Simply put, it is a call from God to live your life as He has called you to live. It is giving your entire self to Him out of love for Him. For you are called to learn to love Him in life so you can see Him, as He is, face to face in our lives to come. We daily live this in our sacrifice for Him and for our neighbor by following His simple command to take up our cross, follow Him, and learn how to lay down our lives for Him and His people.
Discernment is the process by which you discover God’s will. The process enables you to distinguish between movements coming from God and impulses that are not from God. Young adults discern a call to be single, married, priest, or religious. Discernment also involves discovering a call to the diocesan priesthood, diaconate, or a particular religious community.
To grow in your spiritual life, it is recommended that you have a spiritual director. A spiritual director can help guide you in the discernment process.
The Vocation Office lists spiritual directors who can assist you in your discernment. A spiritual director does not give advice but listens, affirms, and challenges you. A spiritual director gives you feedback on what you share about your relationship with God, with others, your work, ministry, and discernment. A spiritual director will help you be accountable in your spiritual life.
Spiritual direction is a process in which individual Christians are led and encouraged to discover their unique vocation in life. It is a means by which an individual may faithfully correspond to the grace of the Holy Spirit as it is revealed through all situations and events in life.
Spiritual direction has been a practice in the Christian tradition of entrusting another person with your experiences of God and life. Spiritual direction is a relationship in which a person discloses God’s actions and gets feedback from a trained director. Meeting with a director regularly allows you to have a human-sounding board for your experiences.
The role of the director is to listen and reflect on what may be going on in your life. Sometimes, we don’t notice the underlying meaning or can’t connect things happening to us. The spiritual director is objective and can encourage and challenge us to follow Jesus more faithfully. A spiritual director does not tell you what to do or which vocation to follow.
Not everyone requires spiritual direction in every phase of life. It is a helpful means of discernment, especially when an individual is open to discovering the will of God in one’s life. A special time of direction maybe when a person is searching to discover the way in which he/she is called to live out a Christian call to service. Some spiritual directors are more skilled in ongoing prayer development, while others are more helpful in walking with others through the discernment of lifestyle choices.
Most dioceses will have a spiritual direction office with a current listing of spiritual directors in your area. The diocese may ask to meet with you to understand your needs for direction better and help you find a director most suited for you.
The spiritual direction relationship is unique and may last for many years. Take your time finding the person right for you. You might interview several directors before making a selection. In general, you should feel comfortable with the director’s style.
Many directors have this area for their full-time ministry. The stipends for their services are often their livelihood. Rates differ for one session. Usually, a session lasts an hour. Spiritual Directors are professionals with degrees and training in spirituality and spiritual direction. Occasionally, some directors have another full-time ministry and can see more directees without charge.