than by attitudes. Consequently, the disciple of Christ must differentiate
between objects of possible choice according to authenticating feelings (atti-
tudes) or their opposites. The rules for the discernment of spirits are Ignatius’
wisdom for making this all important differentiation and decision.
There is no need to multiply examples. Wisdom gets at the heart of a par-
ticular spirituality because it taps the special experience of the person or per-
sons who have lived it. Often referred to ”thoughts” in describing the struggle
of solitude and to apatheia as the goal of that struggle. For Ignatius, the key
word would be discernment. On the other hand, there need not be but one wis-
dom for every spirituality. Moving beyond the Spiritual Exercises one could
speak also of a wisdom of obedience in Ignatius. The objective is to identify the
central insights of a spirituality; insights, however, that flow from matured
experience.
Finally, we should underline the fact that questions for analysis—expres-
sions and wisdom—are effective for focusing and organizing the material, but
they certainly do not exhaust its riches. In addition to the fact that no set of
questions can ever draw everything from the material, a spirituality will always
retain a certain opacity regardless of how carefully it is scrutinized; and we will
always find ourselves returning to the source for clarification, new insight, and
personal edification. However, at some point in time we must determine that
an analysis is finished, both in the number of questions asked and in the depth
of the answers. It is the suggestion of this article that the two questions given
above will focus and organize the material sufficiently to enable us to turn to
the wider arena of comparison and contrast of different spiritualities.

Questions for Comparison and Contrast

Bernard Lonergan has described method as ”a normative pattern of recur-
rent and related operations yielding cumulative and progressive results.”21
What we have thus far is not a complete method but its foundation. Questions
for analysis provide a normative pattern of operations which can be applied to
any number of particular spiritualities, but only continued application followed
by comparison and contrast will yield cumulative and progressive results.
Now the general matter for any comparison and contrast would normally
be the expressions of the authentic and the inauthentic, the images and forms
which give them unity, and the expressions of wisdom. From this one could
proceed in any number of ways depending only on time, interest, and availabil-
ity of sources. Let us suppose, for example, that someone was interested in the
general topic of prayer and that he or she had some familiarity with both the
26 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

Cloud of Unknowing and the works of John of the Cross. Even an examination
of the titles would reveal that ”cloud” and ”night” are expressions of the
authentic for both. A study of the similarities and differences between the
Cloud’s understanding of ”cloud” and John of the Cross’s understanding of
“night” might prove to be a straightforward and interesting investigation into
the meaning of apophatic prayer.22
Ordinarily the work of comparison and contrast will draw heavily on our
ability to understand the relative historical-cultural contexts. This can be given
some direction, however, if we keep in mind two principles for comparison.
The first is that a spirituality cannot help but reflect certain cosmological per-
spectives. As a result we should always ask: what understandings of space and
time shape the relationship between self, world, and God for a particular spiri-
tuality? For example, the Life of Antony used a simple cosmological framework
which placed a person on top of the world but under two concentric hemi-
spheres: the air, which was the abode of the demons, and the sky, which was
heaven and the abode of God. Thus, to go to God one had to leave the world
and ascend through the air, and this meant battles with the demons. Today we
experience ourselves through a cosmology which is couched in evolutionary
and psychological terms. Instead of place, time is the important parameter: it is
no longer ”up” and “down” which correspond to the authentic and the inau-
thentic but ”transformation” and “regression.” The discovery and investiga-
tions of the unconscious have forged a new vocabulary for our descriptions of
evil, human growth, and the nature of freedom. The unconscious has also given
us a new locus for expressions of the authentic and the inauthentic. The cos-
mology of the day—be it Antony’s, our own, or any other—will not only shape
the expressions of spirituality but it will also locate those expressions in accor-
dance with its perception of the relationship in time and space of self, world,
and God.
The cosmological questions can be made specific. The question, ”Where is
Christ?” yields interesting results when asked of St. Basil the Great (fourth cen-
tury) and St. Ignatius (sixteenth century). Each has a passage about Christ the
King and his call to men and women to follow him, but note the different
images for describing where Christ is and the practical consequences for disci-
pleship. For Basil: “Where is Christ the King? In heaven, to be sure. Thither it
behooves you, soldier of Christ, to direct your course. Forget all earthly
delights.”23 Ignatius, however, perceived the world as friendlier potential for the
self’s encounter with God: ”Consider Christ our Lord, standing in a lowly place
in a great plain about the region of Jerusalem. . . .” 24 And instead of forgetting
the world in order to go to Christ in heaven, Ignatius encourages people to fol-
low a Christ who ”sends them throughout the whole world to spread his sacred
doctrine among all men, no matter what their state or condition.” 25
We can do similar comparisons for time. “When will Christ come?” For St.
Paul and the early Christians the answer was, “Soon!” But for most of the
Church’s history until recently, the question of time hasn’t been that important.
 Toward a Method for the Study of Spirituality / 27

Most Christians tended to regard the world as having a certain timeless stabil-
ity. The important time was not Christ’s coming in glory but the individual’s
meeting with Christ at death. Today, however, an evolutionary consciousness
has made time very important. When will Christ come for someone imbued
with the vision of Teilhard de Chardin? He will come when the human race,
now responsible for cooperating in its own evolution, will have (with God’s
grace) brought about the kingdom.
Statements about time and place are not theological statements; they are
descriptions of world views. The location of a spirituality within its particular
cosmological framework makes possible the comparison and contrast of similar
expressions which come from widely different historical-cultural contexts. It
would be far beyond the scope of this article to attempt to outline the world
views which have shaped and been shaped by western thought, but it is worth
mentioning here two books which are particularly insightful: Romano
Guardini’s The End of the Modern World and John Dunne’s A Search for God in
Time and Memory.26 Guardini has mapped out four cosmologies fundamental to
the history of western thought: classical, medieval, modern, and post-modern.
If we take into account that much has occurred which might further clarify his
analysis of the present (post-modern) period, this work is very useful. Dunne
has given the study of world views an interesting refinement by pointing to the
different ways in which autobiographies have been written: a story of deeds
(classical), a gamut of experience (Augustine), a ladder of experience (medieval),
and a story of appropriation (modern and contemporary). This does not do jus-
tice to the nuances given by Dunne, but the distinctions he introduces are
invaluable for appreciating the genres under which spiritual growth has been
described.
A second principle for comparison and contrast is that there exist specifi-
cally different, yet equally valid, spiritualities within the Church. In other
words, spiritualities differ not only because of various historical-cultural back-
grounds, but they also differ according to type. Of course, a rigid and exclusive
classification would be impossible and undesirable, but the varied emphases of
many spiritualities suggest that we might discover several models which would
help us to better understand similarities and differences.
To develop models it is necessary to select criteria for differentiation. This
selection, always arbitrary, establishes the parameters by which the models are
distinguished. Here the criteria will be ”attitudes” toward two potential loci for
expressions of the authentic: the world—including human society and institu-
tion—and history—especially change and conversion. We can determine the
models by asking this question: does a spirituality view the world and/or histo-
ry as a positive locus for expressions of the authentic?27 If a spirituality is not
positive toward either we will call it apophatic, if it is positive toward both we
will call it apostolic, if it is positive toward the world but not toward history we
will call it city-of-God, and if it is positive toward history but not toward the
world we will call it prophetic.
28 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

At one extreme, answering “no” to both the world and to history, are the
apophatic28 spiritualities. These are the mystical spiritualities known to us today
primarily through the Cloud of Unknowing, John of the Cross, and Thomas
Merton. For an apophatic spirituality, the chief expression of the authentic is
negation of the specific image: one goes to God through unknowing or through
darkness. It should be stressed, however, that the apophatic spiritualities do not
necessarily hold that the world is evil or that history is meaningless; one need
only think of the concern and involvement of Thomas Merton. The apophatic
spiritualities emphasize a wisdom of contemplation through negation, and the
goal of that contemplation is the love and knowledge of God. A curiosity of
apophatic prayer is that its central insight—negation—should never be prac-
ticed by a beginner. Both the Cloud and John of the Cross counsel that apophat-
ic prayer is not for everyone, that beginners should definitely rely on the medi-
ating image, and that there are signs by which one can know if he or she is
called to this form of prayer.29
At the other extreme, answering “yes” to both world and history, are the
apostolic spiritualities. An apostolic spirituality views the world and history as a
locus for self-transformation. Its expressions can vary greatly. Ignatius was con-
cerned with ”the defense and propagation of the faith and the progress of
souls.”30 For Ignatius holiness was found through an involvement with the
world in an attempt to spread the kingdom. Ignatius’ successor, Father Pedro
Arrupe, wants “the conversion of the individual” but he also wants to “trans-
form the world into a fit habitation for justice and humanity.”31 It is important
to distinguish apostolic work from apostolic spirituality as that model is being
described here. Everyone is called in some way to the apostolate, but not every-
one seeks God primarily through involvement with the world and the transfor-
mation of its history. When a particular spirituality adopts the vocabulary of
involvement and transformation in its expressions of the authentic and the
inauthentic and in its statement of wisdom, then it exemplifies the essential
marks of the apostolic model.
A city-of-God spirituality, saying “yes” to the world and “no” to history, is
characterized by the location of expressions of the authentic in one special place
in the world to the exclusion of others. This place, which then becomes a reflec-
tion of the kingdom of God, could be a monastery, the home, or even the indi-
vidual human heart. St. Benedict summarized his wisdom in the form of a Rule:
how to live the kingdom together in the monastery. The Imitation of Christ
counsels flight to the safety of our own hearts where “you will see the kingdom
of God come into your soul.”32 A city-of-God spirituality has probably been the
norm for most Christians throughout history, and it is also a characteristic of
every other type of spirituality, even if not the primary one. Whenever we focus
on a particular community or on our own heart we are highlighting the
city-of-God dimension of our spiritual lives.
The prophetic spirituality finds expressions of the authentic in history but
not in the world. The Old Testament prophet offered interpretations of histo-
 Toward a Method for the Study of Spirituality / 29

ry as well as judgments. The radical poverty of St. Francis of Assisi was a judg-
ment of the abuse of material wealth and it was a sign of hope in a God who
would fulfill all promises. Prophetic spirituality is often characterized by living
one or more of the gospel values to an extreme: Francis and poverty, the virgins
and ascetics living a life of celibacy while awaiting martyrdom in the early
Church, or the gospel-motivated civil disobedience in our own times. While
prophetic spirituality often contains the dimension of a “challenge” it certainly
need not be a gloomy spirituality—as witnessed by the joy of St. Francis.
Once again, we must not adhere to these models too rigorously. The exam-
ples given above illustrated the tendencies of their respective models to a
marked degree; but most spiritualities, including those mentioned, are mixtures
of all four, with perhaps one or more predominating. With this caution in mind
we could make use of the models to organize and clarify the differences and
similarities we observe among the various spiritualities. For example, both
Ignatius of Loyola and John of the Cross were sixteenth-century Spanish saints
who shared the same geography and culture. The spiritualities of both these
men are familiar enough to us that we would not be surprised to find a number
of significant differences in spite of similar backgrounds. We know that conso-
lation is an important part of the spirituality of Ignatius: it is an expression of
the authentic, something to be sought in prayer. For John of the Cross, on the
other hand, consolation in prayer was often a sign of the inauthentic: the con-
templative advancing in prayer should neither seek consolation nor trust it
when it came.33 This apparent contradiction is resolved when we remember that
we are dealing with two very different models of spirituality. John, the apophat-
ic mystic who shuns specific images so as to approach God in the “night,” is
consistent within his model when he rejects consolations. Ignatius, the apos-
tolic man who finds God in the world through specific choices, is consistent in
asking to have these choices confirmed through consolation. Apophatic and
apostolic are different paths of spiritual growth.

Towards Evaluation
Ultimately evaluation is the responsibility of the Church, and over the cen-
turies she has generally given a wide latitude to the expressions claiming to be
of the Spirit. As long as a spirituality refrained from making its charism nor-
mative for all Christians, maintained a balanced view of theology and human
nature, and did not habitually defy the directions of the hierarchy, the Church
has been at least tolerant if not actively supportive. Ronald Knox has catalogued
a number of exotic spiritual movements beginning with the Corinthian com-
munity, and his very thorough work is an encyclopedia of spiritual aberrations
together with the appropriate judgment of the Church.34
Negative criteria are much easier to establish than positive, and the records
of the Holy Office detail specific distortions to be avoided rather than positive
principles on which to build. But, then, most great spiritual leaders did not con-
sult the Vatican archives in order to construct a charism; they responded to the
30 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

work of the Spirit and left the editing to others. Nonetheless, it is possible to
point out three indicators of a good spirituality: good theology, good sense, and
good results. Good spirituality must flow out of the Christian community’s
understanding of the gospel and hence must exhibit good theology. Spirituality
is a human movement, and so good spirituality should reflect a keen sensitivity
to the human condition—good sense. Finally, a good spirituality will produce
good results because it will be the work of the Holy Spirit—”Whoever remains
in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty” (Jn 15:5).
Good theology and good sense are not abstract principles which can be
applied unerringly to any new situation. In most cases they are the culmination
of a long process of give and take between the Church and the proponents of a
new spirituality. On the one side there must be an increasingly sympathetic
understanding of the expressions of the new spirituality; on the other, there
must be a growing clarification of the meanings of those expressions.
Let us take St. Francis of Assisi and the Franciscans as an example. The cry
for the vita apostolica—a return to the life of the gospels in penance, poverty, and
preaching—did not appear suddenly in 1206 when Francis overcame his fear of
leprosy. The twelfth century had already witnessed a large number of spiritual
movements toward the vita apostolica, and many of these movements were in
tension with the Church. A change in the socio-economic climate, the abuses
of wealth especially among the clergy, and the Church’s own reforms of the
eleventh century had brought about a hunger for new ways of expressing the
spiritual aspirations of those who did not feel called to the cloistered life of the
monastery. The Cathars,35 the Humiliati,36 and the Waldensians37 were some of
the better known movements which answered to this hunger. Almost inevitably
there was resistance from the official Church. If we leave aside misunderstand-
ings and personal animosities, this resistance was usually on theological and
pastoral grounds. Theologically, the new movements presented opinions rang-
ing from the outright dualism of the Cathars to the denial of the validity of a
sacrament administered by a corrupt priest. Such theological opinions, which
touched the sacramental nature of the Church, could not be tolerated.
Pastorally, the issue was normally over the right to preach. Did a person who
took the gospel seriously and lived poorly have the right to preach without the
permission of the local clergy or bishops? Both the Waldensians and the
Humiliati approached Rome for approval but were rebuffed on the question of
preaching.
No one denied the need for greater poverty, and the pope himself called
the bishops and clergy to task for their failure to preach the gospel;38 it was a
question of finding the right form. What took place in the twelfth century was
a twofold development whereby the new expressions of spirituality were being
clarified against the theological-pastoral demands of the Church; and the
Church was learning to listen with more sympathy to the different spiritual
needs of her people. By the end of the century the time was ripe for Francis and
Dominic.
 Toward a Method for the Study of Spirituality / 31

Of course, the phenomenon of St. Francis was not just the inevitable out-
come of an historical development. It was also the special work of God’s grace
in a man who was both generous enough to respond to the call for a life of rad-
ical poverty and humble enough to listen to the voice of the Church.
Nonetheless, that long century of development points to the kind of prepara-
tion and hard work out of which true spiritual insight is born. Nor did Innocent
III’s approval of Francis in 1209 complete the process. As numbers increased
problems did also. Good sense and a sound understanding of human nature
called for certain modifications. More structure and organization were needed
which could channel the charism without destroying it. Provinces were estab-
lished, local houses and superiors appointed and a year’s novitiate was
required.39
If we shift back into our own century we realize that the Church is con-
stantly faced with new expressions of spirituality arising from the legitimate
aspirations of a people hungering for God. These new movements need to be
examined in the light of good theology and good sense, and they need to
receive the sympathetic understanding of the Church. A serious study of spiri-
tuality can make a genuine contribution to this endeavor.
First of all, a new spirituality needs to identify, and then clarify its expres-
sions. This is the work of analysis described earlier. What are the expressions of
the authentic and the inauthentic and the forms which organize them? What is
its wisdom? Only after these questions are carefully answered does theological
evaluation become possible. When we know the expressions of the spirituality
and their relationship to one another, then we know its theological stance and
we can judge it. The analysis will also reveal the spirituality’s perspective on
human nature, its understanding of the human condition. While great care
must be exercised here, it would violate good sense to have a spirituality which
proved to be psychologically destructive. It has unfortunately happened in the
history of spirituality that “leaving the world” has become an occasion for
hatred and destruction of the self or the body rather than a love for God.40
Finally, analysis of a new spirituality will reveal its internal coherence or lack
thereof. This is important because personal growth demands a certain degree
of unity of purpose and technique, and a spirituality which seems to move in
many different directions at the same time will only provoke confusion and
frustration. While this may appear to be obvious, it is not always so easy to rec-
ognize. For example, a spirituality expressed entirely in a nineteenth-century
idiom might exhibit good theology and good psychology, but unless it is able to
translate itself coherently into the language and forms of the twentieth century
there will always be an unnecessary tension from trying to operate in a world
view, a cosmology, which is no longer our own. This was one of the reasons for
Vatican II’s call for adaptation in religious life.
In addition, a new spirituality needs to be understood externally, and this is
the work of comparison and contrast. From the Church’s standpoint, evaluation
will be enhanced when a spirituality is known in relation to other spiritualities
32 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

both past and present. This much goes without saying. But such an external
understanding can also be quite useful for the spirituality itself. One of the
habitual dangers for a new movement is to see itself as being unique in respond-
ing to the call of the gospels. Time and time again this has resulted in sectari-
anism and heresy. When a spirituality understands itself in the context of his-
tory it will be better able to appreciate its uniqueness without overestimating its
importance.

Notes
1
Theologians may protest that method is a problem for them, too, but at least work is being done.
Recently David Tracy has suggested five basic models which have influenced theological inquiry:
orthodox, liberal, neo-orthodox, radical, and his own “revisionist” model. See David Tracy, Blessed
Rage for Order (Seabury, 1975), pages 22-34. Tracy has been influenced in part through his long
association with the thought of Bernard Lonergan. In a very important work, Method in Theology
(Seabury, 1979; first published: Herder & Herder, 1972), Lonergan applied his transcendental
method to the task of developing a method in theology. I will cite Lonergan only briefly in the
course of this article, but I need to acknowledge that the influence of Method has been considerable.
2
For an explanation of the relationship of the realm of common sense and the realm of theory, see
Lonergan, Method, pp. 257-258.
 Toward a Method for the Study of Spirituality / 33

3
Alan Jones, “Spirituality and Theology,” REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 39 (1980), p. 171.
4
William Johnston, The Inner Eye of Love (Harper & Row, 1978), p. 20. Jones cites this on p. 170
of his article.
5
Hans Urs von Balthasar, “The Gospel as Norm and Test of All Spirituality in the Church,” from
Spirituality in the Church, Christian Duquoc, editor. Concilium, vol. 9 (Paulist, 1965), p. 7.
6
Process theologians may take exception to this. In a dipolar notion of God one might be able to
speak of God’s spirituality: “God in his consequent aspect receives into himself that which occurs
in the world, so that it becomes the occasion for newer and richer, as well as better, concretions in
the ongoing movement of divine activity,” W. Norman Pittenger, “Process Thought: A
Contemporary Trend in Theology,” Process Theology, Ewert H. Cousins, editor (Newman, 1971), p.
27. Even if one were to accept this position, it would be quite difficult to move from the idea of a
spirituality of God to its description.
7
It is very easy for spiritual direction to become psychological counseling. Of course, sometimes
this is desirable because it is counseling which is needed, but often we slide into a counseling frame-
work simply because it seems to have more substance than spiritual direction. This again reveals
the necessity of definition and methodology proper to spirituality.
8
Lonergan views this as a fundamental characteristic of religious development. See Method, p. 110.
9
“I would rather feel compunction of heart for my sins than merely know the definition of com-
punction,” Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, edited with an introduction by Harold C.
Gardiner (Image, 1955), Book I, chapter 1.
10
The Cloud of Unknowing, by an anonymous fourteenth-century Englishman, edited and intro-
duced by William Johnston (Image, 1973), chapter vii.
11
Ignatius Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, translation by Louis J. Puhl (Newman, 1954). Shame and con-
fusion, sorrow, tears and anguish are from the First Exercise of the First Week, #48; intimate
knowledge of Christ is from the First Contemplation of the Second Week, #104; poverty and
humility are from the Two Standards, #147; and gratitude is from the Contemplation to Attain the
Love of God, #233.
12
The identification of basic units (expressions of the authentic and the inauthentic) and the dis-
covery of the forms by which these expressions are related have a slight resemblance to structural-
ism. However, a double caution is in order. In its extreme sense structuralism can become an ide-
ology in which all we can know about a system are its basic units and their associations; further
meaning would be denied. In a less ideological sense structuralism is a method of inquiry which can
be more friendly to theology and spirituality, but even here—as the term can e very ambiguous—I
wish to make clear that my own use is limited to exactly what has been described in the text.
13
Spiritual Exercises, #136-148.
14
St. Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria, was probably the author of the Life of Antony shortly after
the hermit’s death in 356. Antony represented a prototype for the desert fathers, and, whatever the
historical accuracy of the Life, it certainly had a profound influence on desert spirituality. This
important work is once again available in English: Athanasius: The Life of St. Antony and the Letter to
Marcellinus, translation and introduction by Robert C. Gregg, preface by William A. Clebsch
(Paulist, 1980).
15
The four journeys: leaving his home to live on the outskirts of a village (Life of Antony, c. 4); liv-
ing in the tomb (Ibid., c. 8); from the tomb to the abandoned fort (Ibid., cc. 11-12); and the with-
drawal to the inner mountain (Ibid., cc. 49-51).
16
Bernard Spaapen, ”A New Look at an Old Classic,” from Imitating Christ, E. Malatesta, editor,
Religious Experience Series, vol. 5 (Abbey Press, 1974). This work is a translation from the French
Dictionary of Spirituality.
34 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

17
Frequently a spirituality will describe the break between an unreflective Christian life and the
desire to lead a more spiritual life. Another break occurs later when the Christian leaves the peri-
od characterized by struggle and “spiritual achievement” and moves more into a climate of surren-
der and ”spiritual giftedness.” The classical distinctions have been the three ways: purgative, illu-
minative, and unitive.
18
Life of Antony, cc. 16-43.
19
Apatheia was the ascetical goal of the desert fathers. It was not apathy but rather a state of inte-
rior calm and recollection. Athanasius described this state in the Life o Antony: “The state of his
soul was one of purity, for it was not constricted by grief, nor relaxed by pleasure, nor affected by
either laughter or dejection. Moreover, when he saw the crowd, he was not annoyed any more than
he was elated at being embraced by so many people. He maintained utter equilibrium, like one
guided by reason and steadfast in that which accords with nature” (c. 14). Perhaps the best sum-
mary of desert wisdom is contained in the writings of Evagrius Ponticus (d. 399), especially in his
Praktikos. This has been translated together with Chapters on Prayer and published as Praktikos:
Chapters on Prayer, translated and edited by John Eudes Bamberger, O.C.S.O. (Cistercian
Publication, 1970).
20
Spiritual Exercises, #313-336.
21
Lonergan, Method, p. 4.
22
See note 28 below.
23
Basil, “An Introduction to the Ascetical Life,” From St. Basic, Ascetical Works, The Fathers of the
Church vol. 9, translated by Sister M. Monica Wagner, C.S.C. (New York, 1950), p. 9.
24
Spiritual Exercises, #144.
25
Ibid., #145.
26
John Dunne, A Search for God in Time and Memory (Macmillan, 1967). Romano Guardini, The
End of the Modern World, edited with an introduction by Frederick D. Wilhelmsen, translated by
Joseph Theman and Herbert Burke (Sheed and Ward, 1956).
27
The idea for this came to me from reading John Macquarrie, Christian Hope (Seabury, 1978). In
a section called, “A Typology of Interpretations” (pp. 86-88), Macquarrie works out four types of
Christian hope: individual vs. social, this-worldly vs. other-worldly expectations, evolutionary vs.
revolutionary, and realized vs. future.
28
Apophatic: in speaking of God one can either affirm certain truths (kataphatic theology) or, real-
izing that God is beyond any conceptualization, one can speak of him by negation (apophatic the-
ology). The apophatic mystics are those whose way the way of unknowing. This can be found to a
high degree in many mystical writers, and the chief source for their apophatic vocabulary is the
work of a mysterious Syrian monk of the fifth or sixth century who has been known through the
ages as Dionysius the Areopagite or pseudo-Dionysius.
29
Cloud of Unknowing, c. 75. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount Carmel, translated, edited, and
introduced by E. Allison Peers (Image, 1958) Book II, c. xiii, pp. 219-223.
30
Ignatius Loyola, The Formula of the Institute, as contained in the papal bull, Exposcit debitum of July
21, 1550. Translation from The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus, translated and edited by George
E. Ganss (Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1970), p. 66.
31
Pedro Arrupe, “The Challenge of the World and the Mission of the Society,” opening address to
the Thirty-Second General Congregation of the Society of Jesus. Published in A Planet to Heal,
translated with notes by John Harriott (Center of Ignatian Spirituality, Rome, 1975), p. 312.
32
Imitation of Christ, Book II, c. 1.
33
John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount Carmel, Book II, cc. 4, 7.
34
Ronald Knox, Enthusiasm (Oxford University Press, 1961).
 Toward a Method for the Study of Spirituality / 35

35
The Cathars, also known as Albigensians, were especially active in southern France from the mid-
dle of the twelfth century. They were virtually a distinct religion with their own organization of dio-
ceses. Theologically they were influenced by the Bogomils of Bulgaria, whose theology can be
traced back to a Manichean dualism.
36
The Waldensians were an evangelical movement founded by Valdes, a merchant from Lyons.
They attempted to remain orthodox but were forbidden to preach at the time of the Third Lateran
Council (1179).
37
The Humiliati appeared in northern Italy during the second part of the twelfth century. They
were forbidden to preach in 1179 but were eventually reconciled to the Church by Innocent III in
1201. He gave them a threefold rule which regulated the men as canons regular, the women as reli-
gious, and a group of married people as a type of third order. For an interesting treatment of the
dealings of Innocent III with the Humiliati see Brenda Bolton, ”Innocent III’s Treatment of the
Humiliati,” from Popular Belief and Practice, edited by G.J. Cuming and Derek Baker (Cambridge
University Press, 1972).
38
In his treatment of the twelfth century, M.D. Chenu wrote: “Peter the Chanter had denounced
the ‘most dreadful silence’ (pessima taciturnitas) of the clergy, and both Peter and Innocent III had
invoked a phrase from Isaiah (56:10) to repudiate “these muted dogs who don’t have it in them to
bark,” M.D. Chenu, Nature, Man, and Society in the Twelfth Century: Essays on New Theological
Perspectives in the Latin West, selected, edited, and translated by Jerome Taylor and Lester L. Little,
preface by Étienne Gilson. (University of Chicago Press, 1968), p. 244.
39
For a discussion of these developments, see Cajetan Esser, Origins of the Franciscan Order, trans-
lated by Aedan Daly, O.F.M. and Dr. Irina Lynch (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1970); see
especially Chapter III: “First Crises and Attempts to Overcome Them.”
40
An extreme example of this might be found in the Cathars who practiced (though rarely) a form
of suicide by starvation called endura. This occurred only after the reception of the consolamentum
which was a combination of baptism and Eucharist. Once the believer received the consolamentum
he or she was to live without any sin whatsoever. It was in fear of a relapse that some chose to end
their lives as soon after consolamentum as possible.
Am I Growing Spirituality?
Elements for a Theology of Growth

Matthias Neuman, O.S.B.

Volume 42, 1983, pp. 38-49.

R ecently a student at our seminary expressed his judgment about the quality
of the theological and spiritual training offered to him: “Because of the many
talents and abilities of our faculty I am sometimes overwhelmed by the vastness
of what one should know and be. This has contributed to a feeling of insecuri-
ty and incompetence on my part in tackling pastoral duties and spiritual respon-
sibilities.” In a later conversation this student indicated that the variety of the-
ological disciplines, the pluralism within each discipline, and the multiplicity of
personal spiritualities forced him toward too many choices and subsequently a
stalled indecision towards his professional and spiritual development. This
young man rather sharply reflects the problem that confronts many people
today. The American religious scene corrals a grab bag of interests, from mys-
ticism to social action, from pure rationalism to biblical fundamentalism, from
family centered religion to process cosmology. The spiritually minded individ-
ual, fortunately or unfortunately, gets exposed to most of these religious trends
at some time or other. Besides being intellectually confusing this incredible
mixture tends to stall one’s personal integration, growth and competence in the
spiritual life.
In this article I wish to explore the possibility and issues of a viable “theol-
ogy of spiritual growth.” I would like to search out some concrete directives by
which a Christian adult might seriously look at his or her life and give a satis-
fying response to the question: “Am I growing spiritually?”

36
 Am I Growing Spiritually / 37

This tremendous concern of faith-minded adults for their own spiritual

growth cannot be separated from the larger thrust of American religion into
the realm of interiority and spirituality. At the outset it would be good to take
some time to clarify what is meant by the two terms spirituality and spiritual
growth.
At least in Roman Catholic circles, and I suspect beyond, spirituality has
become a “hot” subject in recent years. Books, workshops, prayer seminars and
directed retreats proliferate and vie for the increasing crowd of concerned
believers intent on deepening their faith. This movement in spirituality high-
lights a number of concerns in American religious practice. There is, first, the
desire to break through the abstractions and formalisms of religion to gain a
personal, immediate contact with God. This desire also wants to go beyond the
generality of scriptural phrases such as “life in the Spirit” and “following the
Lord.” These are certainly important but they need to be fleshed out with a
commonsense language of our time and culture. Second, prayer is viewed as a
“being-in-the-presence-of” the Divine rather than an obligatory addressing of
the Deity~ it is personal communion with God. Third, by means of spirituali-
ty people wish to free their emotions and use their real-life experiences as their
primary religious foundation in place of theoretical dogmas. And. lastly, the
spirituality thrust calls each man and woman to develop a very personal and
intimate religious practice.
These concerns convey some of the flavor of the spirituality movement, but
they do not make precise the structured shifts that take place in the religious
practice of people. For this we need to know the basic elements of any spiritu-
ality, I would like to suggest four constitutive elements which are always oper-
ative, either explicitly or implicitly, within a given spirituality:1
1. The point at which God touches people in their daily lives. The real, generat-
ing source of any spirituality is found where the person or persons sense the
presence of Mystery or of the Transcendent in their everyday lives. Wherever
we sense that a power beyond draws us out of ourselves and gives us a feeling
of awe or of selfless love (the Holy), then a spirituality begins.2 Those everyday
moments, places, events or persons which join us to the Transcendent ground
the structural origin of any spirituality.
2. The supports constructed to protect and nourish this experience of Mystery. The
instinctive reaction to an experience of the Holy is to surround it with activi-
ties, derived from our best abilities, which are intended to shore up and protect,
and thus contribute to the likelihood that the Mystery will appear to us again.
Whatever form these follow-up activities take, they constitute the intrinsic
“devotions” of the spirituality.
3. A method of focusing one’s attention for the renewed encounter with Mystery.
Such styles of “attending” are, in fact, methods of prayer. From a phenomeno-
logical perspective, every style of prayer—meditation or contemplation, com-
munal or ritual movement—reflects a particular way of organizing and stimu-
lating consciousness to prepare for Mystery.
38 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

4. A method of growth and conversion. Every spirituality encloses some plan

for extending the benefits and riches of one’s contact with God into all other
areas of one’s life. To meet the Transcendent must rearrange values, and that
rearrangement must automatically push itself into all other parts of a person’s
total life-world. A spirituality, then, inherently implies some kind of spiritual
growth.
This last item of the structure of spirituality needs development, thus
bringing us to the major concern of this paper: a theology of spiritual growth.
Our American culture is obsessed by the need for progress. People feel
compelled to constant growth—intellectually, personally and spiritually. Not
unlike so many consumer products that we buy, each year (we feel) we should
be able to measure ourselves as “new and improved.” This often rabid quest
mirrors the ethos of American modernity itself, the cumulative result of indus-
trialization, technology, mass media and the myth of progress.3
This cultural storm has flooded into the religious milieu of America as well,
engulfing all the branches of the Christian tradition. The myth of continual
growth, the American dream, has ever so forcefully incorporated itself into our
religious practice and hopes. People feel an intense need to be able to measure
and plot their progress toward God. They ask for special courses and practica
in spirituality, faith formation and prayer. They seek out spiritual directors with
whom to identify evidences of their spiritual growth.
This state of affairs generates a plethora of problems. First of all, few peo-
ple seem to have any clear idea or conviction about what “spiritual growth”
really consists of, or how to measure it. Like myths about sex, views of spiritu-
al growth get passed around from popularized article to popularized confer-
ence. Countless people strive constantly to improve, to grow, but end up terri-
bly frustrated because they aren’t sure if they are getting anywhere because ade-
quate criteria and a coherent theory are lacking. Marshall McLuhan once
wrote: “The price of eternal vigilance is indifference,” 4 an ominous warning for
so many who cast themselves headlong into plans of spiritual regeneration.
This presents us with a serious problem in Christian spirituality today. In
the remainder of this article, I will try to indicate some components of a theol-
ogy of spiritual growth which might assist Christians to make a better evalua-
tion of their lives in their journey towards the Mystery of God. Three points
will be specifically addressed: 1) the necessity of a critique of cultural theories
of human growth; 2) a better use of Christian religious resources as a founda-
tion for valid spiritual growth; and 3) the importance of increasing the role of
personal responsibility for one’s spiritual growth.

The Necessity of a Critique of Growth Theories

In the last quarter century, under the onslaught of the psychological revo-
lution, an ever-increasing array of theories of human growth have established
themselves as elements of the American cultural scene. Philip Rieff’s prophetic
warning has come of age:
 Am I Growing Spiritually / 39

Psychological Man lives by the ideal of insight—practical, experimental insight leading

to the mastery of his own personality. Psychological Man has turned away from his
Occidental preoccupation with transforming the environment and converting others.
Rather, he now more nearly imitates the Oriental ideal of salvation through self-con-
templative manipulation.5
Some perception and schematizing of human growth has traditionally been
a part of all folk wisdoms and religious traditions. The transition from child to
adult was always acknowledged, and a large portion of folk literature dealt with
the shifts in behavior, attitude and community-esteem that attach to the passage
from boy to man or girl to woman. Similarly, religious traditions of every kind
have always sought to understand the fundamental shifts that occur in the
course of human life and how this changes the individual relationship with
God; the Hindu schema of Student-Householder-Wanderer-Holy Person
serves as a typical example.6 However, these traditional understandings of
human growth have been sharply accentuated and developed In our hyperpsy-
chologized milieu. Not too long ago psychologists began to delineate more pre-
cise stages of growth—down to year-by-year and month-by-month. In addition
to more narrowly identifying the temporal sequence, they also expanded the list
of means by which such growth should occur. One fairly recent book lists a
sample of the ways available to contemporary Americans, offering us growth by
means of play, breathing, extended perception, smell, taste, touch, sex, family,
encounter groups, peak experiences, gestalt therapies, LSD dreams, medita-
tion, training intuition, psychedelic experiences and finally—relaxation.7
In such a supercharged atmosphere, is it any wonder that people start wor-
rying about “having to grow”? They check themselves month by month to keep
tabs on the normalcy of their progress. A man in a parish once told me of his
anxiety that his mid-life crisis hadn’t started on time! People can get abnormal
trying too hard to be normal. A good theology of spiritual growth ought to
address this issue head-on.
Available theories are legion in our society. Just consider the complexities
of balancing together Piaget’s cognitive development,8 Erikson’s psychosocial
theory of growth,9 Kohlberg’s stages of moral development,10 Richard Jones’s
structuring of imaginal growth,11 Daniel Levinson’s modeling of adult life-tran-
sitions,12 and Elizabeth Kuebler-Ross’s enumeration of the stages of dying.13
Apparently the negotiation of one’s way through that maze begins with the first
month of life and never ends until the final breath. It would be a grim and
determined individual who would seek never to sway from the tough road of
such normalcy: “Narrow is the path that leads to life and few there are who fol-
low it” (Mt 7:14)!
What I find distressing is how easily and totally those growth schemas are
imported wholesale into spiritual thinking and writing. Piaget and Kohlberg
are assumed to present ready-made outlines for faith development.14 Erikson’s
schema is accepted as the basis for identifying the major steps of adult religious
conversion.15 Levinson’s adult life-transitions provide the hidden key to a mid-
life “spirituality of crisis.” 16
40 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

I would like to suggest that a theology of spiritual growth ought to provide a

much deeper and more detailed critique of these theories of human growth and
their uses for spirituality. While there is much excellent research in these cultur-
al theories of growth and development, and while they certainly offer a mine of
insights to be tapped for a theology of spirituality, there is still a need for religious
prudence in the acceptance of them. Too often, for instance, one encounters the
feeling that the accurate following of this or that theory becomes binding for
human happiness. “Normalcy” equals happiness and fulfillment! A theology of
spiritual growth should exercise some critical deflation of such expectations.
Again, readers of psychological theories frequently assume that a particular
age-related growth pattern can be made the target of personal decision and
attacked forthwith. They forget that the most such schemes can accomplish for
any individual is to provide possible awareness-points along the way toward
long-range programs and decisions, points which might possibly help people to
locate the source of some of their present blockages in one or other unresolved
issue of their past lives. There are, in other words, no instant panaceas.
In seeking for balance in the utilization of these chronological growth pat-
terns, a theology of spiritual growth would do well to brush off discarded phi-
losophy books, rehabilitating, for instance, the existentialist notion of “event.” 17
In the making of a human life, the setting of attitudes, actions and hopes is as
much the result of the particular and unique events which happen to an indi-
vidual as it is of the unfolding of any chronologically structured growth scheme.
Most life events occur without our previous consent, even though others may
be deliberately planned and executed. The powerful existentialist insight into
event, however, has recently been smothered, philosophically, in the waves of
structuralism. Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison provide a good exam-
ple of one man whose mind, heart and vision had been irrevocably changed and
shaped by his unplanned prison experience.18
Other areas cannot be developed here. But let me suggest that any ade-
quate theology of spiritual growth must incorporate and develop four basic
dynamics of human and spiritual deepening. I have drawn these from a theory
that combines social phenomenology and cultural anthropology.

1. Chronological Growth Stages. This dynamic encompasses the many theo-

ries that seek to explain how the structural human being (mind, emotions,
sociality, and so forth) moves through the trajectory of life. Its purview is the
time line, and it locates the person as moving successively out of one set of
structures into a future set. Most of the growth schemas mentioned above—
Erikson, Kohlberg, Levinson, and so forth—are good expositors of this dynam-
ic of human growth. Knowing these chronological stages can give us some
positive insight into how we have negotiated the human need to cope with
emotional maturity, sociality, intellectual responsibility, and so forth. We need
to know this, and it can serve as a fundamental indicator of our spiritual growth
toward the mystery of God.19
 Am I Growing Spiritually / 41

2. Cultural Exposure. Just as significant for a basic human and spiritual deep-
ening is the dynamic of cultural expression to which a person has been exposed.
Here growth opportunities point to a richness or expansiveness of social, per-
sonal and religious experiences of life. This may be the most neglected of all the
basic areas of human and spiritual growth. Americans especially have been
provincial—even to the point of denigrating the cultural riches of other peo-
ples. Yet we have to realize that there are many ways of meeting the funda-
mental issues of life in family and society, of entering into interpersonal
relations, and so on. To limit oneself exclusively to the learned patterns of one’s
own family or culture is, in effect, to deny the possibility of other ways of grow-
ing that God has offered to the human race. Cultural openness is also a means
of grasping more profoundly just how God’s life merges with our own.
A personal example may illustrate what I mean here. I was raised in a small
Midwestern town, in a culture strongly shaped by traditional Germanic values.
A cardinal belief of that culture was: You never get something for nothing. That
limited experience kept me from really understanding and interiorizing the
New Testament notion of charism— a gift of God freely bestowed. It wasn’t
until I had lived in another culture (Italy) for four years that the cultural expres-
sion of pure gift became an experienced part of my reality, enabling me to inte-
riorize this New Testament meaning. I doubt that this could have happened if
I had clung rigidly to my inherited convictions.
A broad-based cultural exposure can be a vital dynamic of both human and
spiritual growth. Not only should we recognize this, but we should be willing
to let ourselves he challenged by it.

3. The Depth of Transformational Possibilities. This dynamic considers to what

extent the individual recognizes the opportunities that are available for chang-
ing one’s life. The previous element can present numerous possibilities and val-
ues to test one’s ability to go beyond and enrich one’s inherited and socialized
culture. This dimension of human deepening, though, looks far more radically
and openly to the future and to the goal of humanization than do the previous
two areas. It incorporates the hope and realistic expectation that our lives can
actually be reshaped and renewed into a creative new pattern that combines
inherited values and newly-learned cultural expressions. The full reality of spir-
itual growth, then, must internalize the possibility that the true spiritual person
will be the result of a creative religious act.20

4. Integrative and Creative Decision. This final dynamic specifies that unique
moment when the three preceding dimensions are brought into mutual inter-
action. Chronological growth, cultural possibilities, and projected changes are
balanced and ready to be creatively merged by free decisions. This truly inte-
grative dynamic of spiritual deepening is the traditional meaning of Wisdom.
Christian theology has also called it “discernment in the Spirit of the Lord.” It
is an axis of human and spiritual growth which reaches far beyond the simple
42 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

importation of cultural growth theories into religious spirituality.

These four elements of spiritual growth ought to provide at least a basic
framework that would take us beyond a simple application of the chronological
growth stages. Spiritual directors and reflective Christian adults should exam-
ine all four areas for material to answer the question: Am I growing spiritually?

Christian Resources and a Theology of Spiritual Growth

Having considered the problem of understanding growth in contemporary
spirituality and the human social sciences, we must further inquire: Does the
Christian religious experience offer any special contributions to this issue of
spiritual growth? Does the Christian tradition add any unique perspectives in
ascertaining the precise goals, means or methodological steps of authentic spir-
itual deepening?
First, let us acknowledge that Scripture surely affirms some kind of reli-
gious maturation. The Apostle Paul gently reprimands his congregation at
Corinth: “I treated you as still infants in Christ. What I fed you with was milk,
not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it” (1 Co 3:1, 2). In another pas-
sage he contrasts the ways of children with those of adults as a norm for spiri-
tual deepening (1 Co 13:9-12). Paul further notes the real possibility of regres-
sion or backsliding on the spiritual journey: “I am astonished at the promptness
with which you have turned away from the one who called you . . . “ (Ga 1:6).
Along with other biblical writers (see Jn 16:12) the Apostle of the gentiles pres-
ents a definite conviction of the need for growth or deepening on the spiritual
Journey. But we will look in vain for any systematic description of a life-pattern
of holiness in the Scriptures. Alas, no biblical Erikson has appeared to lead us
into this Promised Land. At best we can discern religious situations, spiritual
responses to the situations, and recognitions that people have not progressed as
far as they should have.
Secondly, from a purely linguistic and cognitive viewpoint the Scriptures
complicate the matter of trying to formulate a coherent theory of spiritual
growth. This complication results from the cultural and religious pluralism that
lies behind the early Christian writings; this pluralism results in a variety of cen-
tral symbols— all concretizing the same Christian way.21 The New Testament
encompasses a variety of goals in the spiritual process: the paschal pattern of
Christ in us (Paul), the kingdom of God (Jesus), the holiness of God (1 Peter),
the life and ministry of Jesus (synoptic gospels). Similarly diverse are the means
to attain these goals: an active moral love (Paul), the new commandments
(Matthew), loving knowledge (John) and personal conversion (Jesus). As if this
were not enough, one falls to find the least evidence of any systematizing
method which would trace the step-by-step procedures of spiritual growth
through the means to the end. While many later Christian writers have
attempted to formulate systematizing examples, they all impose a later schema
on the earlier texts.22
The absence in the New Testament of a step-by-step explanation of spiri-
 Am I Growing Spiritually / 43

tual deepening should be understandable in a moment’s reflection: these canon-

ical writings are occasional pieces, not systematic expositions. Moreover, in the
cultural milieu of their composition, subjective spiritual growth was not a high
priority: it is our modern viewpoint that has elevated it to a primary concern.
And yet the richness of spiritual experience in the Christian heritage does pos-
sess an immense wealth in its own right, one that need not be clipped or
stretched to fit within our cultural categories of human growth.
Methodologically, this suggests that a revisionist method of theology, such as
the one outlined by David Tracy, should be introduced more forcefully into the
realm of spirituality.23 The Christian heritage should challenge contemporary
culture, as well as vice-versa. I would like to suggest one issue which might be
pursued in this dialectical exchange.
The question should be raised: Does the Christian religious vision even
allow that spiritual growth have any single necessary ground-plan? Ought we
not consider as a real possibility that the reason it is difficult to find a method-
ological statement of spiritual growth in the Bible is because there isn’t sup-
posed to be one? These writings are open-ended! They provide no absolute
goal of spiritual growth; they offer no absolute means of holiness, they organ-
ize no steps in an absolute methodological pattern. Taken as a collection of
accumulated experience these writings simply give us a variety of examples of
men and women who are “on the spiritual way.” Like the parable of the Good
Samaritan which avoids a direct answer to the question: “Who is my neighbor?”
the whole import of the scriptural collection deliberately leaves a great deal of
latitude for people to choose their own path. The implied message of the Good
Samaritan story, “Be loving and you will recognize your neighbor,” may be
symbolic of the entire scriptural message. Paul’s great theme of freedom in the
Galatian letter forcefully accents that same open-endedness. “Before faith
came, we were allowed no freedom by the Law. . . . The Law was to be our
guardian until Christ came. . . . Now that that time has come we are no longer
under that guardian” (Ga 3:23-25). That warning may be spoken against any
absolute plan (including a growth plan) that would shackle human freedom.
When Paul pleads with his hearers to be guided by the Spirit (5:26), he is
admonishing people to remain open and attentive to that momentary and inte-
grating creative impulse of God. The Spirit has a rich basket of fruits: love, joy,
peace, patience, etc.; they form the field of possibilities within with each believ-
er must fashion his or her personal spiritual map.
I like the way Joseph Goldbrunner outlines the tasks of pastoral theology
in his book Realization: Anthropology of Pastoral Care; those tasks may also serve
as a framework for Christian spiritual deepening. He notes that the process
moves through these stages: 1) getting people to accept their personal being; 2)
making them aware of their religious potentials; 3) encouraging them toward
faith-decision and action; 4) helping them to articulate their unique religious
life-history; and 5) assisting them to realize that their faith-personality must
always exist within the God-given limits of their world and society.24 These
44 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

seem to be excellent parameters for outlining the flexibility of spiritual growth

patterns and incorporating those principles of freedom and unpredictability
that are embedded in the Christian Scriptures. I personally find a great deal of
difficulty in rigidly applying a chronological growth schema as a measure of
spiritual growth. Does a young man with Down’s syndrome have to move
through the normalcy of Erikson’s stages before he can perform an act of self-
less love? Is a parent who has been embedded for years at Kohlberg’s “law-and-
order” level incapable of rising to a great act of selfless forgiveness to a wayward
teenager? I’m afraid that all too often we simply categorize and then bury peo-
ple at a certain level of human and spiritual capacity. We should go back and see
what our faith has to say about the power of God’s Spirit.

Developing Religious Initiative, Responsibility and Practical Judgment

The previous section raised the issue that a good deal of spiritual deepen-
ing is left in our hands— not just the making of decisions and the applying of
cultural growth patterns to faith development, but even the drawing up of the
religious map itself. This means that spirituality and a theology of spiritual
growth need to give much more attention to formulating a theory of religious
initiative. Indeed this is a necessary component of any theology of spiritual
growth. A person can grow only insofar as his or her self-expression gets incar-
nated into his or her world and society (both secular and sacred).
Modern anthropological studies have consistently affirmed the pivotal sig-
nificance of creativity and the vital role of the imagination within the human
project. Humans are active workers who in large measure shape their worlds.
Indeed, the distinctive trait of the human species can be identified as the
extraordinary versatility of its culture-creating capacity. For better or worse we
shape an environment about us— space, society, ritual, atmosphere—that then
becomes part of us. This process also holds true for the religious sphere of life.
The distinctiveness of human and Christian faith occurs in the projects and
actions that an individual or group chooses, organizes and executes.25 What
makes us special as human beings, whether sacred or secular, is our direction
toward the future and our decided action to make that future actual. The meas-
uring of spiritual growth includes an examination of our particular religious ini-
tiative.
The lineaments of a developed theory of religious initiative would include
three major tasks:
1. The first task aims at concretely forming a distinctive religious person-
ality. This demands a concretizing of the vision of our particular religious tra-
dition. We incarnate our faith resources through imagination. The elements of
a religious personality will generally take shape along the main lines of forming
a human identity: building a sense of uniqueness and dignity; exercising this
within the framework of an intimate community; appreciating one’s own dis-
26
tinctive gifts and integrating all the foregoing into a personal plan of sharing.
2. A theory of religious initiative will also sharpen one’s awareness of shap-
 Am I Growing Spiritually / 45

ing a personal faith. Faith can no longer be construed as a primarily passive

process. We do not merely “accept” faith, but rather actively assemble the given
pieces of a puzzle. Faith must include the active forming of convictions, atti-
tudes and projects as well as the moment of acquiescence to Mystery.
3. Finally, religious initiative ends in identifiable projects of ministry and
mission. Faith and calling should see results in the reorganizing and shaping of
the natural activity of life towards the concretizing of religious belief.
Needless to say, this stage lays the foundation for a much better material
and formal analysis of spiritual growth in an individual’s life. One of my per-
sonal contentions is that the currently assumed “measure” of spiritual growth
tends to be far too introspective. True Christian spiritual growth points to the
constant sharing of faith through some form of mission and ministry.
Along with a theory of religious initiative, a theology of spiritual growth
must give far more attention to developing the moral virtue of personal respon-
sibility. In recent years Bernard Haring and Charles Curran have both suggest-
ed the notion of personal responsibility as the key perspective explaining the
singularity of Christian moral theology.27 Their advice is well taken and should
extend to all systems of a humanly grounded religious ethic. Responsibility, as
used here, implies that the individual lives in a network of intertwining rela-
tionships in which there can be no minutely codified plan of conduct, but rather
in a creative way the individual determines how he or she should respond and
live. Curran comments that one of the most grievous sins of modern societies
is precisely the failure to nourish a true personal and social responsibility in
their citizens.28 Responsibility as a central moral virtue means that no hidden
plan is inscribed in heaven. God calls us to measure our gifts, form our religious
identities and carry out a responsible spiritual living. This challenges us to make
decisions even though we lack absolute knowledge of the future. Thus a prime
criterion of spiritual growth will be the depth and expanse to which personal
responsibility has penetrated into the believer’s life and action. Only then can
the words of Paul really be acted upon: “Since the Spirit is our life, let us be
directed by the Spirit” (Ga 5:25, 26).
A direct corollary of educating to personal responsibility will be giving
emphasis to the corresponding ability to make practical judgments. This latter
ability is necessary for any consistent and authentic spiritual growth. The the-
ory of religious initiative grounds our need to act; the moral virtue or respon-
sibility promotes the personal accepting of that need; the art of practical judg-
ment one into the how of spiritual deepening. One grows spiritually to the
extent that solid practical decisions can be made which move the person into
real faith sharing. Perhaps the heavy shift into psychological categories of
analysis has obscured these rich philosophical and moral resources of the
Christian tradition.
In conclusion, the spiritual movement has surely sensitized many adult
Christians to the need to grow spiritually. But this desire should not be left to
reverberate in an empty manner in people’s lives. Concrete guidelines need to
46 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

be established and a sound theology of spiritual growth articulated. This article

has tried to touch upon some of the elements which ought to be included in
such a theology. Hopefully the issues raised will help some of the readers move
forward into that gift of immersing oneself more deeply into the Mystery of our
Lord Jesus Christ.

NOTES

1
These elements are derived from the social phenomenology of Alfred Schultz (1899-1959). A
summary of his, life and work is given in Helmut Wagner, ed., Alfred Schutz: On Phenomenology and
Social Relations (Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1970), pp. 1-50.
2
This whole movement is captured by John Shea, “Experience and Symbol: An Approach to
Theologizing.” Chicago Studies 19 (1980), pp. 5-20.
3
Don S. Browning. Generative Man: Psychoanalytic Perspectives (Philadelphia: Westminster Press.
1973), p. 11.
4
Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (New York: Signet Books, 1964),
p. 43.
5
Paraphrased in Browning, op.cit., p. 34.
6
K.M. Sen. Hinduism (Penguin Books, 1975), pp. 22-26.
7
Herbert A. Otto and John Mann. Ways of Growth: Approaches to Expanding Awareness (New York:
Viking Press, 1968).
8
Barry Wadsworth, Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development (New York: David McKay Co., 1971).
9
Excellently summarized in Browning, op.cit., pp. 145-217.
10
Ronald Duska and Mariellen Whelan, Moral Development: A Guide to Piaget and Kohlberg (New
York: Paulist Press, 1975).
11
Richard M. Jones. Fantasy and Feeling in Education (New York: Harper and Row. 1968).
12
Daniel Levinson, et al., The Seasons of a Man’s Life (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979).
13
Elizabeth Kuebler-Ross, On Death and Dying (New York: Macmillan, 1969).
14
See Duska and Whelan, op.cit.
15
William C. McCready, “Religion and the Life-Cycle,” in Toward Vatican III: The Work That Needs
to Be Done, ed. by David Tracy, Hans Kung, and Johann Metz (New York: Seabury, 1978), pp. 272-
281.
16
James Zullo. Mid-Life: Crisis of Limits (NCR Cassettes. nn. 504-507).
17
William Luijpen, Existential Phenomenology, (Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press, 1963):
Nathaniel Lawrence and Daniel O’Connor, eds., Readings in Existential Phenomenology (Englewood
Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1907).
18
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison (New York: Macmillan, 1967), especially p. 15.
19
McCready, op.cit.
20
This element is sketched in Peter Slater, The Dynamics of Religion: Meaning and Change in Religious
Traditions (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1978), pp. 10-13.
 Am I Growing Spiritually / 47

21
Ibid., pp. 15-63.
22
See, e.g., Marc-François Lacan, “Conversion and Kingdom in the Synoptic Gospels,” in
Conversion: Perspectives on Personal and Social Transformation (New York: Alba House, 1978), pp. 97-
118.
23
David Tracy. Blessed Rage for Order (New York: Seabury, 1975), pp. 32-63.
24
Joseph Goldbrunner. Realization: Anthropology of Pastoral Care (Notre Dame: University Press,
1906), pp. 20-29.
25
For the significance of “action” in the philosophy of social phenomenology, see Alfred Schultz,
Collected Papers, Vol. I: The Problem of Social Reality, edited by Maurice Natanson (The Hague:
Martinus Nijhoff, 1973), pp. 19-46, 67-96.
26
I have elaborated some of the corresponding theological tasks in “Religious Identity and the
Theologian’s Work,” Proceedings of the Catholic Theological Society of America 28 (1973), pp. 271-277.
27
Bernard Häring. Free and Faithful in Christ, Vol. I: General Moral Theology (New York: Seabury,
1978), pp. 59-103. See also Charles Curran, “Responsibility in Moral Theology: Centrality,
Foundations, and Implications for Ecclesiology,” The Jurist 31 (1971), pp. 113-142.
28
Curran, op.cit., p. 122.
Three Questions for the Spiritual
Journey

Joel Giallanza, C.S.C.

Volume 38, 1979, pp. 663-667.

A sking a question implies searching for an answer; also it implies a desire for
the knowledge and value inherent in the answer. As expressions of a commit-
ment to the spiritual journey, questions can be effective channels for discover-
ing ways in which the Lord has been and is operative in each one’s life. Most of
the great mystics do not use questions as a structural basis for their writings.
However, they do seem to be addressing a query that could be formulated thus:
“What is your experience of God in your own life?“ Within this experiential
context, mystical writers offer the reader profound glimpses into their relation-
ships with God. Admittedly this is not the only query that shapes the writings
of these authors. Other, more specific, questions emerge as they articulate their
understanding of the spiritual life.
Questions pertaining to each one’s own spiritual journey should be neither
accidental nor random. Haphazard questioning can have a significant impact on
the direction that one takes: it can result in one’s losing sight of the journey’s
end—union with the Lord. Questions for the journey rather should facilitate
choices which have to be made, should be a guide along the road, should offer
the support and the challenge necessary to continue faithfully even when the
road is dark.
Where can such questions be found? The spiritual journey is a movement

48
 Spiritual Direction: Charism and Ministry / 49

toward union with the Lord. Our questions, then, should come from the Lord
himself. He alone gives the grace to discern choices, to find support along the
road, and to bring light to the darkness.
This reflection will focus on three questions which come from the Lord
and which seem to be of special importance for the spiritual journey.

Identifying the Lord

The first question is itself posed in the context of a journey: specifically,
Jesus and his disciples are entering the district of Caesarea Philippi. First Jesus
asks his disciples who others believe him to be; then, after a variety of respons-
es, he asks the disciples themselves: “But who do you say that I am?” (Mt 16:13-
15 and parallels). The question is a crucial one, an identifying one; the response
to it immediately identifies each one’s faith in, and relationship with, Jesus of
Nazareth. This identification is fundamental to the spiritual life. It specifies the
end point toward which the spiritual journey tends. Above all, it is a statement
of faith.
Faith is a lived reality. Its core is made visible by the whole of one’s life,
through one’s attitudes, decisions, commitments, relationships. Contemporary
Christians, just as the disciples, must also confront this question, in faith, for it
is ever-present. “Who do you say that I am?” Clearly, it is present as one prays,
either individually or in a worshiping community. It is present in everyday deci-
sions and encounters, as well as in those which have an impact on one’s life
beyond a single day, week, month, or year. In short, it is present throughout the
spiritual journey. All of life responds, in some way, to it.
The movement of the text in which this question appears is from general
(“who do others say. . . ?”) to particular (“who do you say . . . ?”). The disciples,
doubtless, had been influenced by what others were saying about Jesus; hence,
their answers to the generalized question. The challenge of the more particu-
lar question, however, is to respond personally on the basis of their own expe-
rience. So too, for contemporary Christians, the influence of others has some
bearing on the development of personal faith; eventually, however, the question
must be addressed on the basis of one’s own faith and experience. The spiritu-
al life, as a personal relationship with God, must contain a response to Jesus on
a personal level.
Finally, the identification of “who Jesus is” in and for one’s life is insepara-
ble from the Paschal Mystery. “From that time Jesus began to show his disci-
ples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and
chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Mt 16:21
and parallels). To identify Jesus, in the words of Peter, as “the Christ, the Son
of the Living God” is to accept the cross-and-resurrection. The Lordship of
Jesus and his accomplishment of the Father’s will by dying and rising are one.
And so, the spiritual journey begins. One’s vision of its end and of the road to
be taken is focused sharply in each one’s response to the question of Jesus: “But
who do you say that I am?”
50 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

Acknowledging the Lord

The first question, the identifying question, is not asked in a vacuum. It
leads to, and is supported by, another question: “Do you know what I have done
to you?” (Jn 13:12). The immediate scriptural context of this question is the
Last Supper, after Jesus had washed the disciples’ feet. In this simple action, he
gives them an example of how they are to serve others.
For the spiritual journey, the response to this question is the acknowledg-
ment and recognition of what the Lord has done in one’s life; it is the recogni-
tion of specific graces that are given to each one throughout his life. This
acknowledgment and recognition flow from, and support, what has gone
before. To acknowledge the graces one has been given implies some identifica-
tion of the Giver; to recognize those graces strengthens one’s faith in Jesus as
Lord. The gospel itself affirms this interdependence of the two questions;
immediately after asking this second question, Jesus states: “You call me
Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am” (Jn 13:13).
Beyond its appearance in the context of the Last Supper, this question can
refer to Jesus’ entire life. In a sense, he is asking an all-pervasive question: “Do
you know what I have done to you?” since you have been with me and I with
you—during all that has happened (will happen) to us since the beginning of
my ministry? In this larger context the disciples must reflect on all that has
taken place. They must begin to see Jesus’ life and ministry as a single incarnate
expression of the Father’s love. Jesus is the Exemplar (Jn 13:15), the one to
whom all Christian lives must point.
This question, too, must be particularized. The Lord’s actions surely have
affected all people, but each in a unique way. The acknowledgment of that
unique way in which the Lord has been operative in one’s life shapes the
response to this question. This is to know what the Lord has done.
The second question appears very near the end of Jesus’ life; thus, it, too,
points to the cross-and-resurrection. The graces which one receives through-
out life are intrinsically bound to the drama of Salvation History. Indeed, the
gifts which the Lord bestows upon his people—individually and collectively—
draw their power from his passion, death, and glorification. And so, the spiri-
tual journey continues. Complete dependence on the Lord, by acknowledging
his gifts, is highlighted in response to the simple, yet pervasive, question: “Do
you know what I have done to you?”

Seeking the Lord

Jesus’ first two questions are a type of prelude to his third. To identify Jesus
in one’s life, and to acknowledge his gifts, are the means of responding to a final
question: “Whom do you seek?” (Jn 18:4). This is asked by Jesus in the garden
just prior to his arrest; his boldness stuns those who seek him, and so Jesus
repeats himself.
This question must remain a constant traveling companion on the spiritu-
al journey. It must be answered again and again, at every fork in the road, as the
 Spiritual Direction: Charism and Ministry / 51

spiritual life progresses. Its purpose, clearly, is to keep one’s sight fixed on the
Lord alone. Thus, it is the raison d’être for the entire spiritual journey. At any
point along the way, regardless of what one is doing, the manner in which his
life is lived actually proclaims his response to the question: “Whom do you
seek?”
That night, those who were seeking Jesus (to arrest him) were caught up in
their movement as a crowd. It would have been interesting to go through that
crowd and ask each, individually, whom he was seeking. Some may not have
really known. Judas did, but he did not search alone. As odd as it may seem, a
parallel can be drawn for the spiritual journey. Faith and gifts from the Lord
can be taken for granted, and so one can easily be caught up in merely doing
what everyone else is doing. Then Jesus’ question really has not been heard.
Like the previous questions, this one must be particularized. To fix one’s sight
on the Lord alone clarifies the response; the alternatives are confusion and
uncertainty. It is not to be inferred that confusion and uncertainty are never to
be experienced in the spiritual life. Rather, the point here is that one’s basic
response is stable.
From its context in the Gospel of John, it is obvious that this question leads
to the cross-and-resurrection. To seek the Lord is to accept all that the Paschal
Mystery entails. In a prophetic way, Sirach emphasized this some two centuries
before: My son, if you come forward to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for tri-
als” (2:1). To seek the Lord leads to life, but it is a life that is born through death
(Jn 12:24-25). And so the spiritual journey continues. At any moment and every
moment, the Christian must know the road being traveled; constancy must be
the hallmark of each one’s response to the question: “Whom do you seek?”

In Response
Every Christian must respond in some way to these three questions of the
spiritual journey. The ways in which each identifies, acknowledges, and seeks
the Lord will be unique, based on personality, talents, experience, life-situation.
Nevertheless, a common thread does run through all responses.
In the opening lines of his first letter, St. John makes a statement that
addresses effectively all three questions.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our
eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of
life—the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the
eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have
seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us; and our
fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ (1:1-3).

Consider each question, and then read this text as a response. Jesus is iden-
tified as “the word of life”: he is acknowledged as the source of all that has been
received: and, he is the end toward which the proclamation points. Jesus is the
common thread.
It is beyond the scope of this brief reflection to explore this text in any
52 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

depth: but one point in particular is worthy of note. Tactility and sensibility are
emphatic elements of this text. The one about whom these things are written is
known through experience: “heard,” “seen,” “looked upon,” and “touched.”
These elements strengthen the testimony that is given. From his own experi-
ence, St. John proclaims “the word of life,” and invites others to “fellowship
with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”
Responding to these questions throughout one’s own spiritual journey
must be the fruit of experience: it cannot be the result of academic gymnastics.
These questions warrant a commitment, a fidelity to the spiritual journey. Only
then does one’s life—testimony, proclamation—identify Jesus as Lord,
acknowledge his gifts, and seek him alone.

Conclusion
Three simple questions. Simple, yet interdependent. Simple, yet for the
spiritual life they can be viewed as the most significant questions in the New
Testament. To identify Jesus in one’s life, to acknowledge what he has done and
is doing, and to seek him above all else these constitute the spiritual journey.
And, as always, the roads along which the journey progresses are paved with the
cross-and-resurrection.
The spiritual journey requires only fidelity. That fidelity is incarnated
through the Christian’s lived response to the Lord*s questions: “But who do
you say that I am?” “Do you know what I have done to you?” “Whom do you
seek?”
I. Spiritual Direction: Identity—
A Christian Ministry
Spiritual Direction in the Church
Spiritual Direction and the Paschal Mystery
Spiritual Direction
The Three Dimensions of Spiritual Direction
Models of Spiritual Direction
Spiritual Direction as Pilgrim and Companion
Spiritual Direction In the Church
John R. Sheets, S.J.

Volume 46, 1987, pp. 505-522.

B efore we talk about spiritual direction in the Church, it is

important to clarify what is meant by the term, and to see how spir-
itual direction in the Church differs from the practice found among
all peoples where those who are wiser counsel those seeking direc-
tion.
It is simply a matter of fact that among all peoples, those who
are endowed with greater gifts instruct those who are not. The gifts
might come from special gifts of temperament or training, together
with wisdom and practical judgment gained from long experience.
This type of direction takes many forms, teacher and student, reli-
gious leader and disciple, parents and children, elders in a commu-
nity and those who are less experienced. In the religions of India,
special importance is given to the guru (literally, “the venerable
one”) in his role of guiding others to a high level of spiritual devel-
opment.
When we speak of spiritual direction in the Church, however,
we are talking about something which is radically different. There
are some similarities, but spiritual direction takes on an entirely
new meaning when the “old creation” is transformed into what St.
Paul calls the “New Creation” (2 Co 5:17). Here again the old dic-

54
 Spiritual Direction in the Church / 55

tum is verified: “Grace builds on nature.” The natural dynamics at

work are taken up into a whole new network of relationships.
The simplest way to approach the topic of spiritual direction is
to look at the two words: “spiritual,” and “direction.” To help us
understand what is meant by these words, I want to use a term
which C.S. Lewis often employs. It is what he calls “transposition.”
It means the putting of the higher into the lower. As mysterious as
that sounds, it is something that we are doing at practically every
moment of our lives. For example, transposition is at work when our
ideas (the higher) are put into words, into movements of air, or into
little marks on a sheet of paper (the lower). When an artist puts his
inspiration into an arrangement of paint on a canvas, he is trans-
posing the higher into the lower. On another level, we speak of the
soul transposed into the body. In a most special instance, we speak
of the Incarnation, that is, the transposition of the Word who is
with the Father into our human flesh.
How does this term, “transposition,” help us understand the
meaning of “spiritual direction?” The deepest meaning of our
Christian lives is the metamorphosis, the complete change of our
being, the New Creation, that comes through the transposition of
the Holy Spirit into our human selves. “God’s love has flooded our
inmost heart through the Holy Spirit he has given us” (Rm 5:5).
In the Christian sense, then, “spiritual” does not mean ghostly.
Nor does it primarily mean what is immaterial or what cannot be
seen. Rather it means that our human spirit, our whole self, has
been overshadowed by the Spirit to bring about a New Creation. It
is a change of identity. As Paul puts it, “I live now, no longer I, but
Christ lives in me” (Ga 2:20).
The words that are used for “spirit,” and “spiritual” in the New
Testament do not have the bleached-out notion that the English
words convey. In the original Greek, the words are “pneuma” and
“pneumatikos.” These words convey something of the mystery and
the paradoxical qualities of spirit.
In his treatise on the Holy Spirit, St. Basil describes some of
these: “simple in substance, manifold in powers, present entirely in
each individual while existing in entirety everywhere, divided with-
out suffering diminution, shared without loss of completeness. . . .
The Spirit comes to each of those who receive him as though given
to him alone; yet he sends out to all his grace, sufficient and com-
plete, and all who partake in him receive benefit in proportion to
the capacity, not of his power, but of their nature.”
This theme of the transposition of the “Pneuma” of God, the
Holy Spirit, into our own spirits is a theme that runs through the
letters of Paul. In particular, Chapter 8 of Romans describes the
56 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

contrast between the new personality of the Christian, that is, the
“pneumatic person,” and one who still lives on the level of what is
simply human, the “unpneumatic person.”

Those who live on the level of our lower nature have their outlook formed by it,
and that spells death; but those who live on the level of the pneuma have the pneu-
matic outlook, and that is life and peace. . . . But that is not how you live. You are
on the pneumatic level, if only God’s pneuma dwells within you; and if a man does
not possess the pneuma of Christ, he is no Christian (Rm 8:5, 6, 8, 9).

To appreciate, then, the meaning of spiritual direction, we have

to recapture the scriptural sense of the “pneumatic” person into
whom the “Pneuma” of Christ has been transposed. In the second
place, we have to situate the notion of “direction” into the direction
which is given by the Spirit who has been poured into the Church
and into the heart of each Christian.
The transposition of the Spirit into our spirits carries with it the
transposition of the direction of the Spirit into the natural direction
of our spirits. This is another way of speaking of “teleology,” or the
inbuilt orientation to a goal. The Christian then takes on the orien-
tation, direction, teleology of the spirit. Again, in the words of St.
Paul: “Everyone who is united to Christ is one spirit with him” (1
Co 6:17). This means that a person united to Christ through the
Spirit has the same inner direction as Christ and the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit has only one orientation, that is, to create in us
the image of Christ. Paul sees the action of the Spirit and that of
Christ as having the same direction. “We all reflect as in a mirror
the splendor of the Lord; thus we are transfigured into his likeness,
from splendor to splendor; such is the influence of the Lord who is
Spirit” (2 Co 3:18).
As is clear, then, from the above, we have to locate what we ordi-
narily mean by spiritual direction within what is deeper if we are to
understand it properly. In the most profound sense, the Holy Spirit
is the spiritual director. It is he who orientates us most radically to
our goal. All other forms of spiritual direction the Church are only
instrumental and derivative of the primary director and his direc-
tion, that is, the Holy Spirit. It also follows that the norm of the
genuineness of spiritual direction, as we ordinarily use the term, has
its base in the conformity of the human spirit to the Holy Spirit.
Spiritual direction, then, is the way that a person or institution
fosters the life and the direction of the Holy Spirit, bringing the
various aspects of a person’s life into a convergence, freeing us from
whatever gets in the way of the direction of the Spirit in our lives.
All spiritual direction, then, in the human sense, lives in a kind of
 Spiritual Direction in the Church / 57

apprenticeship to the Holy Spirit. “We are God’s work of art” (Ep
2:10), as Paul puts it. Human spiritual directors are in some way
instruments, or disciples, of the main artist, who is the Holy Spirit.
Like some of the famous painters who have a school of disciples, the
Holy Spirit has many disciples who are engaged in the one work of
art, which is to change us into the image of Christ.
We speak of spiritual direction in the Church. It is important to
see that the Holy Spirit is not simply given to the individual
Christian as an isolated individual. The gift to the person exists in
the context of the gift given to the community. The Holy Spirit
dwells in the whole Church as in a temple, as well as in the heart of
each Christian.
At this point, it will be helpful to recall some of the texts from
the Constitution on the Church of Vatican II which highlight the
role of the Spirit in the life of the Church. I shall not quote all of
the texts, but enough of them to give a sense of the richness of the
treatment.
When the work which the Father gave the Son to do on earth was accomplished,
the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost in order that he might continual-
ly sanctify the Church and thus all those who believe would have access through
Christ in the Spirit to the Father. He is the Spirit of Life, a fount of water spring-
ing up to life eternal. To men, dead in sin, the Father gives life through him; until,
in Christ, he brings to life their mortal bodies. The Spirit dwells in the Church and
in the hearts of the faithful, as in a temple. In them he prays on their behalf and
bears witness to the fact that they are adopted sons.
The Church, which the Spirit guides in way of all truth and which he unified
in communion and in works of ministry, he both equips and directs with hierarchi-
cal and charismatic gifts and adorns with his fruits. . . .
All members ought to be molded in the likeness of him until Christ be formed
in them. . . . In order that we might be unceasingly renewed in him, he has shared
with us his Spirit who, existing as one and the same being in the Head and in the
members, gives life to, unifies and moves through the whole body. This he does in
such a way that his work could be compared by the Holy Fathers with the function
which the principle of life, that is, the soul, fulfills in the human body (n. 7).

When we speak, then, of spiritual direction in the Church, we

mean in the first place that there is a divine, personal, vivifying, uni-
fying, centering power directing both the Church as a whole and
each member to the same goal. The Spirit is at work in the whole
Church in order to provide the milieu for what he wants to accom-
plish in each individual, that is, the formation of Christ in each.
Paul describes this goal, “that the universe, all in heaven and on
earth, might be brought into a unity in Christ” (Ep 1:10). In this
sense, communion-creating love is the motivating power at the
heart of reality, the love of Father for Son, the Son for the Father,
58 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

and the Holy Spirit whose whole meaning as person is to transpose

into mankind the communion which exists within the Trinity.
We have been using the term “transposition” to describe how
this greater reality, namely, the orientating Spirit, is poured into us,
who are so limited. The Gospel of John describes the gift of the
Spirit into the Church in language that is very much like that which
we have been using.
After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples. He said,
“Peace be with you.” Then he carries out the fulfillment of all that
he came to do. He transposes the gift of his own mission into the
apostles by giving them his Spirit:
As the Father has sent me, so I send you. He breathed on them, saying, “Receive
the Holy Spirit. If you forgive any man’s sins, they stand for given. If you pro-
nounce them unforgiven, unforgiven they remain” (Jn 20:19-23).

The words which Jesus uses recalls the words of Gn 2:7 which
describe the mystery of the initial transposition of God’s Spirit into
clay in order to form man: “Then he breathed into his nostrils a
breath of life, and thus man became a living being.” In both pas-
sages, there is a description of a transposition of the higher into the
lower. In the account in John, Christ, first in symbolic gesture (the
breathing on them), then in word, transposes into the apostles his
orientating Spirit, which is the transposition of his own mission into
them.
We have spoken, then, about spiritual direction in the Church,
in the first place by clarifying its uniqueness in the Christian sense,
compared with the practice of teacher-disciple relationship which
exists among all peoples. We described this uniqueness in terms of
transposition of Christ’s directing Spirit into the Church. Hence,
what we ordinarily call spiritual direction is always in service of the
primary spiritual director, the Holy Spirit.
Because of this transposition, spiritual direction takes on anoth-
er aspect which makes it completely different from the ordinary
human process by which people guide others. Another norm of wis-
dom comes into play. It is called by various names: the Paschal
Mystery, the wisdom of the cross, renunciation. Paul speaks of the
scandal of the cross as being the wisdom of God but foolishness to
the world (see 1 Co 1). A spiritual director has to be aware of this
mystery as it calls forth in the Christian this same foolishness of
God. Each Christian is called to live this mystery in some way.
Those called to the life of the evangelical counsels are to make an
explicit profession of the Paschal Mystery in the life of chastity,
poverty, obedience. The Paschal Mystery finds supreme manifesta-
tion in martyrdom.
 Spiritual Direction in the Church / 59

The human spiritual director, then, must be especially sensitive

to the movements of the Holy Spirit. This involves a two-sided sym-
pathy, that is, in the original meaning of the word, a “feeling with,”
that reaches in two directions: the sym-pathy that comes from sen-
sitivity to the Spirit, and the sym-pathy that comes from a sensitiv-
ity to the person being directed. It is a sym-pathy that has its origin
in the fact that they are both animated by the same Holy Spirit.
This sym-pathy creates a certain resonance between the spiritual
director and the one whom he is directing. They are being moved
in the same direction by the Holy Spirit. This movement takes a
conscious shape in the sharing of a common faith, the same hopes,
and the love that binds all together.
There is, then, an imperative built into the orientation given to
us by the Spirit. The human director has to sense the pressure of
that imperative, and to bring it to fruition in the one whom he is
directing. In the words of St. Paul the imperative is to take on the
identity of Christ. “Let this mind be in you which was in Christ
Jesus” (Ph 2:5). It is the imperative to allow the Holy Spirit to coor-
dinate all of our activities to this one purpose. “If the Spirit is the
source of our life, let the Spirit also direct our course” (Ga 5:25).
There is, however, another important aspect of this spiritual
sym-pathy. It gives the director a kind of spiritual “smell” for evil.
In this sense, evil is that which opposes the orientation of the Father
as given to us in the Spirit of his Son. Evil, therefore, always
attempts to block, suppress, or disorientate the orientation of the
Spirit. Hence, there is need for discernment of spirits. “But do not
trust any and every spirit, my friends; test the spirits, to see whether
they are from God” (1 Jn 4:1).
The evil spirit can attempt to block the work of the Holy Spirit
in many ways: by the simulation of what is good, but is in fact evil;
by creating a state of soul that is confused, troubled, disturbed by
emotions contrary to the Spirit, such as anger, resentment, pride,
unforgiveness. Any disturbance of the fundamental peace, which is
the sign of the Spirit’s presence, can make discernment difficult.
Perhaps the infallible sign of the presence of the evil spirit is not the
antagonism to what good, but to the Paschal Mystery itself, wher-
ever that is incarnated. For this reason, the key temptation in the
account of Jesus’ temptation in the desert was aimed at blocking the
Paschal Mystery itself.
This discernment, however, goes beyond the sense of the evil
present in the heart of individuals. It exists also on the whole stage
in which the drama of human life is played out. St. Paul speaks of
“cosmic powers, authorities, and potentates of this dark world,
superhuman forces of evil in the heavens” (Ep 6:12). These evil
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influences are more difficult to detect because the pressure of their

presence is not noticed. What is simply part of the furniture of our
world is hardly noticed. It is like a person living in a room where the
air is stale. He does not notice it. Only one coming in out of the
fresh air can pick up how stale the air is.
The nature of the evil powers is not precisely to do anything to
the human consciousness. Rather it is to block the orientation of the
Spirit, to narrow the consciousness of individuals to the point where
there is a fixation on only one narrow aspect. The Prince of this
World, as Jesus called him, captured Judas by narrowing his con-
sciousness to what he could get from betraying Christ. As C.S.
Lewis has his character Screwtape say: “Humans think we tempt
them by putting thoughts in their mind. They don’t realize that we
tempt them by keeping thoughts out of their mind.”
In the Apocalypse, John describes how the evil powers, in a kind
of diabolical imitation of the Holy Spirit, enlist others in his work—
the Roman emperors and the pagan priesthood—to crush the
Church. One of the important aspects of spiritual direction, then, is
to be able to detect the presence of evil, not only in an individual,
but also on a societal level. On such a level it presents an anti-milieu
to what Teilhard de Chardin speaks of as “the divine milieu.”

Practice of Spiritual Direction; Its Foundation

We turn, then, from what might be called the level of principle
to actual practice. We want to see how the “primary spiritual direc-
tor,” the Holy Spirit, works through his instruments to bring about
the orientation of all things to Christ, and, through him, to the
Father. The level of instrumentation varies. On the foundational
level, Jesus Christ is the fullest expression of the orientation of the
Spirit. In this sense he is fullness of what we speak of as a “spiritual
director.” Secondly, there are the apostles and evangelists. Among
these St. Paul is preeminent. Thirdly, there is the practice, and it
grew up with many variations in the history of the Church. We shall
take up these different modes of instrumentation in the following
pages.
However, it is important also to realize that spiritual direction is
not only that which takes place between individuals. It is also that
which takes place between institutions and persons. It is the institu-
tion which provides the “milieu” in which the direction is taking
place. It sets the basic norms for spiritual direction by providing the
“coordinates,” so to speak, on which it all takes place. This is what
St. Paul speaks of as “healthy doctrine.“ Spiritual direction by its
very nature presupposes that one is operating out of revealed truth.
There is not much value in setting a ship in order if it is off the
 Spiritual Direction in the Church / 61

course and headed in the wrong direction.

Let us, then, reflect on Christ as the model spiritual director in
the primary sense. Of course, when speaking of Jesus as “spiritual
director,” we have to expand our ordinary understanding of the
term.
In the first place, Jesus is the one who has made spiritual direc-
tion in any sense of the term possible. He is the one who, by recon-
ciling us to the Father through his redemptive act, has redirected us
to the Father. It is he who has endowed us with the gift of the Spirit
who serves, then, as the “redirection” power of Christ within us. In
this primary sense, then, Christ is spiritual director in reorientating
the whole of creation to the Father.
In the second place, Christ himself, who is filled with the Spirit,
is the one who, through his teaching, guides us to the Father.
Everyone who listens to his words is listening to the words which
the Father has given him. “The one whom God has sent speaks the
words of God” (Jn 3:24). “I myself am not the source of the words I
speak to you” (Jn 14:10). His words are to free us and fill us with
life: “The words I spoke to you are spirit and life” (Jn 6:33). The
Spirit who descends upon him at the time of his baptism is the ori-
entating power of the Father. All that Jesus does comes from a sen-
sitivity to the holy pressure of the Spirit.
While Jesus is the spiritual director in all that he does and says,
we find in the discourse of Jesus at the Last Supper, as described in
the Gospel of John, a beautiful model of spiritual direction in his
dialogue with the apostles. I would like to comment on this dis-
course briefly.
First of all, Jesus has the kind of sym-pathy that we spoke of
above. He is “on the side of” the Spirit, and “on the side of” the
apostles. Being on the side of the Spirit, in a most wondrous way he
can describe the very characteristics of the Spirit. The way that he
describes the Holy Spirit shows that he is in someway identified
with the Spirit. He can read his mind, his heart, and his role,
because there is a kind of spiritual resonance between Spirit and
Son.
He describes the Spirit as another advocate (counselor, consol-
er). “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,
who will be with you forever, the Spirit of truth” (Jn 14:16). The
Holy Spirit is a teacher, who continues and expands the teaching of
Jesus himself: “The Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my
name will teach you everything, and will call to mind all that I have
told you” (Jn 14:26).
He will bear witness to Jesus. This means that he will be the ver-
ification of Jesus’ own life and teaching. “When the Advocate
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comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth
who issues from the Father, he will be my witness” (Jn 15:26).
He will also disclose the hearts of people, show (to use our cur-
rent expression) where “people are coming from.” “He will confute
the world, and show where wrong and right and judgment lie” (Jn
16:8). The Holy Spirit discloses what is in the human heart. In par-
ticular, he discloses how all sin is in some way a rejection of Christ
himself.
The Holy Spirit will become the guide when Jesus goes to the
Father. He will be the “spiritual director.” He will direct the apos-
tles and the Church to all truth. During the time before his Second
Coming, he will unfold the richness of the truth that is in Christ.
“He will guide you into all truth . . . everything that he makes
known to you he will draw from me” (Jn 16:15). The Holy Spirit,
then, is the primary spiritual director, who draws all the content of
the direction from Christ, and in his own proper role orientates all
things, especially the Church and its members, to forming the full
stature of Christ: “So shall we all at last attain to the unity inherent
in our faith and our knowledge of the Son of God—to mature man-
hood, measured by nothing less than the full stature of Christ” (Ep
4:13).
Jesus is not only on the “inside” of the Spirit to the point where
he can draw the “profile” of the Spirit. In the discourse he also
exhibits those characteristics in his way of directing the apostles.
He is, like the Spirit, the Consoler, the Advocate. “Set your
troubled hearts at rest. Trust in God always. Trust also in me. There
are many dwelling places in my Father’s house. If it were not so, I
should have told you; for I am going there on purpose to prepare a
place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I shall come
again and receive you to myself, so that where I am you also may be”
(Jn 14:1-3).
He is “on the inside” of the apostles. He knows his sheep by
name, and calls them by name. He reads their hearts, senses their
fears, repeatedly assures them that he is not going to leave them
orphans, that if he goes, it really means that he will come to be with
them in a deeper way, through the gift of his Spirit.
He teaches them the truth about himself. That he is the Way,
the Truth, and the Life. He teaches them the truth about the Father.
“This is eternal life to know thee, the only true God, and him whom
you have sent” (Jn 17:3). He exposes the power of evil at work in the
world, and assures them that the power of the Prince of this World
is about to be broken. He senses the presence of that Prince of
Darkness in the presence among them of one who is to betray him.
When they need him most, after they had betrayed him, he seeks
 Spiritual Direction in the Church / 63

them out. In particular, he seeks out Peter, and as spiritual director

tells him that he himself will walk the path of the Paschal Mystery.
It would be possible to go through all of the gospels from this
particular point of view to see how Jesus is the spiritual director. We
find in him in a paradigmatic way the meaning of spiritual direction,
and the qualities of a spiritual director. Perhaps in no better way can
there be contrast to what is called “counseling” and “spiritual direc-
tion” than by observing how Jesus directs his disciples, and others.
Coming in touch with him is coming into a presence. One senses
that he is in the presence of someone to whom he cannot be indif-
ferent. He both discloses the heart of each, and draws them to a new
level in their relationship to the Father. Not content with obser-
vance of the commandments, he will attract them to the “more” of
his Paschal Mystery. “If you want to go the whole way, go, sell your
possessions, and give to the poor, and then you will have riches in
heaven; and come, follow me” (Mt 19:21). “While some are inca-
pable of marriage because they were born so, or were made so by
men, there are others who have themselves renounced marriage for
the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let those accept it who can” (Mt
19:12).
We turn, then, to the letters of Paul to comment briefly on how
he himself fulfills the role of spiritual director. He is the first of a
long line of spiritual directors in the history of the Church who will
fulfill this role through letters. In his letters to Philemon, Timothy,
Titus we find the person-to-person direction, which is aimed at
leading each of his correspondents to a fuller realization of their
faith, but also to a more fruitful apostolate.
I spoke above of the “sym-pathy” that should characterize the
spiritual director. Paul’s letters are filled with this sense of identity
with his flock. “I am all things to all men to win all to Christ” (1 Co
9:22). “Who is weak and I am not weak?” (2 Co 11:29). “Little chil-
dren, whom I am bringing to birth again until Christ is formed in
you . . . “ (Ga 4:19). “We were gentle as a nurse caring fondly for
her children” (1 Th 2:7). “As you well know we dealt with you one
by one, as a father deals with his children, appealing to you by
encouragement, as well as by solemn injunctions, to live lives wor-
thy of the God who calls you into his kingdom and glory” (1 Th
2:11,12).
In his letter to Timothy he stresses the foundation of all spiritu-
al direction, truth. For Paul, truth is not an abstraction. It is the
gospel entrusted to him by Jesus Christ. “If anyone preaches a
gospel at variance with the gospel which you received, let him be
outcast” (Ga 1:9). In the letters to Timothy he coins a phrase to
show the relationship between the gospel and one’s life: “healthy
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doctrine,” “healthy teaching.“ “This is what you are to teach and

preach. If anyone is teaching otherwise, and will not give his mind
to healthy teaching—I mean those of our Lord Jesus Christ—and to
good religious teaching, I call him a pompous ignoramus” (1 Tm
6:3). “The time will come when they will not stand wholesome
teaching, but will be avid for the latest novelty and collect for them-
selves a whole series of teachers according to their own tastes” (2
Tm 4:3).
This doctrine is not something he or any human being invent-
ed, but it is a sacred trust given to the Church by Christ. “Timothy,
keep safe that which has been entrusted to you” (1 Tm 6:20). “Keep
as your pattern the sound teaching you have heard from me, in the
faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. You have been trusted to look
after something precious; guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit
who lives in us” (2 Tm 1:13,14). “Put that teaching into the charge
of men you can trust, such men as will be competent to teach oth-
ers” (2 Tm 2:2). “They must be men who combine a clear con-
science with a firm hold on the deep mystery of our faith” (1 Tm
2:9).
The preservation of “healthy doctrine” is not left to the vagaries
of history. It finds its protection and foundation in the Church,
which is “God’s household, the Church of the living God, which
upholds the truth and keeps it safe” (1 Tm 3:14, 15).
The letter to Philemon which consists of only twenty-five vers-
es is a kind of mini-course in spiritual direction. Paul teaches
Philemon how he should face a painful situation in a truly Christian
way. Philemon’s slave, Onesimus, had run away, and came into con-
tact with Paul, who baptized him. Now Paul sends him back with
the following advice to his owner: “I am sending him back to you .
. . no longer as a slave, but as more than a slave—as a dear brother,
very dear indeed to me and how much dearer to you, both as man
and as Christian” (Phm 12-16).
It seems to me that the spiritual genius of Paul lies in the
instinctive way in which he can rise from a particular situation to
the larger mystery, and draw an application from the larger mystery
to the particular case. For example, he teaches the Corinthians that
fornication is a desecration not only of their own bodies, but of
Christ himself, by recalling the mystery of the identity of the
Christian, that anyone united to Christ is “one spirit with him” (1
Co 6:17). To teach the lesson of humility he rises to the mystery of
the “lowering” of Christ to take on our human nature, and even the
death of a criminal (Ph 2:12). This pattern of making a judgment
about some particular through a sense of the implications that are
involved in Christian mysteries is of the essence of spiritual direc-
 Spiritual Direction in the Church / 65

tion.
Finally, another characteristic of the spiritual director is always
at work in St. Paul. It is the sense of the inbuilt movement of the
Spirit toward the “more” of the spiritual life. “Finally, brothers, we
urge you and appeal to you in the Lord Jesus to make more and
more progress in the kind of life that you are meant to live” (1 Th
4:1). He compares the “more” of the spiritual life with the abundant
harvest we are to cultivate (Ga 5:22). If our lives have a genuine
direction, then we are being progressively transformed into the
image of Christ. “We all reflect as in a mirror the splendor of the
Lord; thus we are transfigured into his likeness, from splendor to
splendor. Such is the influence of the Lord who is Spirit” (2 Co
3:18). “May the Lord make your love mount and overflow towards
one another and towards all, as our love does towards you” (1 Th
3:11, 12).

The Practice of Spiritual Direction; Its History

We come, then, to the practice of spiritual direction in the his-
tory of the Church, after which we will take up some ideas on spir-
itual direction in the Church today. Usually any discussion of spiri-
tual direction begins with these themes. In our treatment they come
at the end. They do not make sense unless we understand, in the
first place, that Christ is the one who has redirected us to the Father
through his redemptive act, and that he continues this direction
through the gift of his Spirit; secondly, that Christ and his apostles
also show in practice the meaning of spiritual direction. The prac-
tice of spiritual direction in the Church has certain invariable qual-
ities found at every point of history; on the other hand, it will also
take different “styles” according to various historical circumstances.
I can only comment briefly on the practices found over a period of
nearly two thousand years in the Church.
The practice of spiritual direction comes into its own as a
teacher-disciple relationship in the fourth century of our era with
the emergence of the monastic life. Thomas Merton describes this
period very well:
It must not be forgotten that the spiritual director in primitive times was much
more than the present name implies. He was a spiritual father who “begot” the per-
fect life in the soul of his disciple by his instructions first of all, but also by his
prayer, his sanctity and his example. He was to the young monk a kind of “sacra-
ment” of the Lord’s presence in the ecclesiastical community (taken from Writings
on Spiritual Direction, ed. Neufelder and Coelho, Seabury, 1982).
The practice of spiritual direction at this stage strikes us as very
different from what goes by that name today. In the direction that
was given, there was a sense of a prophetic word, that would res-
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onate with the inner spirit of the person, to achieve what the person
needed—encouragement, advice, exhortation, correction, or what-
ever else the person needed. But the constant was there, the sym-
pathia of the director with the Holy Spirit, and with the spirit of the
disciple.
It seems that subsequently the “prophetic” nature of this rela-
tionship was attenuated from what might be described as an apodic-
tic form to one that was more along the lines of pointing out to a
person the direction he should take. Perhaps we could say that
“hieratic” was succeeded by the “prudential” mode. The sense of
spiritual direction arising out of a mystery that was shared took on
more and more the nature of guidance of a person less experienced
by one who had more experience in the spiritual life. I hope that this
is a legitimate way of generalizing the kind of change that took
place from the early monastic form to that which became customary
and in the general practice of the Church.
To attempt to describe the practice of spiritual direction in the
Church over a period of fifteen centuries would entail a commen-
tary on practically all of the saints. It is no exaggeration to say that
all of the great saints—men, women, priests, religious, lay—were
spiritual directors. (For an exhaustive treatment see “Direction
Spirituelle,” in Dictionnaire de Spiritualité). One of the common
ways in which this was carried out was through letters. Augustine,
for example, has scores of letters which have as their explicit pur-
pose to give spiritual direction.
However, even among the great spiritual directors, St. Ignatius
of Loyola holds a special place in the history of the Church. I would
like, then, to say a few words about him.
We recall how St. Ignatius had been wounded in battle, and that
during the course of his convalescence, mainly through reading the
lives of the saints, he went through an experience of conversion.
After he recovered his health, he went to Manresa where he spent a
year in prayer and penance. During this time, except for the direc-
tion given by his confessor, he had no spiritual director. Later in his
autobiography he describes how it was God who was directing him
during this period.
At this time God treated him just as a schoolmaster treats a little boy when he
teaches him. This was perhaps because of his rough and uncultivated understand-
ing, or because he had no one to teach him, or because of the firm will God him-
self had given him in his service. But he clearly saw, and always had seen that God
dealt with him like this (Ignatius’ Own Story, William Young, S.J., Loyola University
Press, 1956, p. 22).

During his stay in Manresa, Ignatius began to direct others. As

 Spiritual Direction in the Church / 67

he says in his autobiography, “Besides his seven hours of prayer, he

busied himself with certain souls who came looking for him to dis-
cuss their spiritual interests” (p. 21). The special gifts of the Spirit
to Ignatius were, then, to see how the Lord was directing him. He
discovered the Spirit’s direction mainly through discerning the
direction of desires within his own spirit: where they came from,
where they were going, and how they affected his own interior dis-
position. Desires from the Holy Spirit affected his own spirit in a
vastly different way than desires prompted by the evil spirit, or from
his own natural desires,
Ignatius’ own experience, and the way that he embodied that
experience in the Spiritual Exercises, gave him a particular orienta-
tion to directing others. The same can be said of those who are
formed by the Spiritual Exercises. The distinctive “components” of
spiritual direction began to take on their own identity, together with
the sense of how they form a kind of symphonic whole.
He saw that above all spiritual direction aims at freeing oneself
from whatever gets in the way of doing God’s will. Of primary
importance, then, is the need to free ourselves from self-love. “For
every one must keep in mind that in all that concerns the spiritual
life his progress will be in proportion to his surrender of self-love
and of his own will and interests” (Sp.Ex. n. 189). The process of
discernment, then, is essential. But all this presupposes that the one
being directed open his heart completely to the director.
There is stress on daily examination of conscience, not so much
to see how a person has succeeded or failed, but to look at the “con-
fluence” where the movements of the Holy Spirit in our spirit dur-
ing the day meet in a kind of confluence with the daily circum-
stances of our lives. Then to reflect whether the direction this “con-
fluence” takes is marked by the direction of the Spirit or not.
Spiritual direction, then, should aim at drawing a person to the
magis in the service of Christ, the greater glory of God. In the
Spiritual Exercises this magis is put before the retreatant at key
moments: in the meditation on the call of Christ the King, and in
the reflection on the Third Mode of Humility. In each of these the
retreatant is invited to offer his life to take on the paschal mode of
Christ’s own life, to serve Christ and the Church in a redemptive
mode of life.
To preserve a person from a spirituality that is myopic, and thus
in danger of distortion, he stresses the need for guidance from the
Church. “We must put aside all judgment of our own, and keep the
mind ever ready and prompt to obey in all things the true Spouse of
Christ our Lord, our holy Mother, the hierarchical Church” (Sp.Ex.
n. 353).
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It can safely be said, then, that God’s gift to the Church through
Ignatius was, in the first place, to provide a spiritual “milieu” in
which direction would take place, namely, the Spiritual Exercises. In
the second place, through him the role of the spiritual director
became more “formalized,” that is, it began to be differentiated
from other aspects of pastoral care. Further, the experience of the
Spiritual Exercises became a way of training others to give spiritual
direction.

Spiritual Direction in the Church Today

I think that this process of “formalization” of spiritual direction
has entered a new phase within the past twenty years. Perhaps it is
only following the laws at work in every area of human experience,
the movement toward differentiation and specialization. There has
been more written on the specific topic of spiritual direction in the
past twenty years than was written over all the previous centuries in
the history of the Church. Along the same lines, for the first time in
history scores of programs have been set up with the explicit goal to
equip people to give spiritual direction.
There has also been a kind of “raising of consciousness” for the
need of spiritual direction, not only for priests and religious, but
also for the laity. In fact, we are caught in a situation where the
demand is vastly out of proportion to the supply of good spiritual
directors.
The retreat houses across the country are enjoying an unprece-
dented volume of retreatants, making everything from weekend to
thirty-day retreats, both group retreats and private directed
retreats. The practice of “at home” retreats, or in the Ignatian ter-
minology, “Nineteenth Annotation retreats,” is growing at a phe-
nomenal rate. Spiritual direction is one of the main activities during
these retreats.
Before I try to assess what is happening here, I want to go back
to the directives given in Vatican II for training priests in spiritual
direction.
Spiritual formation should be closely linked with doctrinal and pastoral training.
Especially with the help of the spiritual director, such formation should help semi-
narians learn to live in familiar and constant companionship with the Father,
through Jesus Christ his Son, in the Holy Spirit (Decree on Priestly Formation n. 8).
Let them receive careful instruction in the art of guiding souls, so that they
can lead all sons of the Church, before everything else, to a Christian life which is
fully conscious and apostolic, and to fulfillment of the duties of their state. With
equal thoroughness they should learn to assist men and women religious to perse-
vere in the grace of their vocation and to make progress according to the spirit of
their various communities (n. 19).
 Spiritual Direction in the Church / 69

It seems to me that the growing awareness of the need for spir-

itual direction today is one of the signs of the hunger felt by so
many for a deeper relationship with God. This movement is not
loud and ostentatious. It belongs on the level of the silent springs
that water the world through expanding the spirit. These are not
the kind of activities that hit the media. But they are definitely signs
of the movement of the Holy Spirit.
But who are these people directing and being directed? By that
question I am not asking about the kind of groups into which they
can be broken down: lay, religious, priest. They are different people
from those who have gone ahead of us in previous centuries. Their
attitudes have been shaped not only by what took place during those
centuries, such as the Renaissance, the Enlightenment. They are
also heirs of more recent movements that have shaped our thinking.
I would like to single out two areas of thought and two points of
view that are influential.
Among the most influential are psychology and sociology.
There is no doubt that the knowledge of such disciplines can help
both a director, and the one whom he is directing. At the same time
a subtle “reality shift” can take place. The things of the spirit tend
to take on a lesser reality, while the principles of psychology and
sociology become more real and more effective. They are in fact
easier to get a handle on, while the things of the spirit are not under
our control. Unconsciously, then, the weight of attention tends to
shift from the spirit to the concreteness offered by psychology and
sociology. The sense of the ontological roots of spiritual direction,
the presence of the Holy Spirit who is poured into our hearts, can
be attenuated and lost in the face of the apparent impact of psycho-
logical and sociological realities.
There are also pervasive moods that are in the air. Without our
being aware of them, they form the optic through which we see
reality. One of these is what is called humanistic psychology. It is
really not psychology. It is a thinly disguised philosophy of human
nature. Its basic assumption is that we are all naturally good.
According to this position, what we call evil is merely some kind of
a defect, like that which makes a tree crooked. A tree can be
straightened out by “tree therapy.” Human nature, if it is warped,
can also be straightened out by various techniques. Underlying this
humanistic psychology is the assumption that our human nature is
not in need of redemption. Whatever is wrong can be cured by the
therapy of interpersonal dynamics.
However, in the Christian view, what was (and is) wrong with
human nature cannot be set right by any amount of human effort.
This is what is meant by the redemption. While the Holy Spirit is
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the source of life on any level, even tree-life, he is the source of the
spiritual life only by inserting us into the one who died and rose.
That is the therapy of the Holy Spirit. It is possible that the preva-
lence of the view of human existence that comes from a humanistic
psychology can dim out the need for this spiritual therapy.
Perhaps no person giving spiritual direction would subscribe to
this humanistic philosophy of human nature. On the other hand,
the attitude is so pervasive that it can imperceptibly color a person’s
attitude and affect his approach to spiritual, direction.
Another pervasive mood which is in the air is a secularistic men-
tality which filters out the sense of the sacred in the world. It is par-
ticularly harmful if the sense of the sacred is not present in the con-
text of spiritual direction. It is possible to talk of spiritual things,
and even give spiritual direction without a sense of the sacred. But
to adapt the words of St. Paul: “If I am without a sense of the Spirit,
I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Co 13:1). We should
attempt to recapture the “hieratic” sense, the sense of the holy,
which Merton describes above, as the vital context of spiritual direc-
tion in the early Church, where the director became “a sacrament”
of the Lord’s presence in the ecclesiastical community.
We are back once more to the fundamental meaning of spiritu-
al direction, which is the human effort to channel the movement of
the Holy Spirit to bring about a deeper orientation of a person to
the Father. Such an awareness disposes us to the fundamental dis-
position of the director and one being directed. This is docility.
Literally this means “teachability.” We are alerted to this need for
docility to the Spirit when we consciously attempt to put ourselves in
the milieu of the sacred.
The need experienced by so many today for spiritual direction is a
genuine sign of the presence of the Spirit in our time. However, as I
mentioned above, the supply is not equal to the demand. To try to sat-
isfy the demand, there are those who undertake spiritual direction with
a minimum of training. Perhaps this is simply a provisional measure
until we can catch up with the demand. On the other hand, the number
of people prepared, and the level of preparation in many cases, goes far
beyond the preparation provided at any other time in history.
I think that we are living at a special time in history. As is true
of any special manifestation of the Spirit in history, we stand on the
shoulders of those who have gone before us. At the same time, we
are in the presence of the freedom and unpredictability of the Spirit
who “lists where he will.” No one could have dreamed of this devel-
opment twenty-five years ago. Where this is going, and what it is
preparing the Church for, lies hidden in the designs of the Director
of directors, the Holy Spirit.
 Spiritual Direction in the Church / 71

Conclusion
I would like to conclude and summarize, then, by giving a
description of what is meant by spiritual direction.
In first place, it is the direction transposed into the Church and
into individuals by the Holy Spirit. He is the primary director. In
Christ we find the paradigm of spiritual direction. He himself
through his openness to the direction of the Spirit was obedient to
the Father’s will which issued in his sacrificial death. He transposed
his own mission and orientation into the apostles through the gift of
the Spirit.
In the letters of St. Paul we find the characteristics of a spiritu-
al director who is sensitive to the movement of the Spirit.
Throughout the history of the Church, the Holy Spirit has worked
through thousands of directors to draw others into the direction of
the Spirit.
In short, as the term is ordinarily used, however, a spiritual
director is one, who through the power and wisdom of the Spirit,
acts as a spiritual guide for a person over a significant period of
time. Through a kind of spiritual artistry he attempts to bring about
a convergence of the whole person to the master-vision of faith, and
a master-commitment to Christ. The words of St. Paul can be
applied to this process of spiritual artistry: “I am in labor with you
over again until Christ is formed in you” (Ga 4:19).
I spoke of “sym-pathy” as being one of the characteristics of the
spiritual director. I shall end this long paper with a story about one
of the desert fathers from the fourth century.
Some old men came to see Abba Poemen and said to him: “When we see brothers
who are dozing at the common prayer, shall we wake them so that they will be
attentive?” He said to them, “When I personally see a brother who is nodding in
sleep, I put his head on my knees and let him be at peace.” Amen.
Spiritual Direction and the
Paschal Mystery
Gregory I. Carlson, S.J.

Volume 33, 1974, pp. 532-541.

S piritual direction is receiving strong encouragement today among reli-

gious communities. In fact there are those, myself included, who see it as an
integral part of religious vitality. For this experience to be of genuine help to
religious persons, both directors and directees must know what it calls on
them to do. Otherwise spiritual direction runs the risk of becoming just
another episode in a series of religious fads, perhaps meaningful to those few
who have entered into and understood it, but one more disappointing and
discarded panacea to those who for whatever reason have not succeeded in
assimilating this experience functionally into their lives. What I propose to
do in this article therefore is to give a careful description of spiritual direc-
tion and what it involves and to suggest by reflecting on the paschal mystery
what place it has in the life of an apostolic religious. I speak principally from
the viewpoint of someone who has profited from excellent spiritual direction
through most of fifteen years of religious life—and has learned something
too from the lack of it through several important years during this time.

What Direction Is Not

What I have called spiritual direction is rather specific, and I would
therefore like to distinguish it from three other important experiences of
religious life:
1. Spiritual direction is not the normal exchange of advice and feed-
back among friends. Spiritual direction is more regular than these
haphazard occurrences and sometimes involves things one would

72
 Spiritual Direction in the Church / 73

not want to discuss with his or her friends, as well as things to which
one’s friends are perhaps equally blind.
2. Spiritual direction is not problem-solving or decision-making. Both
of these call for advice from the person consulted. They tend to fix
on one area of a person’s life and to occur at crisis periods.
3. Spiritual direction is not psychological counseling. Many of us will
find it worthwhile to analyze under competent care the history and
dynamics of our own feeling patterns. This counseling tends again
to fix on problem areas and to seek a solution in terms of under-
standing one’s own history or modifying one’s behavior. It can go on
and does without any reference to God.

While each or all of these experiences may be involved in spiritual direction

at a given time, there is a core of spiritual direction that is different.

What Direction Is
What is spiritual direction then? It is a conversation in which, with the
help of another, a person expresses his or her experience of faith and discerns
its character and movement. Let us look briefly at the three central elements
in this description.
1. This is a conversation, not simply an account read off to someone,
and each party has a distinct part to play in it. Though the purpose
of this conversation concerns the growth of one of its partners, the
faith, commitment, and experience of both are actively at work.
2. The first purpose of this conversation is the expression of one’s expe-
rience of faith, its clarification and objectivization. If we want to
come to grips with and appropriate what is going on within us, we
have to try to express it, conceptualize it even, frame it in some kind
of words, even as we realize that the words will never fit the experi-
ence adequately. Put another way, spiritual direction is an opportu-
nity we give ourselves for the precise purpose of raising more and
more of our experience to a level of faith. Our purpose here is by no
means to get a firm conceptual hold on or control of God, but sim-
ply to recognize in faith the extent and depth of His presence in our
lives. This is not an escapist head-trip that tries to intellectualize
reality, but a patient effort to recognize God in all the complexity of
His presence to us, on all the levels of our being. Words are simply
our normal tools for expressing this, tools that have a way of com-
mitting us and challenging us to stand up to what we express with
them. At its best, spiritual direction is one place where we can put
aside rhetoric and admit with full honesty what we are experiencing.
3. The second purpose of this conversation is discernment upon our
experience of faith. Granted the honest expression of what we are
74 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

experiencing, can we see better what is happening in our lives with

God, where He is leading us, what rhythms and patterns our rela-
tionship shows? What sort of overall direction has our relationship
been developing? Where do the moods and movements that carry
me away from God arise? What kind of decision has led me to Him
in the past? Here the partners in the dialogue of spiritual direction
can bring to bear all the wisdom of Christian tradition concerning
the discernment of the spirits that work upon a person. Such are, for
example, Ignatius Loyola’s rules that for a person seeking God peace
is the normal and basic touchstone of His lead, or that a person
should learn to see the pattern of the developments in his or her life
by looking back over their beginning, middle, and end, or that one’s
prayer should follow the line of consolation. Again, this sort of
scrutiny of our continuing experience of God is not a matter of box-
ing Him in, of trying to find some categories that will define for
good what He is and how He works, but rather a matter of picking
up some sense of the rhythm and pattern, of the dynamic of His
touch upon us. What this scrutiny teaches us is, among other things,
to be ready for the surprises by which the God of Christian tradition
has distinguished Himself.

The Director’s Role

As it is the role of the person seeking spiritual direction to submit his or
her experience to scrutiny, to probe patiently, and to admit courageously
both the very good and the evil things that he or she sees, both the very sur-
prising and the routine elements of his or her experiences; so it is the role of
the director not to teach, not to advise, not to judge, not to direct, not to
decide, not to belittle, but (1) to ask those questions that will help the
directee to clarify his or her own experience and discern its meaning and (2)
to suggest at times a possible interpretation for what is going on in the
directee’s life. It is of course one of the commonest facts of human inter-
change that the overarching pattern of my experience is sometimes closed to
me as I live in the midst of it. I may need someone to suggest this meaning;
once it is suggested, only I am in a position to judge whether it is right or
wrong. It is finally the role of the director (3) to encourage the directee.
I repeat: the director does not direct. I retain the word “direction” in
discussing it here simply because it is the traditional terminology for this
particular area of religious life. “Counseling” comes closer than “direction”
to describing this reality, but it unfortunately suggests that the relationship
centers on getting advice from someone who knows my life better than I do.
Any suggestion that I give to another person some of my unique responsi-
bility to understand and shape my life misrepresents real spiritual direction.
Seen at one level, what we are really seeking is self-direction, but at a deep-
er level, even “self-direction” does not do justice to what we are describing.
 Spiritual Direction in the Church / 75

God loves each of us in a unique way and finds surprising ways to lead us to
life and service, ways neither we nor others could have dreamed of. The
point at issue then is not simply how we direct ourselves but how we facili-
tate God’s direction of us. And this is precisely what spiritual direction tries
to do: to facilitate God’s own direction of us in our lives.

Qualities of a Good Director

To whom should one go for direction? There are advantages at times to
having someone outside one’s own community; one particular advantage is
that with a priest director, one can relate one’s direction to sacramental con-
fession. Still, in general, it seems better to choose someone from one’s own
religious community and even within one’s present living community if it is
not too small. The reason is simple: in normal circumstances a person with
whom one is in frequent and general contact will know him or her better
than an outsider and can therefore listen and understand more perceptively
than others.
What should one look for in this director?
1. Most importantly, a director should be someone you can trust as well
as someone who trusts you and respects you. It should be someone
who can help to support in you a living sense that God loves you,
since the whole purpose of direction is to let the love with which
God loves you shine through your life and lead you to greater inti-
macy with Him.
2. A director should be someone with experience, both broadly human
experience and specifically religious experience, as a basis for under-
standing what he or she hears.
3. A director should have balance, prudence, and discretion.
4. Finally, a person should look for a director with compassion.

There are such persons in religious communities right now, and there is no
reason why their fellow religious should hesitate in asking them to be of
service as directors.

Some Suggestions
Let me add four particular suggestions on how to make spiritual direc-
tion as helpful as it can be. First, expect it to be difficult. Honest self-reve-
lation to another human being should be difficult. Yet the experience of
knowing this difficulty and still going ahead—and finding the understanding
and trust of another—is a worthwhile experience of Christian community,
Appropriating our own experience and sharing it with others go together,
and the support and challenge we find in sharing our life with someone else
is a powerful help in appropriating it for ourselves.
A good way to begin a session is by describing your prayer. Spiritual
76 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

direction is, of course, pointless if you do not pray, that is, if among the other
forms of your prayer you do not have some time for quiet and personal lis-
tening to the Word. A second form of prayer that has special value for spir-
itual direction is quiet personal prayer toward the end of the day directed to
sensing the pattern of the day, to feeling how God and I have interacted dur-
ing it. Many people find keeping a journal a good way to make this prayer.1
The best way to become aware is to articulate, and a journal can help us not
only to become aware of God’s work in us at the moment but also to get
some sense of the overall movement at the end of a given month or year.
This movement will of course be individual: everyone’s interaction with God
develops in a rhythm that is his or her own. A good spiritual director has no
preconceived idea of what he or she wants or expects to hear: the director is
simply there to help the directee get into closer touch with the individual
rhythm of his or her own life with God.
After prayer, a good place to start a session is with the cutting edges of
my life. Often a good immediate preparation for a session of spiritual direc-
tion is a quiet period of prayer in which we simply let ourselves become
aware of what we are feeling. The purpose of the prayer and the session is to
see and admit where God fits into this. Am I at peace? What is bothering
me? What unfinished business is lying around in the corners of my life?
What problems am I facing and how do I react to them? What decisions lie
before me, and how do I feel about them? There is always ample material for
conversation and reflection if we let our lives, especially our emotional and
social lives, surface in the presence of God.
Finally, a good director will ask from time to time what the directee
thinks of their relationship. This gives the directee a chance to say that the
director is too judgmental, too restrictive of appropriate matter for conver-
sation, not challenging enough, not compassionate enough, not willing to
share his or her own experience. A good director will open the door to this
kind of feedback regularly; but even when it is not sought, a directee should
feel encouraged to offer it.

Spiritual Direction and the Paschal Mystery

The paschal mystery is the pattern of our lives, not just of some ideal life
we should be living and not just of someone else’s life. Being a Christian
means living out this mystery revealed dramatically in the fate of Jesus
Christ. Spiritual direction is an occasion to find, recognize, and assent to this
mystery as we live it. It is a mystery: it is revealed to us by God, and we find
it only in assent to Him and His word. It is good for us to put ourselves into

Editor’s Note
1 [For one treatment of journal keeping and the life of prayer. see Edward J. Farrell, “The
Journal—A Way into Prayer,” REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, v. 30 (1971), pp. 751-756.]
 Spiritual Direction and the Paschal Mystery / 77

the position of Martha and to be asked “Do you believe this?” This is, as we
have seen, the first question put to us by the spiritual direction situation.
Here we can attempt to articulate and express the faith we live by. But this
mystery is not opaque, not superimposed on our “real” life; we believe it is
the real pattern underlying the surface meaning of events, and we can pro-
gressively understand and enter into it. With Augustine and Anselm, we
believe in order to understand. And all this is only an application of what we
said earlier about the second purpose of spiritual direction: discernment
upon our faith experience. It is good for us to have an occasion, a time and
a place, where we can try out loud with another person to get hold of the
mystery we find shaping our lives.
How is Christ’s paschal mystery the pattern of our lives? Let me suggest
three ways as they pertain to the work of spiritual direction.

Dying and Finding New Life

The culminating event of Jesus’ life was a matter of a seed falling into
the ground and dying and giving birth to new life. In the face of the
onslaught of death He trusted in His Father and found that His Father
saved. In dying He found a new and fuller life given Him by His Father.
Now we are dying every day. Growing up means, among other things,
giving up, giving up many of the things we have loved and enjoyed, like any
number of immediate satisfactions and the security and dependence we knew
as children. Every decision we make during our lives involves the same threat
that becomes overpowering in death: we lose something. We suffer the loss
of immediate contact with our friends, we suffer the loss by death of those
we love, we suffer the pruning of one alternative to let the other grow, we
move from one kind of work we enjoy to another that has greater responsi-
bility for other people, we give up particular hopes that have proved unreal-
istic. We go, in the words of one of Bergman’s characters, step by step into
the darkness, and every decision is a new step into the unknown. And as we
move on into later life, the pattern is the same: loss. We lose our quickness
and agility; our minds and limbs suffer an inevitable hardening. We give up
the effectiveness we once enjoyed and the communication with others that
we cherished. At last we must give up all that we have had to face the dark-
ness unarmed.

Responses to Death
In the face of the death that is at work in our lives right now, we can
respond by turning away, forgetting it, denying it in the style contemporary
American culture has developed into a high art. Or we can let it undermine
our love for and commitment to life and turn instead to subtle despair and
cynicism at the deepest levels of ourselves. Or we can do what Jesus did: face
it squarely with hope in a God that can save us and all that is beautiful and
cherished. If we face it squarely, we can see in many of our little deaths that
78 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

they are an entrance into new life, Giving up one alternative leads us to
growth; a step into the darkness brings light into our lives and those of oth-
ers. That is what Jesus experienced, and it is a pattern of our experience. It
is good for us to have a chance in the spiritual direction situation to confess
this honestly to ourselves and to see in the concrete details of our own expe-
rience how this mystery is at work. And this is precisely what we commit
ourselves to do in spiritual direction: to attempt to confess and to under-
stand.
Let me spell this out for one critical area of our experience as religious.
Many religious find after some years of religious life marked perhaps by a
youthful enthusiasm and exuberance that they are faced with the increasing
revelation of levels of themselves that are not easy to look at: they find lay-
ers of anger, fear, and hostility that they had not suspected in themselves.
Even more basically, they discover gradually the depths of evil in themselves:
their own resistance to God and His love becomes more and more patent.
They feel a sense of shame over what they are and wonder if they can con-
tinue a life that seems to them to have become a sham.
They can deny these things and turn away from them into a kind of
schizophrenic religious life with God and joy and service in one part and a
lot of muck in the other. Or they can settle into quiet and bitter despair over
the levels of themselves which God seems unable to reach. Without an
opportunity for explicit articulation of our experience in the light of our
belief, such schizophrenia and despair are indeed possible. The alternative is
to face these things squarely and honestly with trust in a God that can save.
We can raise even this stratum of our experience to a level of faith, admit its
existence, invite God to save even this, and submit ourselves with patience
and trust to the mysterious way He has chosen for saving us. In the language
of Gestalt psychology, we can try in the context of spiritual direction to
appropriate this part of ourselves, claim it as our own, refuse to leave it as an
absurd and gnawing force in our lives, bring it to closure or completeness by
seeing it as one area where God asks us, as He asked Jesus, to submit to death
with trust in Him. The areas and ways in which this surfaces will be differ-
ent in each of our lives, but for each of us it is here in the concrete experi-
ences of death that the paschal mystery of Christ is at work.

Finding God
Looked at from another side, the paschal mystery for Jesus was His dis-
covery of the full presence of God. The cross says that God was most pres-
ent to Jesus at a time when a good Jew would have been least aware of Him,
in the experience of death. The paschal mystery is the overturning of the tra-
ditional Jewish view—a view we all have quite naturally—that Yahweh is sim-
ply not involved in death. Here, where we least expect His presence, He
makes His power felt with ultimacy. In His weakness Jesus realized experi-
mentally the full power of God.
 Spiritual Direction and the Paschal Mystery / 79

The same mystery is at work in us. Our lives are a matter of finding God
at work in more and more areas of our life. This includes finding Him where
we did not suspect that He could be at work, finding Him in our own weak-
ness and emptiness, and finding Him finally in the experience of death.
Gerard Manley Hopkins catches this Christian experience in the final lines
of the opening stanza of “The Wreck of the Deutschland”:
. . . and dost thou touch me afresh?
Over again I feel thy finger and find thee.
In fact we religious have singled this element out to be thematic for our
lives. In the midst of a world that has generally given up the search in disap-
pointment, we proclaim boldly that we have found Him and dedicate our
lives to a continual rhythm of seeking and finding Him afresh. Over again we
feel His finger and find Him. By our vows we choose a kind of life that is
gathered around this experience.
We must be clear about this. The kind of experience out of which reli-
gious dedication grows and on which it is nourished is not a matter of a sim-
ple career choice, based on certain talents and aptitudes and expressed in an
easily definable role; a person does not become a religious as he or she would
become a teacher or a doctor. Nor is it simply a matter of willingness to work
for God, hoping somehow that what we do is done for Him and serves His
purposes. It is rather a matter of radical openness to and experience of Him
through faith at the deepest levels of ourselves. God is not just our business
or our goal. Prior to being men and women from God and working for Him
we are men and women of God, and that means people who believe they are
touched by Him, in contact with Him. God is the atmosphere in which we
live, a part of who we are; our goal is that to encounter us is for the men and
women we meet somehow to encounter God. The life we are trying to live
means that the peace, the joy, the energy, the hope that surrounds us is a liv-
ing invitation to others to come like us under the influence of a loving Father
and a redeeming Brother.

Apostolic Religious
A religious is a person for whom finding God is thematic, who contin-
ues to reflect on his or her ongoing experience of Him. Apostolic religious,
one could well argue, possess the special charism both of being an occasion
for encounter with God for the men and women they meet, of being quite
palpably men and women of God, and of putting their faith at the disposal
of others, of articulating in humanly effective terms the presence of God in
human life. Now this ability to put our faith at others’ disposal obviously
demands that we assimilate our experience of God at a very deep level, that
we get a real feel for it. A stereotyped articulation of our faith will be as
uninviting to others as it will be, eventually, cloying for us. If what we pro-
claim and what we live are to match each other, then we need an occasion to
80 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

reflect on, articulate, and understand our finding of God. And that is pre-
cisely what spiritual direction is.
As we all know, people are drawn to our life and our belief far more by
what we do than by what we say. Christianity is lived in service to other peo-
ple. Still, there does come a time, frequently in our kind of life, when some-
one—impressed, invited, or puzzled by our lives—asks what it is all about.
That is a critical moment. The answers we give this person have to square
with what he or she has seen in us. To give this kind of witness to the faith
we live by demands that we do ongoing reflection and discernment upon our
faith experience. Putting that faith at the disposal of others is not easy, but it
is the task to which we as apostolic religious are called.
If religious are called to occasion encounter with God and to put their
faith at the disposal of others, then it is part of the charism of our kind of
vowed life to be spiritual directors, again for want of a better name, for the
community of faith. The Christian, declared or anonymous, should find in
us what we have talked about finding in a spiritual director: an experienced,
patient, trusting listener to and supporter of people’s belief. People come to
us with their own experiences of faith and insights into it, and they are seek-
ing precisely those things spiritual direction is meant to give: an opportuni-
ty to be listened to, to get hold of something too difficult to work out with-
in oneself alone, to be taken seriously as a believer, to be encouraged in the
difficult struggle of faith. The best way to school ourselves for this service is
to submit ourselves to the process of spiritual direction.

Serving Others
Let us look at the paschal mystery from one other side. In his death and
resurrection, Jesus climaxed the life he lived as the suffering servant not only
of Yahweh but of his fellow men. Here on the cross he poured out his life lit-
erally for others: he became accessible to all men here as the revelation of
God’s saving work.
This is the pattern of our lives as Christians: learning more and more to
give our lives for others and so to be a revelation for them of God’s saving
work. This is a joyful and fulfilling experience, but it costs constantly. Every
day presents a new invitation to mature and healthy generosity, to overcom-
ing our selfishness and putting more and more of ourselves at the disposal of
others. The concrete forms of this invitation are different in each of our
lives, and they change and develop as life goes on. At one time it is a matter
of choosing what concrete form of service allows us to help people most; at
another time it is a question of how we can be there most for the others in
our community; at still another time we will have to confront traits of ours
that are hardest on other people. These are not minutiae separate from the
action of God; rather they are precisely where the mystery of Christ’s dying
and living for others is present now. They have therefore to be faced with all
the seriousness, imagination, and generosity we can bring to the task of
 Spiritual Direction and the Paschal Mystery / 81

pouring ourselves out for others. If prayer is a chance we give ourselves in

the midst of busy lives to hear and ponder these challenges to service, spiri-
tual direction is a further chance to admit to another person how serious the
challenges are, to give shape through words to our imaginative glimpses into
how we can respond, and to express out loud our commitment to respond
generously.
This all looks so easy and so clinical as I discuss it here. My point is that
the mystery of Christ’s dying and rising takes place now precisely in the give
and take, the tears, the anger and frustration, the joy too of the real decisions
and passions of our lives. Our calling challenges us to submit just these
things to the vision of faith that stands before Jesus’ Father and says “This is
your work” and that learns to see in our own dying and living for others the
extension of Jesus’ action here and now.
Spiritual Direction
Frank Wallace, S.J.

Volume 44, 1985, pp. 196—208.

P astoral care is a term that covers the work of many helpers whose roles
may at times overlap, yet are specifically different. There is the parent who
nurtures, the teacher who instructs, the religious superior who rules a com-
munity, the confessor whose specific function is to convey sacramental for-
giveness, the counselor who helps the client get in touch with his or her feel-
ings, helps remove blocks, assists in decision making and psychological
growth. And there is the spiritual director, whose specific function is to facil-
itate the encounter between God and the directee; so also do confessors, reli-
gious superiors, and perhaps, too, the other helpers. Yet the spiritual direc-
tor has a distinctive, specific function, which is emerging ever more clearly.

The Role of the Spiritual Director

The experience of most older religious today is that the spiritual direc-
tor (or spiritual father, as he was often called) was someone you consulted
about problems, distractions in prayer, and who helped you in those areas.
With the growth in prayerfulness and the awareness of the need for guid-
ance, lest we may “fall off the mountain,” with the increasing popularity of
directed retreats and houses of prayer, with the work of depth psychology,
the role of the spiritual director is seen to be more than problem solving. It
is concerned very much with growth in prayer. The spiritual director has
been called God’s usher and so is one who helps the directee to become more
aware of God coming, of God present, by being with the directee as he or
she is opening up to God’s love. Spiritual directing belongs properly to the
opening to the Spirit. As Alan Jones says, spiritual direction is worship, ado-
ration, waiting on God (Exploring Spiritual Direction, p. 56).

82
 Spiritual Direction / 83

At times, the spiritual director may have recourse to a psychological

counselor or, if skilled, act as counselor, to assist in the psychological growth
of the directee, because psychological growth and spiritual growth are relat-
ed, though not synonymous (see Dr. Gillian Straker, R EVIEW FOR
RELIGIOUS, Vol. 38, 1979). There may be distorted images of God, of self, of
prayer, that are blocking the encounter with God and which need correcting
for that encounter to take place. In this, however, the spiritual director will
not lose sight of the relationship with God as the focus of his or her caring.
The valuable work of the counselor in helping the directee to be in touch
with his or her feelings and to accept the real self, facilitates the journey to
a real God, by means of real communication. So often this experience, to
borrow the title of one of Morton Kelsey’s books, is reaching for the real,
and necessary for growth in spiritual freedom.
The spiritual director walks with the directee, who shares his or her
prayer experiences, and together they discern what is happening. At the very
heart of spiritual direction is discernment, which, in its full meaning adds a
deeper dimension to counseling, as we shall see later.
The Rules for the Discernment of Spirits are a valuable contribution by
Ignatius Loyola to spiritual directing. The Directory of 1591 compares the
director to a midwife. Hugo Rahner says of this: “This somewhat remarkable
comparison of the director to a ‘midwife’ is in itself an introduction to that
great patristic theme of the ‘birth of God in men’s hearts,’ which the great
psychologists and experts on human nature among the Fathers saw as a time
of internal conflict, during which considerable importance must be attached
to the discernment of spirits” (Ignatius the Theologian, p. 140).
Recently a friend, who is a mother and who had been directed by me in
a retreat, and who had never heard of the 1591 Directory, wrote to me, and
with her permission I quote:
“I rather think you are like a midwife—assisting those in the throes of
labor—knowing the birth is to eternal life. We don’t see the birth—only the
struggle. I know once I reached the stage of being able to push, it wasn’t
nearly so bad and nobody could do the pushing for me. But getting to that
pushing stage was greatly helped by understanding midwives who helped me
to know what was happening and where I was at. They encouraged, dispelled
fears, transferred confidence, lifted sagging spirits, soothed and cossetted
and bullied me throughout.”
That is as good a description of a spiritual director as I have come across,
and it certainly opened up for me the validity of the 1591 image of midwife.
Any serious entry into one’s spiritual life may cause a great “agitation of
spirits,” as Ignatius Loyola and Peter Favre both said. The director needs to
be very encouraging and reassuring, be willing to share the helplessness and
pain. Convinced that any experience can be creative or destructive, he or she
will be ready to encourage at times of fear, discouragement, disappointment.
Encouragement is, perhaps, the most significant help that the director gives.
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Linked with this is enlightenment, so that the directee sees what is hap-
pening, discovers the hidden God or new ways of praying. Enlightenment
does not mean telling the directee what to do, playing God in his or her life,
imposing the director’s experience on the directee. The director should be a
mirror for the directee to look into, a sounding board to bounce off ideas, a
companion of hope and light.
In the following model interview we note the encouragement and
enlightenment offered by the director:
Director: You have been telling me about your prayer with Jesus in the
garden, and said you were disappointed. What were you
disappointed about, Mary?
Retreatant: I was just fighting distractions all the time. I couldn’t stay with
the Lord, and I wanted to comfort him.
Director: You really wanted to comfort him? That desire is surely from
the Spirit, wouldn’t you say?
Retreatant: I suppose so, yet I really feel I let him down.
Director: Do you think the Lord is disappointed in you?
Retreatant: Well, I didn’t do much for him.
Director: Have you asked the Lord whether he was disappointed in you?
Retreatant: No, but he must be, surely.
Director: Could you go to him and ask him? Only he can tell you. Your
disappointment is real and it is important to find out more
about it. So speak to him about this feeling of letting him down.
Retreatant: Do you think this will help?
Director: I believe it will. And I also hope you haven’t forgotten about
that desire to comfort him. That’s the result of his power at
work in you. Well, talk it over with him.
Retreatant: That’s right, I did want to comfort him. So I mustn’t be all
wrong.
Director: Well, talk it over with him.
Here the director is trying to encourage and bring the retreatant to the
Lord. No doubt he or she will discuss at some time the retreatant’s concept
of prayer, the handling of distractions, and will direct attention to the Lord’s
experience of pain in the garden. These are areas arising from the interview
about which both must seek further enlightenment. The director will have
noted how the retreatant tends to focus on the negative and forget the pos-
itive. But haste is made slowly.

The Context of Spiritual Direction

The context of spiritual directing varies, and so do the people seeking.
There is the spiritual direction proper to a retreat. If the retreat is fully
directed, the dialogue will be very much centering on the prayer experiences
shared. Of course, there will be references to out-of-retreat life, but usually
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the focus is on the retreat prayer. Sometimes the retreat may be “semi-guid-
ed,” characterized by one or two talks to the group, and the opportunity to
talk with a director. In that context there seems to be less discussion of the
individual, distinctive prayer movement, because the situation is not as
intense. So in these two retreat contexts we see some variation.
Outside of retreat there may be ongoing spiritual direction, character-
ized by regular, frequent interviews, extending over a year or longer. This
will mean discussion of daily life experiences as well as the prayer experience.
Often this means that the director moves into a counselor’s role, although
the dialogue about prayer and God should not be overlooked.
There may be the kind of directing relationship that calls for interviews
only occasionally during the year, as a kind of “accountability checkup,” with
the opportunity to talk over one’s spiritual life made available at these meet-
ings. Finally, a spiritual director may be sought out in a crisis situation,
either because he or she is recommended, or because the alternative of seek-
ing a counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist is too alarming.
Although the expectancies and the dialogue in all these cases will vary,
the spiritual director, qua director, will focus on relationship with God—
though in differing ways, according to the directee’s needs.
Gerald G. May summarizes the role of the spiritual director very suc-
cinctly when he describes it as “a pointing of direction, a setting of environ-
ment, a sharing of oneself, and a deep attentiveness” (Pilgrimage Home, p. 23,
Paulist Press, 1979).

Some Qualities in a Good Spiritual Director

Ordination, of itself, does not gift the priest to be a spiritual director.
Today we are seeing lay people and nuns exercising this ministry, and doing
so successfully. What are the qualities needed?

Love
The director must be able to relate to people, to love people, to be free
to feel warm to them and to receive their warmth. Morton T. Kelsey in
Caring, writes well of this and says: “It is impossible for us to love other peo-
ple unless we listen to them. . . . The kind of listening I am talking about is
listening which does not judge or evaluate” (p. 67). It is the quality of the lis-
tening that shows whether you are loving the person, deeply interested in
him or her, listening to know and accept, not to change, judge, evaluate. It
is a listening that respects the distance and the difference of the other, a lis-
tening that patiently waits for the revelation of the other, a listening that can
lay aside personal agendas because of the absorption in the other. It is a
warmth, however, that is not possessive, that allows the other the freedom to
be his or her own person.
In The Practice of Spiritual Direction, Barry and Connolly speak of the
need to have a “surplus of warmth” (pp. 126—130). They mean “a love for a
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variety of people, warts and moles and all,” which is characterized by com-
mitment, the effort to understand, and spontaneity. The director must be
free to be his or her own person, not seeking to satisfy emotional needs
through the directee, nor imposing agenda or experiences on the other. Nor
must the director lay false expectations on himself or herself by trying to
play God in the other’s life as a solver of that person’s problems. He or she
listens so fully that he or she “enters into the skin” of the directee. This
demands generous love because it leads into compassion which is shared
helplessness, shared pain. It means being able to stay with the other no mat-
ter how hard that is, losing yourself in the other. Clearly we are not talking
here of sentimental attachments, but love as understood by St. Ignatius in
the Contemplation for Attaining Divine Love. Sensitivity, courtesy, gentle-
ness, reverence, patience are all qualities that fill out the love the director
must have for the directee, plus a willingness to accept silence. He/she is
responsible to the directee, but not for.
The quality of our responding reveals how we are listening. If there is
no response, the directee may not have the sense of being heard, and, as
Gerard Egan says, that is “hollow listening.” Listening with the head only
leads to judgment and just as the directee wants to be heard, so also does he
or she want to be accepted, not judged. “Don’t worry about that. You have
no need to feel that way,” as first responses are passing judgments, and
reflections on the directee. What he or she wants is to be accepted, and this is
experienced through responding with understanding. “I see that is very wor-
rying. You must have been very hurt,” and so forth. As the director listens
with full absorption, the understanding will deepen, so that the sources of
the feelings will be seen. When judged opportune, the director may com-
municate that deeper understanding.
The goal of listening is total listening, responding from the heart, not
merely from the head. Gerard Egan writes well of listening and responding
in You and Me. Total listening means listening with one’s eyes, ears, head,
heart so that one is lost in the other. It is contemplative listening, which
hears what is not said, which hears the tone of anxiety, sees the expression of
joy or worry, enjoys being with the other, and communicates that: “You are
the only person in my world just now.”
The genuine love we are speaking of is marked by utter honesty and
openness with the directee. So there can be no pretense, no bluffing by the
director, but a transparent, open love. Brutal harshness and severity have no
part in this honest trust, even though sometimes they are mistaken for it. If
there is to be confrontation it is important that this come from love, and be
seen to come from love. Setting up “win/ lose” situations comes from a
desire to be right, not from love. As the directee experiences being trusted
by the director, so he or she is encouraged to trust the director with that pre-
cious “hidden self” that Paul writes of in Ephesians 3:14—21. All this will
facilitate a genuine encounter between persons and with God, not just a
 Spiritual Direction / 87

mask meeting a mask. Sensitivity to the mystery of the other is the soil in
which intimate relationships grow. The director needs to be comfortable
with mystery, whether it is the mystery of God, of the directee, of self, so
that there is this growth in sensitivity. There must, then, be patience to wait
on the directee, on God. It is a great temptation to push sometimes, and this
must be resisted, for, as Ignatius Loyola teaches, the Lord chooses to deal
directly with the soul, and the director must not get in the way of this meet-
ing. Simone Weil spoke of “waiting patiently, but with expectation, for the
coming of the Lord.” As the example of the midwife reminds us, it is only
the mother who pushes, not the midwife.
Dr. Jack Dominian describes this love as sustaining, healing and pro-
moting growth (Tablet, 14 May, 1983). Total listening is sustaining because it
conveys to the other that you care. A responding that clarifies, confirms and
affirms the goodness of the other, not reinforcing the badness they see, and
which can help open the directee to God’s personal love, is healing and pro-
motes growth. There is little growth without pain. Wounded people can be
frightened by the love offered and may lash out in their fear, challenging the
sincerity of the love offered. The director must be willing to stay in there,
sharing the hurt and the helplessness. That is compassion, shared helpless-
ness, and the director shares in the growth of the directee as they walk
together in the mystery of pain and healing. We are all wounded healers if
we are close to Christ. Mary could stand by the cross, sharing the helpless-
ness of Jesus, without moving away because she could “do nothing” for him.
At times the director’s role is just to be a presence, helping transform help-
lessness into strong hope, not hopelessness (2 Co 12:7-10).
This can be very difficult and painful, because the more love we bring to a
situation, the more vulnerable we are. Peter tried to come between Jesus and
his cross because he loved Jesus. Later he learned it was a false kind of love, that
was directed more at himself than at Jesus. So, the director may feel deeply the
pain of the other and wish to come between the directee and Calvary. Dr.
Dominian is not exaggerating when he writes: “For anyone of us to succeed in
loving, we have to suffer, and die a thousand deaths. Here is the encounter
between grace and nature at its most powerful” (Tablet 14 May, 1983, p. 446).
Directors who have stayed with directees in their Gethsemanes will agree.

Feelings and Affectivity

The director needs to be aware of the importance of feelings. They are
messages to ourselves about ourselves and we are diminished when we do not
listen to them. The relationships between the director and directee, as
between both and God, are deepened as there is a growing awareness of the
feeling responses present, and a sharing of them.
Feelings, by Willard Gaylin, M.D. (Ballantine Books, N.Y.), and Feeling
and Healing Your Emotions, by Conrad Baars, M.D. (Logos), are helpful
books. Baars speaks of humane and utilitarian emotions, directing attention
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to the psychic energy emotions release.

Barry and Connolly speak of Anger, Deep Fears, Warmth and
Tenderness, and Sexual Feelings, as very strong, deep feelings that people
experience. There must be no blaming the other for one’s feelings, for feel-
ings are deeply personal and must be personally owned.
So the director encourages the directee to reveal such deep feelings to
God also. Some may be prepared to reveal their so—called good feelings but
not those they judge to be negative, e.g. anger. Or they may be willing to
share anger (because it is becoming acceptable) but not strong sexual feelings
they might be experiencing. Authentic prayer, though, is not a performance.
It is an encounter with God, possible only when I am truly myself.
One should be on guard against an exaggerated emphasis on anger which
can be a cover up for less acceptable feelings as, for example, sexual feelings.
And it seems to have become rather common for persons to blame parents,
school, Church, their religious congregations for their present unacceptable
state. Without wishing to deny the influence all these have, I wish to stress that
our feelings are our own, and blaming others is both false and harmful. It is a
sign of growing maturity when we accept responsibility for our now lives.
So often we discover that the feelings that surface in prayer reveal the con-
cept the directee has of God. Hannah Hurnard in The Hearing Heart tells that
for long she could not pray to Jesus, only to the Father. She was afraid of
approaching Jesus lest he ask something hard of her. This would indicate that
Jesus seemed to her excessively demanding. She was healed of this distortion,
and could then pray to him. So a retreatant might pray to Jesus as God, but not
as Man; she feels safe that way because she is frightened of men. Yet that fear is
hindering an intimate relationship with Jesus, keeping him distant. Somebody
else might pray to a God who is infinitely powerful, holy—and also infinitely
distant, impersonal. Could such a person experience that God really cares, is
deeply fond of him or her? Perhaps what we see here is a fear of intimacy.
The affectivity of the person includes the will, which besides being an
executive faculty, is also a loving faculty. The affective act of the will, “I love
you,” expresses the basic desire for the well-being, the continued existence,
of the beloved.
Besides the will, our affective life also includes our feelings. These are
what I call the surface responses—sad, mad, glad, scared.
There is also a deeper level of affectivity where dwells our faith, hope,
love, peace, which one is aware of even though sensible “feeling signs” are
missing. For example, a directee may speak of aridity in prayer, and yet there
is the longing to pray, together with the awareness of an underlying deep
peace. When John of the Cross speaks of the signs for moving prayer into
contemplation, he is alerting us to these deeper levels of our affectivity.

Discernment
The spiritual director is a walking contradiction, in that he or she is to be
 Spiritual Direction / 89

a “competent incompetent” as someone has said. The director must be incom-

petent, because it is God’s work at issue, God’s power that gives the increase (2
Co 12:7—10; 1 Co 2:1—5). So, we must trust in God’s power at work in the
director and in the directee, “doing infinitely more than he can ask or imagine”
(Ep 3:14—21). This attitude must be continually growing and relied upon.
But the director also must be competent, skilled in total listening and in
discernment. It is the discernment of spirits that is at the heart of spiritual
direction and which ultimately differentiates it from counseling. Ignatius
Loyola and Peter Favre were good directors because they were both skilled
in discernment. As with them, so with the modern director, this skill is
learned by being attentive to one’s own responses—thoughts, feelings,
behavior. Reflecting upon these experiences, for instance, the director will
begin to observe their beginning, their middle and their end. Thus he or she
begins to distinguish movements which are from God, movements authored
by self, and movements stemming from forces outside, whether good, neu-
tral or bad. The spiritual director learns from the movements in his or her
own life the skills of discernment. Rarely are things black and white. Sifting
the good and the bad, the wheat and the tares, is a gift from the Spirit.
The matter for discernment is the actual experiences revealed by the directee.
Together, the director and directee prayerfully reflect upon these experiences to
distinguish what is God-wards from what is not. The directee, for example, may
speak of a “peace-filled prayer.” Not all peace, however is from the Good Spirit.
Some is the result of achievement, some the accompaniment of a tranquil envi-
ronment, some is the false peace of complacency, and some truly is God’s gift.
What is this “peace” before us now? What are its fruits, and is it enduring? How
does it measure with the packet group of Galatians 5:22-24? Humbly, patiently,
both director and directee wait upon the Spirit to reveal the truth.
Perhaps disappointment is revealed in a session with the director.
“Whom are you disappointed in? What are you disappointed about?”
Following through on the answers offered can be richly rewarding, and can
point the way in which the Spirit is guiding the directee.
There are many writings about the discernment of spirits to help the direc-
tor. A good knowledge of the Rules given in the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius
Loyola is most helpful. Jules Toner has published a Commentary on these Rules
for the Discernment of Spirits. This is the fullest and deepest treatment I have
read. Chapter 10 of Pousset’s Life in Faith and Freedom, Michael Buckley in the
Way Supplement 20, Harvey Egan in “The Spiritual Exercises and the Ignatian
Mystical Horizon,” the Memoriale of Blessed Peter Favre (Way Supplement 35),
John English’s Spiritual Freedom, Hugo Rahner’s Ignatius the Theologian, are all
other good sources. It is by study and especially by reflection on one’s own
experiences that competence in this field is acquired.

Discerning the Prayer

It is above all with the discerning of the directee’s prayer that the direc-
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tor must be concerned. Yet there can be a reluctance to do this, to be busy

instead with problem solving and counseling. This reluctance may spring
from the director’s neglect of discerning his or her own prayer, or the fruit
of a static spirituality that is resisting growth. It may be that the director is
not well-read in the classic writings and, like a doctor who has neglected
reading, the director hesitates to enter into this “specialist” field. Yet a true
spiritual director must walk with the directee, acting as a sounding board for
the prayer experiences, guiding, encouraging, supporting, challenging.
To speak generally about prayer is not so difficult, but it is not easy to reveal
to another the intimacy of one’s relationship with God. Until the directee
knows that the director truly cares and reverently respects that relationship,
there cannot be deep sharing. The director must wait patiently for that barrier
to be removed. In a retreat, for example, the retreatant may describe a prayer
period like this: “I was praying about Jesus calling Peter in Luke 5. The scene
was vivid and I saw Jesus enter Peter’s boat and speak to the crowd. And then I
watched as the miracle happened. It was a good experience.”
The account is general, and speaks mostly of what the retreatant did. There
is nothing about the relationship between the retreatant and Jesus. It may well
be that the retreatant is unable to trust the director with that yet. Or it may be
that this really is the way the retreatant prays. In either case the director must
remember what he or she has been told, and wait. It is a mistake to rush in to
explore too soon. If you ask too many questions, you will reflect more on your
own behavior. “What” questions which reveal the experience allow the
retreatant to stay with the depth of the experience. “Why” questions take the
experience into the head and may stop the unfolding of the experience, or pre-
vent the retreatant from staying with the affectivity known in the prayer.
When the director judges it is opportune to journey into the prayer with
the retreatant, i.e., when there is evidence of being trusted, then is the time
to explore more deeply into the prayer experience. I believe it is helpful to
direct from the strengths of the directee and not initially, at any rate, from
weaknesses. Compare these two very different approaches.
Director: “Your prayer seems to be very much on the level of what you did.
I don’t see any evidence of your relationship with the Lord. It all
seems very vague and general. Why are you so distant from the
Lord?”
Directee: “I didn’t think I was distant from the Lord.”
Director: “Well, you don’t tell me anything about how close you are.”
Directee: “I don’t know what to say. You seem disappointed in me.”
Director: “I’m not disappointed in you. All I want to do is help you.”
The directee has picked up the attack and is defensive. The director has
assumed that the directee can talk about the relationship, about intimacy, and
has been drawn into a debate.
The above, of course, is a caricature intended to highlight mistakes. Let
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us look at another response to the same prayer account.

Director: “Joan, I’m glad your prayer experience was good. Do you think
you could tell me a little more about it? I’d really like to know
what you found good, or in what way you felt good.”
Directee: “I don’t know. It just seemed to make me feel good.”
Director: “Was it something in Peter, or something Jesus said or did, that
appealed to you?”
Directee: “No, the strange thing is that Peter seemed to disappear.”
Director: “Was it just you and Jesus there then?”
Directee: “Yes, that’s it. Just me and Jesus.”
Director: “And that made you feel good? Was it being alone with Jesus.”
Directee: “Yes, and I was really surprised.”
Director: “What surprised you, Joan?”
Directee: “It’s never happened before, at least not like this. I never expected
him to be so caring of me.”
Director: “I can see that experiencing the love of the Lord like that must
have been a good experience. You might find it helpful to stay for
a while with that. Something like Psalm 139 or Isaiah 43 might be
helpful.”
Here the director begins from the strength of the directee, and tries to
help her expand on it. He or she invites intimacy by sharing feelings and
care, and keeps responding to what the directee says, not to what she does
not say. Later on in the relationship there may be challenge, but not yet. Just
now the director keeps with the Lord. The director shares of self only inso-
far as it helps the directee, avoiding the twin traps of either being aloof and
impersonal or dominating with one’s own experience.
It is very helpful for the directee and the director to know where the
focus of attention was during prayer. Is the directee contemplating the rela-
tionship between self and ideal self? This is not prayer, but harmful intro-
spection. Is the focus on other people in the scene or is it on Jesus? Is it just
on Jesus, on me, on Jesus and me? The answers reflect different degrees of
intimacy.
It is important to know how the retreatant feels at the end of the prayer.
Observe this exchange:
Director: “How did you feel when the prayer ended, Bill?”
Directee: “I felt a bit disappointed.”
Director: “Whom were you disappointed in, Bill?”
Directee: “Me, I suppose.”
Director: “You just suppose it was you?”
Directee: “Well it couldn’t be God, could it?”
Director: “I don’t see why not.”
Directee. “But God loves me.”
Director: “Yes, that’s true. So perhaps we should try to see what you were
disappointed about.”
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Directee: “I just felt a bit flat.”

Director: “In what sense, flat, Bill? Tired?”
Directee. “No, not tired, almost as though I had been let down.
Director: “That God had let you down?”
Directee: “Yes. I’d really tried at this prayer and he seemed a bit hard to
please. It was only a flash, and I quickly put it aside.”
Director: “Do you think you could reveal this ‘flat feeling’ to the Lord?”
Notice that the director is helping the retreatant explore the disappoint-
ment. As spiritual director, his aim is to guide the directee to honest sharing
with the Lord. There are signs of self-dissatisfaction in this interview, and
also a distorted image of God. But the director does not go down these paths
too soon, keeping precisely to the implied contract to be “God’s usher.”
Sudden, spontaneous reactions are so important as break-throughs to behind
the mask. If the directee is meeting the Lord, the director will allow the
Lord first say, and only later may there be further exploration.
The director must not be drawn into the quicksands of guilt feelings or
anger. The question always at issue is simply: What is this doing to the per-
son’s life, to his relationship with God, with others, with self?
As Karen Horney says, we should look to see if we are moving from, to,
or against others. Thus the director will note the movement in the prayer: Is
it to, from, or against God?
It is easy to see prayer as just a performance, like a well-written homily
or lesson, a well-played piano recital. Once that attitude takes hold, the
directee is in the grip of the semi-Pelagianism of the Avis Rent-a-Car school
of spirituality: “We try harder.” Prayer, however, is not a performance but an
encounter with God. Consider this dialogue:
Directee: “I’m afraid I’ve got nothing good to report today.
Director: “The day was pretty heavy, was it?”
Directee: “Yes. No matter what I did, nothing seemed to jell.”
Director: “You really put in plenty of effort, I gather. Must have been
frustrating.”
Directee: “It sure was. I took the psalm you suggested, Psalm 63. And I
think I did all the right things. But my mind was all over the place.
And I found it hard to keep still, too.”
Director: “I am wondering whether Psalm 63 fitted where you and the Lord
were.
Directee: “Well I thought it would be really good, as it’s a favorite psalm of
mine. So I was really looking forward to the prayer session.”
Director: “But it turned out to be a bit of a shambles.”
Let us pause to see the attitudes that are being revealed.
“I’m afraid that I’ve nothing good to report today.” Is the implication that
the director is only interested in good reports? The performance by the retreatant
seems to be the focus. There is no mention of the Lord. Pertinent questions to
 Spiritual Direction / 93

ponder might be: Does the retreatant see prayer as a performance, not as an
encounter? Does the retreatant measure prayer by consolations received? Is the
retreatant therefore unwittingly seeking the consolations of God, and not the
God of consolations, in prayer? Again, control is being revealed.
It may not be possible, nor even advisable, to check out all these ques-
tions in this interview, but they must be remembered. Here is one avenue the
director might decide to walk along.
Director: “But it turned out to be a bit of a shambles.”
Directee: “You can say that again.”
Director: “You told me it was frustrating. Can you tell the Lord that?”
Directee: “What do you mean? I don’t understand.”
Director: “What do you mean? I don’t understand.”
Directee: “But he knows how I feel. He’s God, isn’t he?
Director: “Yes, that’s true. But I’m wondering whether you can tell him.”
Directee: I suppose I could, but what’s the good, if he knows already.”
Director: “It may help your relationship with him.”
Directee: “How can it do that?”
Director: “Well you were able to tell me. That showed a lot of trust, I think,
and I appreciated it. You were really open with me.”
Directee: “Well you’re here, I can see you. But God’s not like that.”
Director: “He’s a long way away, is he?”
Directee: “He certainly was in that prayer time.”
Director: “How does it make you feel when he’s so distant?”
Directee: “It’s like when I really wanted my father and he was never
around.”
Director: “That must have been lonely. Were you able to tell your father
you missed him?”
Directee: “Not really. He was a shy sort of man and he was working so hard
to support the family, a big family.”
Director: “Must have been a really good man, and I can understand how
you wanted him. You’ve trusted me with all this. How about
telling God? Give him the chance to let you know whether he
cares or not. Would you like to try?
Directee: “O.K. What do I do? Just tell him?”
Director: “Yes, that’s right. Just tell him how you feel when he is distant.”
The director has stayed with the retreatant, despite the resistance
shown. It is a good sign when there is resistance because it shows that some-
thing rather deep is being touched. The human heart longs for intimacy and
at the same time is often afraid of it. By staying with the retreatant, the direc-
tor learns about the other relationship, with the father, which could be influ-
encing the retreatant’s relationship with God. The directing, however, does
not pursue that point yet. Rather the director keeps with the retreatant’s
relationship with God, moving him or her towards him. The information,
94 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

however, is stored up, possibly to be discussed later.

Spiritual direction is a very rewarding work. No two people are the same,
and their lives in the Spirit are never identical. The director becomes amazed
at the varied activities of the Spirit, and at the power of God’s love witnessed
in people. He or she will learn from everyone. To be invited into the intima-
cy of another person’s life is to be privileged. To be a sharer in that person’s
relationship with God is awesome. To be trusted with the other’s self, and to
witness a rebirth of God in another person’s heart is like being present at the
miracle of birth. I end by quoting again from the Directory of 1591:
“It is a sort of birth—a supernatural birth in which pain and travail and
involuntary sadness are experienced; these are liable from time to time to tor-
ment both parent and offspring and to stifle them, unless a conscientious and
experienced midwife is present, and especially light from heaven, and strength
and perception from above” (quoted in Ignatius the Theologian, p. 140). The
consolation of direction is described by Jesus: “A woman in childbirth suffers
because her time has come; but when she has given birth she forgets the suf-
fering in her joy that a man has been born into the world” (Jn 16:21).
The Three Dimensions of
Spiritual Direction

Alice McDowell

Volume 40, 1981, pp. 391-402.

A ll who are called to spiritual direction, whether as director or seeker, are

truly privileged. Few other activities can be more satisfying because spiritual
direction involves a wrestling with basic life forces, both human and divine, in
close communion with another person.
Spiritual direction seeks primarily to enable the seeker to achieve a deep
relationship with or grounding in God and thus to live a life of total freedom,
individuality and deep love. This is an awesome and complex process which
entails ridding oneself of past psychological injuries and traumas, false ways of
thinking and acting, and undue attachment to any person, possession, or spiri-
tual practice. At the same time it encourages and fosters a practice of deep
prayer so that one can discover one’s deepest self, and thereby find the will of
God in one’s life.
Some of the effects of spiritual direction coincide with those of psy-
chotherapy but the two processes are different. Simply stated, spiritual direc-
tion goes beyond psychotherapy and burrows to the “deepest” level of reality,
to the fullness of God. This can bring about wholeness on the “less deep” psy-
chological level provided there are not deep-seated neuroses or psychoses
which first need to be healed. Yet more than psychological adjustment is gained
because the seeker begins to live the life of God. As a result, all living things
who happen to come in contact with such a person are transformed in some
way. Put more simply, the goal of psychotherapy is mental adjustment and psy-

95
96 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

chological wholeness whereas the goal of spiritual direction is enlightenment,

spiritual communion with God, transcendental liberation or any other term
traditionally used to describe this state of being. Consequently, in contrast to
psychotherapy, spiritual direction concentrates on the relationship between
seeker and God.
While the relationship between the seeker and God is primary in spiritual
direction, two other relationships must be strong if the process is to be truly
effective. The director must first have a deep relationship with God, and sec-
ond, there must be a viable and secure spiritual friendship between director and
seeker. Only if these three relationships are strong, can spiritual direction pro-
ceed effectively.
This article seeks to analyze the intricacies of these three relationships as a
way to clarify the dynamics of spiritual direction. From this, several important
guidelines will emerge for the director as he or she engages in this privileged
work.1

The Relation Between the Director and God

A close relation between the director and God is an essential ingredient for
good spiritual direction. An abundant knowledge of psychotherapeutic or spir-
itual techniques will remain ineffective if this basic relationship is absent. This
closeness with, or grounding in, God has many important ramifications.
To understand the seeker’s experiences, the director needs to have this close
relationship with God. Obviously, the director must personally and continual-
ly be experiencing the dynamics of the spiritual life in order to realize what the
seeker is undergoing. This experience includes a profound understanding of the
great spiritual writers and the key concepts of his or her religious tradition. But
this must go beyond mere intellectual knowledge to one that stems from lived
experience. John of the Cross was well aware of the dangers resulting from
inexperienced directors and he cites Mt 15:14 in this regard. “If a blind man
leads another blind man, both fall into the pit.” 2
To comment effectively on the seeker’s experiences, the director must be so
grounded in God that the Holy Spirit is able at crucial moments to speak
through him or her. Pat answers to certain questions will not do, nor will fol-
lowing some “usual” routine for specific situations. The director must be open
to the Holy Spirit, willing perhaps to give a highly unconventional response to
a particular situation. The right words will sometimes spurt out of a good direc-
tor, without conscious thought. At other times, the seeker will note retrospec-
tively how the director’s advice on a particular matter really was insightful only
to have the director fail to remember saying such a thing. Surely these are
instances where the Holy Spirit has been allowed to work.
Openness to the Holy Spirit will cause the director’s actions to vary from
session to session. He or she might appear one time to be a stern taskmaster and
at another, a loving, supportive person. Often the director is unaware of these
seeming changes in personality. A simple but forceful declarative sentence can
 The Three Dimensions of Spiritual Direction / 97

at times be so appropriate that it rips through the center of the seeker’s being
like a sword, even as the director is unaware of his or her words having such an
effect.
A close relationship with God is also necessary if the director is to serve as
a model for the seeker. Ideally, in looking at the director, the seeker understands
what it is like to live the spiritual life more fully. The director’s interior joy and
peace, effortlessness in movement, powerful presence, dynamism, and effective
modes of action can provide the hope and determination the directed one needs
to persevere in traveling the spiritual path.
A strong grounding in God also enables the director to become a powerful
and positive force-field, which can strongly influence the directed one.
Frequently in the spiritual journey, an individual for a variety of reasons “gets
off the path,” i.e., is no longer centered in God. Spiritual growth thus comes to
a halt; there is a feeling of disorientation and dissonance with one’s surround-
ings. Yet merely being in the presence of an individual grounded in the life of
God can put a person on track once again. It is as though the peaceful vibration
of the seeker has gone awry and all he or she needs to become harmonious
again is to come in contact with a force-field of that same peaceful vibration.
Nothing really needs to be said; the presence of the other is sufficient. There
are other ways that an individual can become re-centered. A day spent in prayer
is often quite effective. But in the early stages of the spiritual journey, the quick-
est and most effective method is often just to be in the presence of the director.
Obviously, this will not work if the director is disoriented himself. The direc-
tor must be a channel of peace and grace for the process to be effective.
One of the director’s main functions is to be an “intercessor in the night,” 3
i.e., to pray for the seeker in quiet moments. The famous spiritual director,
Baron von Hügel, took this task so seriously that he would pray for the persons
he directed three times a day.4 For others, nighttime is often the only chance a
director has to pray for those whom he or she is directing. A director may sud-
denly awaken and realize the need to pray for a certain person. To the outsider,
such intercessory prayer would seem to have little effect, but this is not true.
There are times when the seeker will feel this direct intervention of the direc-
tor. A problem or impasse will suddenly be cleared hours after the director has
prayed about it. At other times when one is undergoing a difficult situation, one
can “feel” the added God-filled energy of the director. Whatever the particular
dynamics, the director, by being closer to the all powerful and loving God, is
able through intercession, to help the seeker. Furthermore, the greater this
spiritual depth, the more frequent is the effectiveness of such prayer.
Additionally the director needs to have a grounding in God or Christ so as
to maintain equilibrium in the face of the psychic and spiritual forces that can
and should be released if the direction is to be effective. As will be discussed
below, the director must risk his or her self in encounter with the seeker and yet
not become involved in the ploys and emotional turmoil of the seeker. The
director must thus have partially understood his or her own human failings and
98 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

desires so as not to be trapped by them during this exchange. A groundedness

in God enables the director to take essential risks with the seeker without get-
ting thrown off his own course.
Additionally, in rising above the ploys and turmoil of the seeker, the direc-
tor serves effectively as a mirror, enabling the directed one to see these actions
for what they truly are. Armed with this increased clarity, the seeker is then bet-
ter able to understand the dynamics of his relationship with others as well and
thus able to improve upon them.
In all aspects of spiritual direction, therefore—in understanding and com-
menting on the seeker’s experiences, in being a model of inspiration, in acting
as a force-field that helps center the seeker again, in entering into an authentic
and thus transformative relationship with the seeker—the director’s relation to
God is crucial. Yet, this point is often underplayed. Directors frequently think
they are doing the most good by spending the most hours directing or serving
the largest numbers. This creates a great deal of human action but little God
action, i.e., little effective action. Doing so comes at the expense of needed time
that could be better spent in solitude and prayer, revitalizing the director’s own
relationship to God. If a director has been occupied with many duties even for
only a few days’ time and has not had sufficient time for deep prayer and cen-
teredness, he would serve the seeker better by canceling the appointment and
spending that time alone in prayer.

The Relation Between Director and Seeker

Another essential ingredient in the process of spiritual direction is a special
friendship between director and seeker. Ideally the two should unite at the
deepest dimensions of each one’s being, the place where God dwells. So much
of human striving is aimed at achieving this kind of closeness with another, yet
so often these efforts fail. Spiritual direction is one area in which true com-
munion can succeed. Success is possible because of the abundant graces given
to both individuals and because both guide and seeker focus primarily on God
rather than each other.
However, the relationship between the director and seeker is not a friend-
ship in the usual sense of the term. Generally, they share few spheres other than
the deepest dimensions of their beings. They do not usually play tennis, go to
the movies, have dinner with each other, or chat about topics of ordinary inter-
est. Avoiding such activities, in fact, helps the two when they do meet. Then
they can focus on this deepest dimension that unites them more quickly and
clearly. The relationship is not confused by other areas of interaction and so it
can operate more effectively.
Moreover, the friendship between the director and seeker is unlike a typ-
ical friendship because it is primarily concerned with the needs of one, not
both, on his journey to God. Even when two individuals serve as directors for
each other, separate time must be allotted for each in turn to be the center of
concern.
 The Three Dimensions of Spiritual Direction / 99

In some aspects, the director-seeker relationship is more like one of parent-

child or teacher-student, than friend-friend. Presumably a person will choose a
director who has more wisdom, experience and spiritual depth so that the seek-
er will be aided in his quest for a deeper life with God. At the same time, there
can be danger in stressing the superior-inferior, knowing-unknowing relation-
ship between director and seeker.5 Both might too easily get the impression that
the director is a source of “information” that needs to be given to the seeker,
that the one has the “answers” to the other’s problems. The director is thus
erroneously seen as the great teacher, healer, magician. Although the director
gives help and insight, only God, who resides in the core of the soul, can give
true answers. The director’s primary role is to listen with the seeker to what
God is saying. As Thomas Merton notes:
[A]s soon as you think of yourself as teaching contemplation to others, you make [a] mis-
take. No one teaches contemplation except God, who gives it. The best you can do is
write something or say something that will serve as an occasion for someone else to real-
ize what God wants of him.6

After deepening his spiritual life, William Richards, a minister and psy-
chologist realized this same idea with respect to psychotherapy.
I no longer view my work as me doing therapy to another but rather as being with the per-
son; recognizing that a healing process is unfolding, with a trust or love acceptance there
and a feeling of being more of a channel for the healing process as opposed to being the
mighty healer! I observe that growth, healing, conflict, resolution, greater integration,
etc. happen, and I help facilitate it, but I don’t do it or take credit for it.7
These words capture the attitude that a spiritual director must have. The
director is a privileged witness to the work of God in the seeker, and at best a
channel through which God can work, but he or she is not the teacher or heal-
er per se.
Another danger in overly stressing the inequality of guide and seeker is the
imbalance it creates between the two in sharing their deepest spiritual dimen-
sion. This impedes complete healing and transformation. In an imbalanced
relationship the seeker bares his or her deep experiences, conflicts and joys to
the director while the director remains mute about his or her own experiences
or feelings. This inevitably leads to truncated growth and development for both
individuals. Even though the focus of direction is on the seeker, the director
must be open and willing to share his deepest experiences if the occasion
demands it.
Along these lines, Carl Jung insists that the therapist must risk his whole
being as a result of the special encounter with the patient. All preconceived
ideas must remain open to challenge; the therapist too must be open to change.
Only then will healing take place. Jung likens psychotherapy to the contact of
two chemical substances. If there is any reaction, both are transformed.8 The
essential openness and vulnerability of the therapist can only be achieved by
sharing his personhood. Here also is where the experience of the director is so
100 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

necessary. As noted before, the director must know the pitfalls of his egocentric
desires and needs and be truly grounded in God in order to avoid getting
caught up in the anxieties and psychological ploys of the seeker or succumbing
to the powerful forces that sometimes are released. He or she must be clear,
calm, and God-centered, but simultaneously vulnerable and open to change.
There are a number of other advantages when the director appropriately
shares his or her experiences, struggles and insights with the one he directs. It
gives the seeker greater insight into the spiritual life and an ability to see the
road ahead more clearly. It prevents him from having a distorted, often over-
glorified idea about greater spirituality, because the deeper struggles as well as
the deeper joys are revealed. Additionally, such a sharing enables the seeker to
see the human failings and limitations of the director. Such a perception pre-
vents the seeker from putting the director on a pedestal where he, rather than
God, is looked up to for answers and consolations. The act of revealing per-
sonal struggles and pitfalls can in turn be a great relief to the director who is
released from the pressure of living up to the glorified expectations of the
directed one.
As a result of the unique nature of spiritual direction with its primary con-
cern for the seeker’s path to God, it is easy for both director and seeker to see
how much the seeker benefits from the direction process. The reverse also
needs to be acknowledged. If the process is working, the director gains help and
comfort from the seeker as well. To be a privileged witness to the life of God
unfolding in another is truly joyous. Additionally, the seeker’s excitement over
newly discovered ways of being and acting in the world can remind the guide
of similarities in his own spiritual past, thus bringing rejoicing and thanksgiv-
ing. At times when the guide is experiencing the inevitable periods of dryness
and desolation, the enthusiasm and joy of the seeker can be a true oasis.
Alternatively, being present with the seeker during his or her dark nights can,
during a time of personal desolation, remind the guide that his life does have
meaning and purpose.
The route of the spiritual journey can be visualized as a spiral: one under-
goes comparable experiences or tests at deeper and deeper levels. For example,
one seeks to maintain a peaceful centeredness at all times. On the more shallow
level of the spiral, the journeyer will struggle to maintain such peace during
quiet moments of meditation. As he travels deeper, one is asked to maintain this
peace or centeredness during manual work; still deeper, in the midst of chaotic
noise and deeper still, in the face of life crises, such as the death of a loved one.
Often by “coincidence,” i.e., by the grace of God, seeker and guide are grap-
pling with the same type of problem, only at a different level. Each one’s strug-
gle aids the other. In aiding the seeker through the working of the Holy Spirit,
the guide is often giving himself the same advice. This is one of the beautiful
aspects of the guide-seeker relationship.
The seeker may also contribute to the growth of the director through his
or her uniqueness. Often such personal traits involve strengths and different
 The Three Dimensions of Spiritual Direction / 101

approaches to life that need to be developed in the director. For example, the
seeker might have greater ease with people, better ability to express deep emo-
tions or a more holistic relation to his body. Such traits can help the director to
become more tolerant and whole. During each meeting the director should
interiorly ask what message God is trying to convey through the seeker.
In these ways, the seeker truly helps the director. The director must not
forget this. He must continually appreciate what the seeker is contributing to
his own growth and be willing, when appropriate, to tell him that this is so.
Stress on the sharing and mutual benefit between director and seeker is all
a prelude to the key element in this relationship: love for one another. This
takes seriously the directive given in the Gospel of John: “Love one another as
I have loved you” (Jn 15:12) because only in love can one begin to know God
(1 Jn 4:7). Needless to say, coming to know God constitutes the whole process
of spiritual direction.
In addition to providing the basis for knowing God, this love enables effec-
tive healing and growth to take place. In analyzing the phenomenon of spiritu-
al healing, Lawrence LeShan has observed that the most profound healing
occurs when “healer” and “healed one” attempt to unite with each other at the
deepest level of their being.9 The two individuals enter a relaxed state and med-
itate on reaching this deep union. No physical energy is transferred in the
process; in fact, the two need not be in the same room. There is no thought of
healing, only of union in love. Yet, from this union wonderful healings can
occur.
This union in love is the most essential element in spiritual direction on the
director-seeker level. No amount of helping another, whether it be in giving
him important insights into his problems or in spending large amounts of time
with him, will really be effective if this basic love is absent. Yet, this is not a sen-
timental love but is necessarily even harsh at times. It can poke into dark cor-
ners of the psyche and bring unknown or forgotten failings to light. It reveals
the truth at all costs because only then will the seeker grow. Despite this, such
a love includes an acceptance of the individual, including his faults and failings.
It also includes an appreciation of his uniqueness and special contribution to the
creation of all things. In experiencing the director’s unconditional love, the
seeker begins to accept himself more fully and to realize God’s ultimate love.
This gives the seeker courage and confidence to begin to change and grow.
Once in a while this unconditional love might appear impossible because of
basic personality clashes, but here again grace operates. Often in these cases,
the director receives a love for the person that goes beyond normal human
inclinations or capacities. He is given the privilege of seeing into the core of the
seeker’s soul, thus seeing it as God does. In other words, the director is able to
see through the personality quirks, false actions, and emotional turmoil to a
basic goodness lying dormant in the soul and awaiting activation. Such deep
insight reduces annoying personality differences to trivia. It is similar to a
mother’s immediate love for her newborn child. The night feedings, soiled dia-
102 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

pers and crying jags are unimportant compared with the specialness of this child
and the dreams for its greatness.
The love of the seeker for the director has a different set of complicating
factors to overcome. A basic dislike for the director would have led one to
choose another person in the first place. Moreover, love usually comes easily
because the benefit of direction can be felt and appreciated. But this love can be
problematic, because it often stems from a wanting and desiring (eros) rather
than an acceptance and appreciation (agape). Such a love can be coercive and
manipulative rather than freely given. John of the Cross observes how those
directed often want to be favorites of their directors and to become overly inti-
mate with them; they become envious and upset about the director’s involve-
ment with others.10 Part of the progress made on the spiritual path includes a
change from eros to agape, first in the seeker’s relation with the director and later
in all of his or her relationships.
An unconditional and devoted love is therefore the key to good spiritual
direction. It is the soil necessary for both to grow. It must be continually in
mind. A director need not worry what he or she is doing for the seeker, what
should be asked or discussed, or the like. The director must simply love the
other out of a personal love for God. Everything else comes from this.

Relation Between the Seeker and God

The primary purpose of spiritual direction is a development in the rela-
tionship between the seeker and God. While the other two relationships must
be operating effectively for this one to develop, nevertheless, both guide and
seeker focus primarily on this relationship in their discussions and interactions.
The images of midwife, catalyst and privileged witness, which are used to
describe the role of the spiritual director, stress the point that the relationship
between the seeker and God is of primary importance. A midwife assists in the
birth of the baby but is not part of the birth process itself—neither in concep-
tion, pregnancy nor delivery. Similarly, a catalyst is a substance that helps speed
up a chemical process but in no way directly affects that process. The energized
presence of the director quickens the seeker’s growth in God without directly
interfering with that process. In like vein, a witness is present at an event but
does not partake in the event directly.
It is important that both director and seeker keep these images in mind. At
appropriate times, the director should remind the seeker that God or Christ is
the true director and that the purpose of their meetings is primarily to deter-
mine his will for the seeker in a given situation.
The uniqueness of the relationship between the seeker and God must
always be respected. Neither the director nor the one directed knows what the
final outcome of the seeker’s relation with God will be, since each person is
called to serve God in a unique way. Each person, once united with God, will
be his or her true self. Holiness does not require a uniformity of acting or
being, but the freedom to be who one is really called to be, regardless of soci-
 The Three Dimensions of Spiritual Direction / 103

ety’s dictates. Both director and seeker therefore should not labor under pre-
conceived ideas about how the relationship between God and the seeker will
unfold. Obviously there are valid positives as to what this relationship is not.
Holiness precludes killing another or going against the basic moral precepts.
But the demands that holiness makes on each person are totally unique and can-
not be foreseen. Consequently, the director must continually be willing to step
back and watch a special process unfold. Too much interference from the direc-
tor will distort the process or make it nonproductive.
In this light, the director must continually ask the seeker: “What is God
calling you to do in this particular situation?” This is not necessarily the same
as what either one thinks should be done. It is a much more personal response
to what God is asking the individual to do, even if this seems to go against
everything the seeker has previously been taught. For example, for a while the
seeker might need to stop spending a great deal of time helping others, and
instead use this time for developing his relationship with God through prayer.
As long as the seeker is true to his conscience and not committing any flagrant
immoralities, he should be free to explore many ways of acting and being.
Consequently, the director must respect God’s timetable for the seeker’s
spiritual growth. At times the seeker will not be ready to forge ahead even
though all indications to the director suggest that this is what is needed. Several
months of seeming stagnation or even sliding backwards might prove essential.
Alternatively, the seeker might need and should be allowed to travel down what
the director knows are dead-end streets, perhaps in order to gain a more com-
plete understanding of what not to do! Such false paths might include the pur-
suit of a relationship or work situation which will only lead to frustration, sor-
row, and little growth. Sometimes, a person may go so far in spiritual direction
and then seem to renounce the whole spiritual life, its prayer and its purgation,
for a number of years before resuming the spiritual journey once again. A direc-
tor should not become discouraged in these developments for they often belong
to God’s greater wisdom and understanding for the growth of the individual.
Perhaps more importantly, just as the director should not be discouraged about
supposed “failures” neither should he take personal credit for the “successes.”
He or she can only derive satisfaction at having been a timely catalyst in an awe-
some process.
The whole thrust of spiritual direction is to enable the relationship
between the seeker and God to develop to a fullness in which the human direc-
tor is no longer, or rarely, needed. In the beginning, a director is needed to help
the seeker differentiate a path that God is indicating from one which springs
from the seeker’s own imagination or other, less holistic forces raging within
the self. Stated another way, the director helps discern the will of the deeper self
from the more superficial levels of the psyche. Classically this is known as the
discernment of spirits. With help from the director, the seeker begins to know
experientially which force or voice is that of the deeper self, i.e., the will of God.
In other words, the director helps the seeker sharpen his or her listening and
104 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

discerning faculties. Similarly, the seeker learns in time, without needing to see
the director, how to re-center on God after circumstances have thrown him or
her astray. The movement, therefore, in spiritual direction is from a budding
relation with God that needs assistance and interpretation to a fuller, more
direct one that requires little or no mediation.
One is never at a point where one no longer needs guidance. But develop-
ment implies that guidance comes less frequently through the director. The
sources of such subsequent guidance vary with the individual. It could be
through a spiritual community, a reading from Scripture, the word of a child or
numerous other sources. It is not that guidance might not previously have come
in these ways; it is only that the seeker was not sufficiently educated or balanced
to be able to interpret properly the signs they provided. There also can be
development in this guidance as the seeker progresses. He or she begins to see
that God is directly giving a series of “lectures” on a particular topic. These
“lessons” will come through a clustering of insights gained in meditation,
dreams, a problem that someone else describes, a magazine article that he or
she happens to read at this time and so forth. After this topic is exhausted,
another one is “chosen” for the seeker’s edification.
Additionally the seeker receives insights into the essence of his or her reli-
gious tradition. For example, the Christian becomes more and more aware of
the presence of Christ in his or her life. Such a seeker begins to experience
deeply the peace of Christ that can best be described in Taoist and Buddhist
terms as wu-wei (not doing), “no-thingness or thusness”; or the suffering of
Christ for those not yet liberated; or the joy of the resurrected Christ as the
bonds of death are overcome and the whole cosmos is transformed. Such flash-
es of insight and deep awareness can never be given through any external guide.
With regard to the director’s attitude towards the seeker’s relationship to
God, the metaphor of a parent helping a child to walk is appropriate. At first
the child is heavily dependent on the parent to provide steady guidance. But the
parent’s whole focus and effort is aimed at teaching the child to walk alone.
Only then can running, hiking or dancing become feasible. As Baron von Hügel
so aptly states, “The golden rule is to help those we love to escape from us.” 11

Conclusion
Given the centrality of these three relationships, the process of spiritual
direction might appear to be overly complex. How is one able to keep in mind
all the points discussed when actually directing another? Even more, are there
not inherent contradictions? The relationship between guide and seeker
demands a deep bonding and a transformation of both persons; but at the same
time the guide is asked to remain on the side and to let the relationship between
the seeker and God develop with little personal interference. Other differences
could be noted. But these contrasts need to be held in tension with one anoth-
er for completeness and fullness. The three relationships must all be operative
and complementary for the direction process to be truly effective.
 The Three Dimensions of Spiritual Direction / 105

While the process of spiritual direction is complex, its mode of action can
nevertheless be reduced to three basic guidelines for the director. The director
must: be as grounded in God as possible; love the seeker unconditionally; and
respect the seeker’s unique freedom by standing aside and letting the relation
between God and him unfold in all its fullness. The third guideline is actually
a corollary of the second since unconditional love requires a respect for the
loved one’s individual growth and freedom. Thus, these guidelines come
remarkably close to the two basic commandments Jesus taught: “You shall love
God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is
the great and first commandment. And the second is like it. You shall love your
neighbor as yourself” (Mt 22:36-39). Although this sounds very simple, it is
nevertheless difficult to practice. But it is precisely in following these two “sim-
ple” commandments that spiritual direction can truly accomplish its goals.

NOTES

1
Most of the material for this article comes from my own experiences as both director and seeker.
I am particularly indebted to my director, Father John De Socio for many insights into the process
of spiritual direction. I would also like to thank Chalmers MacCormick and Hugo Timer for their
helpful comments and criticisms.
2
John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount Carmel (Garden City, N.Y.: Image Books, 1958), p. 255. ‘
3
This is a term used by Basil Pennington, O.C.S.O., in his lecture, “The Spiritual Father: The
Christian Teacher of Prayer,” Conference on Contemplation and Modern Society, December 5,
1978.
4
Douglas V. Steere, Spiritual Counsel and Letters of Baron Friedrich von Hügel (New York: Harper &
Row, 1964), p. 12.
5
Some forms of spiritual direction do greatly emphasize the unequal relationship between direc-
tor and seeker. The director is sometimes experienced as the awesome, powerful one who reflects
the awe and power of God. The guru in the Hindu tradition come closest to this model of spiritu-
al direction, and it is reflected to a lesser extent in the Freudian analyst. Basically the seeker
becomes clear of attachments and ego desires in his or her devotion and obedience to the powerful
and totally authoritative director. However, the task of becoming detached from such a director
understandably becomes very difficult. Furthermore, to be effective, this model of spiritual direc-
tion requires a living saint or avatar and such persons are not readily available!
6
Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation (New York: New Directions, 1961), p. 271.
7
Personal interview, February 7, 1977.
8
C.G. Jung, “Psychology of the Transference,” The Basic Writings of C.G. Jung, edited by Violet
Staub de Laszlo (New York: Modern Library, 1959), p. 401.
9
Lawrence LeShan, The Medium, the Mystic, and the Physicist (New York: Viking Press, 1966, 1973,
1974), pp. 106-107.
10
John of the Cross, Dark Night of the Soul (Garden City, N.Y.: Image Books, 1959), p. 41.
11
Steere, p. 12.
Models of Spiritual Direction
David L. Fleming, S.J.

Volume 34, 1975, pp 351-357

R eligious men and women today often find themselves in deep disagree-
ment about the role of spiritual direction in their lives. The basic problem lies
often enough in the inability to distinguish the various ways of understanding
spiritual direction which have been developed in the Christian tradition.

A. Models of Spiritual Direction

Inspired by Father Avery Dulles’ book, Models of the Church, I would like
to propose a similar approach to be used to better our understanding of spir-
itual direction. Dulles carefully makes the case that church has no single com-
prehensive definition, but as contemporary theology views it, church is in need
of many models held simultaneously to gain a more adequate understanding.
In a similar way, I believe that we will come to a far richer appreciation of
spiritual direction if we consider various models which have tried to capture
what it is and how it works.
The advantage of models in understanding spiritual direction, just as in
working with the notion of church, arises out of the necessary obscurities of
religious language and the area of religious experience. Spiritual direction
deals with an ultimate level of religious mystery of a God and man love-rela-
tionship. As a result, our religious language should be looked upon as form-
ing models because it can only approximate the object which it is trying to
grasp. Whenever we use a model conception, we break the illusion that we are
actually holding the infinite within the finite structures of our language.
Moreover, a variety of models opens up the possibility of our not getting fixed

106
 Models of Spiritual Direction / 107

upon any particular one and taking it as an idol. At the same time, through a
variety of models we will more easily allow for the greater expression of the
subjective element which is at the core of all religious experience.
I will propose, then, five models of spiritual direction that are found in
our Christian heritage. Spiritual direction can come in a group setting such
as faith-sharing groups, small group discussions, or review-of-life groups. But
here I will propose five models that deal only with personal spiritual direc-
tion, that is, one director with one being directed. For personal direction
holds a privileged place in our tradition, and group activity does not eliminate
its value or its need. I do not pretend that five models form an exhaustive list,
but I think that it covers a helpful spectrum of ideas about spiritual direction
as it has come to be understood and practiced in the Church. The five mod-
els I have chosen are: 1) direction as institutionalized; 2) direction as inter-
personal relationship; 3) direction as charismatic; 4) direction as sacramental
and 5) direction as incarnational. I will describe briefly spiritual direction as
understood in each of these models, touching somewhat on both the
strengths of the model and the weaknesses. In trying to identify each clearly,
I face the risk of caricaturing, but that is not my intention. All models should
be valued and respected.

1) Direction as Institutionalized
Spiritual direction is institutionalized in the functions of the novice direc-
tor, the designated spiritual director of a seminary, the tertian director, and
sometimes the superior, especially as understood in the original role of the
abbot or in the Ignatian idea of a superior. Direction in this model is carried
out particularly by instructing in the spiritual and religious life. Spiritual
direction is considered in terms of formation; it has a molding role, and so it
connotes a certain control over a person’s life development. Oftentimes direc-
tion in this model exercises a judgmental role because candidates for religious
life or for the priesthood must be declared fit or not fit and so accepted or
rejected. Spiritual direction in this designated job-form plays an important
part in the Church today, just as it has in past centuries.
Among the advantages of this model, the clarity of formation is assured,
because the necessary instruction about spiritual development is not left to
chance. Definite goals and some set means are a part of the direction
exchange. In this model, we find a certain control over the competency of the
director since the “job” of direction was assigned usually by superiors who
have judged a person’s fittingness for such a role. From the letters of St. Paul
giving direction to communities and to individuals, through the early models
of direction by the desert fathers, we find deep in Christian tradition the bases
of this institutional model.
But a number of weaknesses are also apparent in this model. Obviously
freedom is minimal in setting up the relationship of direction since the one
being directed must subject himself to the person whose function it is to ful-
108 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

fill the assigned job as director. Direction seems to be more a matter of impo-
sition of life style and spiritual practices than an evoking of personal growth.
Direction also appears to be quite limited in time-value, for it covers prima-
rily the formational period or, beyond that, the possible crisis period which
needs information or judgment.

2) Direction as Interpersonal Relationship

In this model, spiritual direction is defined primarily in terms of a per-
sonal relationship—the closer the friendship the better. Direction, then, usu-
ally has the aspect of friendly sharing and loving support. While still main-
taining the interpersonal basis, this model of direction sometimes makes stud-
ied use of psychological techniques, e.g. the transactional analysis methods.
Even with the possibility of a certain psychological approach being con-
sciously employed, direction attempts to focus equally upon the interperson-
al relationship of the two friends (the one directing and the one directed) and
the growth in a life-response to God. Frequently in this model, the two peo-
ple involved exchange roles of director with each other so that spiritual direc-
tion becomes a mutual involvement.
The strengths of this model are evident in the presence of the love, care,
and concern which permeate the relationship in all its aspects. As in any friend-
ship, the free gift of self to each other is assured. Self-disclosure with all its
dreams, ideals, fears, and disappointments flows very naturally as the friendship
continues to deepen. While contemporary attitudes, especially in reaction to
the institutional model of direction, favor this kind of approach, historically it
also rests on strong evidence from the example of various saints’ friendships
with each other and from the written correspondence of direction.
When we consider the weaknesses, we note that such a model may over-
stress the humanistic and so not allow for the distance between reason and
grace, which never perfectly coincide. Even though in one sense friends can
speak up honestly and forthrightly to each other, in another sense their lack
of distance may blind each other to the very areas which need attention.
Sometimes even the best of friends find that they are frozen in speaking about
one or other area because of the delicacy of the love relationship between
them. Another difficulty arises when psychological techniques enter into the
picture too consciously; we may find a good helping relationship, but one
which takes very little notice of the presence of God or the dynamism of
grace.

3) Direction as Charismatic
Spiritual direction in this model finds a basis in the diakrisis or discretio of
St. Paul’s grace-gifts within the Body of Christ. Because of the stress upon the
special character of this person who is truly a “spiritual discerner,” spiritual
direction itself is seen as a rarity. St. Teresa of Avila is often quoted in support
of this viewpoint because she said that only one person in a thousand is capa-
 Models of Spiritual Direction / 109

ble of direction work. Just to make the point more clearly, St. Francis de Sales
is cited for his observation that a director may number only one in ten thou-
sand.
Following the biblical image of forgiveness as seventy times seven, both
saints are not using modern statistics, but rather they are indicating the spe-
cial gift which is demanded of the director in spiritual direction work. For
spiritual direction as understood here is defined more in terms of insight or
infused intuition from God. Direction has an aura of the marvelous about it.
The emphasis seems to focus more on the arcane directions which will be
given to the person directed—special divine messages which come from the
“reading of a soul” by the inspired director.
The strengths of such a view certainly include the great stress made upon
the gift-notion of spiritual direction. Direction in this model catches up two
people in the atmosphere of the divine, and the process receives its proper
emphasis of being more than human technique and human response. It does
point up that a “seeing deeper” with the eyes of faith highlights the relation-
ship of direction. There is a certain basis in both the Old and New Testament,
and some examples in Christian hagiography to support such a viewpoint.
The weaknesses become apparent in the over-significance attributed to
the power of God’s grace—looking for its presence only in the spectacular or
the marvelous. It seems to restrict God’s gifts far too much to the extraordi-
nary in the light of human judgment. As a result, spiritual direction itself
becomes an extraordinary means in the life of the Church spiritual tradition.
But the history of spirituality does not support this conclusion.

4) Direction as Sacramental
Spiritual direction has long been seen in terms of a sacramental model
because of the confessor-penitent relationship in the sacrament of penance.
Because of the sacramental grace of priestly ordination, the priest himself was
seen to be a very special instrument of God and to embody the gifts of min-
istry which we find in the writings of St. Paul. The words which a priest
speaks, then, have greater importance than mere human opinion or advice
because they are spoken by God’s human representative. More particularly,
within the sacrament of penance the priest-confessor often has words of
advice or counsel. This context becomes the only true setting of spiritual
direction because of the certain ex opere operato effect of words spoken within
the sacramental encounter. Such counsel within the context of the sacrament
takes in, not just the area of sinful tendencies, but all the attitudes and ways
of acting which relate to the God-orientation of a person’s life.
The advantages of this model include the emphasis given to a more bal-
anced sense of the sacrament of penance. Confession itself is not a mechanis-
tic forgiveness; it has a human relationship involved between the priest-rep-
resentative of the Church and the penitent. There is no doubt that God-
inspired words of counsel or advice do take place in the sacramental context.
110 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

Yet as every priest knows experientially, such words cannot be presumed auto-
matically—one flagrant handicapping of God’s action being the prepared lit-
tle “sermon” which each penitent, no matter what he may confess, may
receive on a particular Saturday confession period. But two human beings, so
consciously aware of the special presence of God in the sacramental relation-
ship, are both more readily open to the word of God being spoken and being
received. The merit of this viewpoint rests upon a long tradition stemming
from the penitential manuals of the Irish monks of the eighth century to the
more contemporary confession manuals dating from the seventeenth century
in which direction brings a fullness to and finds its proper setting in the sacra-
ment of penance.
The weaknesses of such a model are found in the restrictions which it
puts upon spiritual direction itself. Because of the sacramental setting, a priest
is the only qualified spiritual director. Direction, then, flows properly from
the ministry of priesthood. If other men and women carry on this work, it is
only as “secondary” helpers to the priest who gives over to them this function.
This viewpoint seems to take for granted that priesthood ministry includes all
the ministries to be found within the Church, but this conception has no
sound basis in scripture or tradition. Direction in this model also takes on too
magical a sense in that whatever is said within the context of the sacrament
becomes true spiritual counsel.

5) Direction as Incarnational
This model of direction is one that is probably receiving most attention
today in the revival of the practice of spiritual direction. The name incarna-
tional given to describe it calls a little too ostentatiously to the Christian con-
notation of God- becoming-man. Spiritual direction takes its place among
the many “fleshly” means which make up God’s ordinary way of salvation as
understood in Christianity. From Jesus Christ through the Apostles down to
our own contemporary Church, we know that God has a design of salvation
mediated by our fellowmen. Direction, then, is seen in its ordinariness of one
man helping another to clarify and objectify God’s will in his life. At the same
time, direction is known to be a relationship of two persons caught up in the
presence and power of God in this very ordinary encounter, and so both are
aware by faith of the privileged grace-time which direction makes available.
Elements which are present in the incarnation of the God-man have their
analogous components in the direction relationship. Human preparation,
faith, and an openness to the movement of God are necessary, and then a
recognition that any true fruition of the direction relationship comes from
the Spirit. This model of direction is also properly identified as incarnation-
al in that no aspect of a person’s life is left apart from the direction context,
since man as a whole—physically, psychologically, and spiritually—must grow
in his response to God’s unique call to him.
The advantages of this model are especially seen in terms of the develop-
 Models of Spiritual Direction / 111

ments of our own day. It presents a conceptual notion of direction that is

deeply in tune with the whole process of renewal in the Church. It builds
upon the richness of contemporary scriptural and theological studies, partic-
ularly in the areas of Christology and Ecclesiology. It maintains a sure
emphasis on the humanness of this relationship in direction, while still plac-
ing the solidity of growth as a God-empowered gift. Direction in this model
is an ordinary means of spiritual growth in the embodied spirituality which is
Christianity. This way of understanding direction has good foundation in
both scripture and tradition since we find God acting through men in giving
advice and warning (e.g. Jeremiah), in making a person aware of how to lis-
ten to God (e.g. Samuel and Saul), in clarifying and objectifying a response
(e.g. David and Nathan), and in instruction (e.g., Ananias and Paul). The
example continues in the many volumes of spiritual writings and letters which
we have as a legacy from holy men and women in our Catholic history.
The weaknesses of this model arise somewhat from the novelty of its
recent re-emphasis. It may too easily be seen as a good human relationship
sprinkled over with pious words about God’s will. Direction may look so ordi-
nary that the only conclusion to be drawn is that everyone needs it and is
capable of profiting from it and just about everyone has the ability to give
direction. Then, too, taking in the whole of one’s life as the subject-matter
seems to leave this model of direction open to a lack of preciseness—no clear
understanding of the concerns of direction or the ways of going about it. In a
similar way, direction seems to lack clarity about the quality of this spiritual
relationship—mixing friendship and distance or professionalism, and ordi-
nariness and the sense of the holy.

B. A Model of Models?
In review, all the models have played and do play an important part in our
full understanding of spiritual direction—what it is, who does it, to whom it
has value, how to go about it, and so on. What I hope to have shown is that
we can understand spiritual direction in various ways (not just one right way),
and that as a result there are various expectations on the part of the director
and the one being directed, various methods of directing, and even different
ways of valuing its importance for mature spiritual life.
To try to reduce the various models of spiritual direction to a single one
is to lose sight of the incomprehensible richness of religious experience which
forms the content of direction. Neither the strengths nor the weaknesses of
the various approaches or models are neatly reducible to a single model. Even
after describing each model in its purity, we should be aware that a blending
often happens in actual practice. What we tend to do is to make one model
our pivotal model for adapting and understanding other ways of functioning
in spiritual direction. But to hold one model as pivotal is quite different from
maintaining that there is only one way of understanding and practicing spir-
itual direction.
112 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

If I were to opt for a pivotal model for our own day, I would choose direc-
tion described as incarnational. I believe that it allows for a greater under-
standing of the continuing importance of spiritual direction, especially for the
men and women who have recognized or who are in the process of recogniz-
ing the call to specialized ministry roles within the Church. It also more eas-
ily allows for the importance of other understandings of direction and other
methodologies according to circumstances, though it maintains an adequacy
for its own method as a common pattern. Far more work must still be done
to gain an appreciation of the richness which we possess in the Christian prac-
tice of spiritual direction. Presently, to be able to hold the different models of
direction in tension allows us to draw a little closer to a more adequate truth
and a more varied beauty which encompass the mystery of spiritual direction
ministry.
Spiritual Direction as Pilgrim
and Companion
James G. McCready, S.J.

Volume 36, 1977, pp. 425-433.

T he following is an essay toward an integration of a range of literature on spir-

itual direction. It focuses focusing on the image or model of direction which I
shall call pilgrim/ companion. Among the models proposed by David L. Fleming
in “Models of Spiritual Direction” (Review for Religious, May, 1975, p. 351), it
can be considered as a blending of the two described respectively: “Direction as
Interpersonal Relationship” and “Direction as Incarnational.” First, in consid-
ering the nature and purpose of spiritual direction, a general perspective will be
given, then it will be followed by the particular perspective indicated above.
Emphasis needs to be given to the quality of the relationship in spiritual
direction whereby the persons involved become sensitive to God’s presence,
deepen their personal relationship with Christ, and attend to the quiet action of
his Spirit in their lives. Religious experience will be the focus of their attention.
In other words the focus will be the Lord, not ideas. The method will be con-
versation related to prayer and the process of discernment associated with
prayer. Integral to this will be some form of conversion. The purpose in Pauline
terms is to put on the mind and heart of Christ.
Spiritual Direction, in the context of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of
Loyola, involves a special form of interpersonal relationship entered into with
a “director” for the purpose of helping the person engaged in the Exercises to
be rid of inordinate attachments, and, after their removal, to seek and find the
will of God in the disposition of his life for salvation. The Exercises are spiri-
tual activities which include vocal and mental prayer, meditation and especially

113
114 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

contemplation of the Scriptures. “Consciousness Exam” might likewise be

included among these exercises (see “Annotation 1,” the Spiritual Exercises).
The interpersonal relationship is entered into in order to facilitate the
“seeking and finding” of a God-given direction to life, including the spiritual
development and commitment to which the person is uniquely called. The
ensuing dialogue involves the faith commitment of both the person expressing
his experience of faith and related discernment, and the “director” sharing the
account. It embraces, among other considerations, the affective movements
related to the beginning, middle and end of prayer periods. Significantly, with
regard to purpose, this is to help in discernment of the action of the Spirit in
prayer. The “director” joins with the other in seeking the kingdom of God. He
helps the other to be sustained in this seeking with the firm and peaceful con-
viction that the long road leads to light. In this is found another dimension of
purpose: to be a supportive companion in fashioning an openness to God’s teach-
ing in prayer and giving a direction to life.
Rather than using the traditional term of “director,” or the longer Ignatian
expression “he who gives the Exercises,” we may better understand some of the
elements of spiritual direction and the role of the director by reflecting on life
as a pilgrimage and likewise on the spiritual life as being “on the way” (see Ac
9:2; 18:25-26; 19:9-23; 22:4; 24:14-22). In using the term “companion” for spir-
itual director and “pilgrim” for the person in direction we more readily
acknowledge that the Lord, the director of life’s pilgrimage, does send com-
panions to guide us, yet leaves the pilgrim free to follow the way or not to fol-
low it. In similar fashion the companion needs to reverence the spiritual free-
dom of the pilgrim. He must do what he can to foster this freedom and the per-
sonal responsibility that goes with it. He does not foster dependence on him-
self but only dependence and trust in the Lord, Jesus, who is The Way.
In their first meeting on the way, and indeed in subsequent stages of their
spiritual journey, the companion would do well to ascertain the present stage of
the pilgrim’s life, where he is right now. Since “life begins at forty” can apply to
the spiritual life, the question might well be: Is the pilgrim at the beginning or
middle of his journey to the Lord? The assumption would he that his meeting
with a companion, which implies an active seeking out, is indicative that he has
not reached the end of spiritual growth. A significant element would be what
meaning or direction does he perceive his life to have at present? An emphasis
on the “now” is important. Another significant element of the developing rela-
tionship is intensive listening by the companion, so that both together may lis-
ten effectively to God directing, finding him in what is going on, in the chang-
ing moods of the beginning, middle and end of prayer. Both are likewise
involved in responding-personally and interpersonally. The presence of the
companion will assure the pilgrim that he is not alone. As a further element, he
can assure the pilgrim that even when they are separated on the journey, the
Lord always remains with him on the way. This pilgrim-way will be marked by
long periods of “waiting upon the Lord,” frequently far removed from any hos-
 Spiritual Direction as Pilgrim and Companion / 115

pitable inn. In such periods the sustaining presence or availability of the com-
panion is of great importance.
Since the God who comes, who is met on the way, is the God who evokes,
rather than compels, the companion is likewise called to be “sacrament” to the
other: to embody, to manifest in some manner, the abiding presence of Christ
in the relationship with the pilgrim. This can be expressed, for example, in lov-
ing forgiveness, whether it be sacramental or otherwise. All spiritual move-
ments along the way are movements toward God or away from God. The sacra-
ment of reconciliation, therefore, has a very significant place in the relation-
ship; however, the companion need not be confessor to the pilgrim. Yet the
companion, whether confessor or not, may well be the instrument that leads the
pilgrim to this hostel.
A constitutive element of spiritual direction and a principal function of the
companion, is to question the pilgrim about the spiritual movements which he
experiences in affectivity or thought. The questioning is directed towards the
objectification of religious experience with the possibility of a deepening of
faith and the establishing of constancy in values which are permeated by God.
This questioning will be conducted in an understanding and compassionate
way by attending to the pilgrim’s strengths rather than prompting him toward
a destructive introspection of his weaknesses. From the above it will be appar-
ent that the companion must be someone with whom the pilgrim can be at ease,
so that he may be more at home with the Lord. There should be at least some
possibility of that triune friendship which involves a deepening relationship
with Christ, their mutual and greatest friend.
As they “walk in the Spirit,” the pilgrim and his companion will find them-
selves in unknown paths. They should not be surprised to find Abraham’s path
to be their own, sharing in the experience of moving into ambiguity. This will
provide the companion with the opportunity to point out that God works in
everything, and that following the road-sign which reads: “To the City of Less
Security,” can bring with it the awareness that the special presence of the Spirit
can be expected to be found along that way. There will be continued learning
for both pilgrim and companion in the recognition of what it is possible to do
together. Hopefully, this will mean helping the pilgrim to grow spiritually even
in those “accidents of the unforeseeable” which are an inevitable part of the pil-
grimage of life. When these accidents evoke an openness to the breath of the
Spirit and a trust in the action of grace, there will be a concomitant advance
along that usually long road to freedom. A person in the process of being freed
is not always a comfortable person to be with; therefore it would be helpful to
focus on the action of the Spirit rather than on anxieties. The exercise of a free-
dom which lets the Lord be Lord will leave a deeper interior peace unshaken.
The ongoing process of discernment, of objectifying and clarifying experi-
ence, is integral to spiritual direction. It is usually necessary for the pilgrim and
his companion to travel some distance on the way for effective discernment to
take place. Decisions are significant steps forward towards God, our “embrac-
116 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

ing horizon.” To remove deception as much as possible, it is necessary to avoid

any tendency to tilt at every secondary “windmill” along the way. For this rea-
son it is very important that the pilgrim maintain great openness with his com-
panion in whom he can confide on an ongoing basis. When the “enemy of our
human nature” is encountered in the course of our spiritual pilgrimage under
the appearance of good (see “Annotation 10,” the Spiritual Exercises), the com-
panion can help the pilgrim discern the presence of the enemy, so that he may
more readily unmask him on other occasions, hopefully before he has been
“had.” The companion will also assist by reading or interpreting other experi-
ences of the pilgrim-way, acknowledging that all experiences on the way can be
transformed by grace.
The following extracts from the Lucan account of the experiences of the
two companions on the road to Emmaus will be helpful in attending to some of
the ways in which spiritual direction can take place: “While they were talking
and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their
eyes were kept from recognizing him” (Lk 24: vv. 15-16). The Lord does not
overwhelm us with his presence. He simply hints at the presence of his Spirit
in the experiences relative to spiritual direction. He thereby leaves us free to
respond in love or ignore him in the midst of our preoccupations. “And he said
to them, ‘What is this conversation which you are holding with each other as
you walk?’ And they stood still . . . “ (v. 17). At times we need to enter into that
intent, listening quiet, to attend to the Center, the still point. Luke continues
to present a theological context in dramatic dialogue, including that initial
lighthearted question: “One of them, Cleopas by name, asked him. ‘Are you the
only resident of Jerusalem who does not know the things that went on there
these past few days?’ He said to them, ‘What things?’” This may enable us to
appreciate those occasions in spiritual direction, or in life’s pilgrimage in gen-
eral, when a sense of humor is a saving grace. The Lucan résumé of the Good
News is then transformed with significance as the Lord says to the companions,
and to us: “O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets
have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and
enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he inter-
preted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (vv. 26-27).
Likewise in our contemplation of the Scriptures, we need to let the Lord be
Lord, be our teacher, be the director.
“So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He appeared
to be going further, but they constrained him, saying, ‘Stay with us, . . . ‘ So he
went in to stay with them. . . . And their eyes were opened and they recognized
him” (vv. 28-31). In joining with the Lord on the way, and especially after
prayer of importunity, we also will be enabled to say: “Did not our hearts burn
within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the
Scriptures?” (v. 32). One of the fruits of the account of our religious experience
in the relationship of spiritual direction, which should also include an account
of our participation in the prayer of the Church could well be that we more
 Spiritual Direction as Pilgrim and Companion / 117

readily recognize the Lord “at the breaking of bread.” Talking on the way, we
find The Way.
As well as talking on the way, the companion may invite the pilgrim to
write a pilgrimage “journal.” It is not necessary for the pilgrim to hand over the
journal unless he finds it especially helpful to do so. If he communicates the sig-
nificant entries which record his experiences on the way, this will suffice. In this
manner the gradual progress of each stage of the way may be seen while main-
taining perspective with the help of the companion, and divergent pathways can
likewise be noted. The closer the pilgrim comes to the Lord on the way, the
more aware he will become of the paths which lead him away from the Lord.
At each consultation on the way, the companion will try not to walk too far
ahead of the pilgrim. Otherwise the pilgrim may be tempted to use a “mount”
to catch up. Furthermore, he may be tempted to use the “mount” as a guide, as
Ignatius did on that celebrated occasion of early discernment with regard to the
Moor who shared that stage of his pilgrimage with greater risk than he proba-
bly realized.
The companion can also be imaged as a free person who is chosen to be
Christ’s. He attends to the needs of the other, the pilgrim, with the quiet
strength of a servant of the Lord, with that humble power, dignity, and sense of
purpose which are the concomitants of such service. In this way the companion
is called to be a sacrament, as we mentioned above, a visible sign of the Lord’s
presence manifesting that the Lord really loves through his relationship with
the pilgrim he accompanies. He is alive to the sometimes anguished concerns
of the pilgrim. At times he will make a mistake in the discernment process and
yet be able to trust that the Lord will make even his weakness to be strength for
the pilgrim. By witnessing to the gospel, by sorrowing with the pilgrim sor-
rowing, rejoicing with the pilgrim rejoicing, yet keeping just sufficient “dis-
tance” to be of genuine help, the companion can facilitate that process where-
by the pilgrim is helped to help himself, The enterprise can assuredly be said to
be “of God,” as both lives become more Christ-like in the process along with
the lives of others they touch. The ideal of spiritual direction imaged above
reflects something of the relationship proposed in the Spiritual Exercises, where
the element of service is of great significance.
Now we can ask: How does direction during the Exercises in retreat com-
pare or differ from the ongoing spiritual direction of everyday life? The image
of companion-pilgrim still applies. In ongoing spiritual direction, however, the
companion will give special attention to the ways in which the pilgrim’s prayer
flows into relationships with others, whether it be family, friends, or religious
community. Positive or negative dimensions of these relationships will be inte-
gral parts of the ongoing discernment process. The companion’s questioning
will also be designed to elicit indications of how prayer life is integrated into the
daily demands of the apostolate. The pilgrim-companion relationship, if it is
effective, will be that of contemplatives in action and will bear fruit in their
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interaction with other contemplatives in action. Ideally, this will mean that even
in seemingly diverse apostolates such as the retreat apostolate and the social
apostolate, with effective spiritual direction, pilgrims and apostles can come
together in mutually sustaining common enterprises such as the promotion of
justice, in being for others. This is the kind of “rocking of the boat” which can
send out ever widening circles of spiritual freedom to the great benefit of the
wider community in which we live. The way, whether purgative, illuminative,
or unitive, is an ongoing pilgrimage, on land or on the water, with Jesus who
personifies the Way, the Truth, and the Life, who sends us companions in his
name. In the climate of mutual trust which is essential to spiritual direction
there can be the basis for development of a “covenant community” that facili-
tates reaching out to the wider community in faith. This can be the expected
outgrowth of a lived dialogue with the Lord, the sharing in this love evoking a
deepening participation in the healing influence and spiritual energizing that
flows from creative living of community life focused on the Lord.
Hunger and thirst for God, although not always recognized as such, are
among the signs of our times. Response to the need for God can be made in
aberrant ways. As the finding and loving of God is experienced in the loving
service of neighbor, spiritual direction, as stated above to be a special form of
that service, will have as its fruit a participation by the pilgrim in loving service
of neighbor according to his unique vocation and gifts. The needs of our times
demand the best that can be given in spiritual direction, not only in pointing
the way to which the Lord is calling but in being with them as compassionate
companions on the way.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Aschenbrenner, George A., S.J. “Consciousness Examen.” REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 31 (1972/1),
14-19.
In this article, the practice of the “Examen” is presented from the perspective of a
raising of consciousness. It is seen as a way to Spirit-guided insight and responsive
sensitivity to God’s call; as a trusting allowance of the Spirit of Christ to direct us and
bring to realization the Father’s awesome desire that he be the Lord of our hearts.
Asselin, David T., S.J. “Christian Maturity and Spiritual Discernment.” REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS
27 (1968/3), 581-592.
Here it is proposed to situate personal spiritual discernment in the context of faith-
growth, that is, Christian maturity. The fundamental attitude of the faithful discern-
er is that of a listener, one who is open to divine initiatives whatever they might be.
Barry, William A., S.J. “The Experience of the First and Second Weeks of the Spiritual
Exercises.” REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 32 (1973/1), 102-109.
The valuable description of a pattern of experience which has been discerned as char-
acteristic for many retreatants and consonant with Ignatian expectations. The stance
adopted is not that of leading retreatants. It is initially that of helping them to a kind
of contemplative prayer. The dynamic of prayer brings them to a “yes” to the Lord,
a wanting to walk with him “on the way.”
 Spiritual Direction as Pilgrim and Companion / 119

–––––––. “Silence and the Directed Retreat.” REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 32 (1973/2), 347-351.
Again responding to the present-day interest in directed retreats, the author advocates a
prior discussion of silence (or recollection) to ensure more readily that atmosphere
which will be conducive to prayer.
Buckley, Michael J., S.J. “The Structure of the Rules for Discernment of Spirits.” The Way
Supplement 20 (Autumn 1973), 19-37.
–––––––. “The Contemplation to Attain Love.” The Way Supplement 24 (Spring 1975), 92-104.
Two excellent articles which provide, respectively, a penetrating analysis and synthesis of
significant dimensions of the Spiritual Exercises. I am especially indebted to this author
for these two articles and other insights he has shared.
Carlson, Gregory I., S.J. “Spiritual Direction and the Paschal Mystery.” REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 33
(1974/3), 532-541.
This article provides a careful description of Spiritual direction: What it is not; what it
is; the director’s role and the qualities required. There is a healthy emphasis on how we
facilitate God’s direction of us.
Clarke, Thomas E., S.J., “Ignatian Spirituality and Societal Consciousness.” Studies in the
Spirituality of Jesuits VII/4 (September 1975), 127-150, 170-172.
The principal thesis is that Ignatian spirituality, both as theoria and praxis, today needs to
be integral and newly experienced and conceived in the light of an understanding of the
human, in which the societal dimension is seen, together with the intrapersonal and
interpersonal, as constitutive.
Connolly, William J., S.J. “Contemporary Spiritual Direction Scope and Principles, An
Introductory Essay.” Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits VII/3 (June 1975), 93-124.
The essay discusses the term “spiritual direction,” takes it as a process in which change
is involved, describes the overall role of the director in the role of interaction with the
Lord; the most crucial issue of direction is proposed as being the development of a per-
sonal contemplative attitude and the conclusions which flow from the above. The direc-
tor is presented primarily as companion.
–––––––. “Experiences of Darkness in Directed Retreats.” REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 33 (1974/3),
609-615.
The same author points out in this insightful article that there are times when the Lord
calls through darkness in the choices to be made, and that the director frequently will
not know the road along which the Spirit is leading the retreatant, yet he must be with
him and not abandon him.
English, John J., S.J. Spiritual Freedom. Guelph, Ontario: Loyola House, 1974.
This work fulfills the promise of its title by relating development in spiritual freedom to
the experience of those participating in the personally directed Spiritual Exercises of
Ignatius. It considers the director’s experience as he shares in the movements which the
exercitants undergo as he strives to help them follow the lead of the Spirit. The author
expresses the thought that psychological counseling aims to bring a person to greater
freedom through natural self-knowledge and spiritual counseling aims to bring him to
greater freedom through the experience of God’s forgiving love. He develops this per-
suasively and among other important contributions stresses the importance of discern-
ment on the road to spiritual freedom.
Farrell, Edward J. “The Journal—A Way into Prayer.” REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 30 (1971), 751-756.
This places an unusual emphasis on writing in a group and prayer context.
Fleming, David L., S.J. “Models of Spiritual Direction.” REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 34 (1975/3), 351-357.
120 / Ministry of Spiritual Direction

Five models are presented to allow more readily for the expression of the subjective ele-
ment at the core of religious experience. Acknowledged as not being an exhaustive list-
ing they are: 1) direction as institutionalized; 2) as interpersonal relationship; 3) as
charismatic; 4) as sacramental; and 5) as incarnational. While indicating that spiritual
direction can be understood in various ways, the author has preference for the incarna-
tional model.
Hanlon, Morgan P., C.P. “The Spiritual Father and The Spiritual Director.” Province Newsletter
Supplement, June, 1975.
A comparative study with an emphasis on “putting on Christ.”
John of the Cross. The Living Flame of Love, III, 27ff. The Collected Works, trans. by K. Kavanaugh,
O. Rodriguez. Washington D.C.: I.C.S. Publications, 1973.
A very high ideal is set for the spiritual director. The person being directed is cautioned
that for this journey, he will hardly find a guide accomplished as to all his needs. Besides
being learned and discreet, a director should also have experience.
Johnston, William, S.J. The Still Point. New York: Harper & Row, 1970.
Of the eleven chapters of this work, the following are of special interest: 2) The
Christian Mystical Experience, 4) Christian Mysticism: Psychological Structure, 8)
Defining Mysticism, 9) Incarnation. These reflections on Zen and Christian mysticism
contain many references to The Cloud of Unknowing and The Book of Privy Counseling,
works which the author has translated. Both works reject conceptualization in words like
the following: “God can be grasped by love but never by concepts. So less thinking and
more loving.” Both works are edited, with an introduction, in one volume. New York:
Doubleday & Co., 1973.
Kennedy, Eugene C., M.M. “Counseling and Spiritual Direction.” Proceedings of the Catholic
Theological Society of America, 1963, pp. 117-123.
The emphasis here is that spiritual direction is effective when there is a genuine inter-
personal relationship between the people involved. The quality of the relationship is of
far greater importance than any possible techniques. The statement of St. Irenaeus,
“The glory of God is in man fully alive,” is applied to the spiritual direction relationship.
Orsy, Ladislas, S.J. “Faith and Justice: Some Reflections,” Studies in the Spirituality), of Jesuits, Vol.
V11/4 (September 1975) 151-169.
The objective of this study is to arrive at some understanding of the work for earthly jus-
tice, in the context of faith, for the community that celebrates the Resurrection. The val-
ues inculcated are of consequence for all who are involved in spiritual direction. The
mission of justice is principally a mission to heal the mind and heart of man; the mission
extends to the change of structures secondarily.
Teresa of Avila, The Autobiography: The Life of Teresa of Jesus, tr. & ed. E. Allison Peers. New York:
Doubleday, Image Books, 1960.
In an unaffected style, St. Teresa treats of the mysterious ways of the Spirit in the context
of prayer. She describes the Lord’s favors and the need for understanding them. Although
her own experience was that of an exalted form of mysticism, she writes with knowledge
of those who struggle at the beginning of the ascent of the Mount, of their temptations,
the possibilities of deception, and provides wise guidance for their directors.
Wall, Kevin A. “Direction, Spiritual.” The New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1960. pp. 887-890.
This historical analysis of the development of spiritual direction sees it as a nearly uni-
versal phenomenon. This author acknowledges the importance of discernment of spir-
its. He refers to the great works of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross as inculcating
 Spiritual Direction as Pilgrim and Companion / 121

the necessity of spiritual direction for the renewal of the Church. His treatment of
Ignatian discernment presents the “director” as a witness or mediator of divine action.
He recalls that Caussade’s estimation of the need of a director was much tempered by his
experience, while acknowledging the importance of the practice of spiritual direction, as
well as the great contemporary need.
Wright, John H., S.J. “A Discussion on Spiritual Direction.” Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits, Vol.
IV/2 (March 1972) 41-51.
Spiritual direction is described here as an interpersonal situation in which one person
assists another to develop and come to greater maturity in the life of the spirit, that is,
the life of faith, hope, and love. He sees the essential method as conversation. The rela-
tionship is referred to as an adult-adult form. Understanding is seen as the fruit of try-
ing to objectify experience, and the very inadequacy of formulation helps in recognition
of the mystery involved.
Wulf, Friedrich. “Spiritual Direction.” Sacramentum Mundi. 1970, pp. 165-167.
In this article the main tasks of spiritual direction are outlined as follows:
a) to help the individual to self-knowledge;
b) to help him to self-acceptance;
c) to help him to detachment from his own ego;
d) to help him find the actual will of God.
Respective elements associated with this outline are
a) receptive listening and humble frankness;
b) real conversion, since the searcher is to accept self-knowledge gained with the help of
another;
c) striving for the inner attitude of abandonment, resignation or indifference.
This is considered the real aim of spiritual direction, the will of God “for me.” When a
man or woman is in harmony with self, he or she is in harmony with God. This also
involves carrying the cross, the incalculable mystery associated with self-fulfillment.