Personal Spiritual Direction for Men and Women (through e-mail, mail or telephone)
Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst." In spiritual direction, the spiritual director and directee come together to seek a closer relationship with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit as the true spiritual director. This website lists independent spiritual directors who are available for personal spiritual direction through e-mail, mail and/or telephone.
(It is currently the policy of CatholicSpiritualDirection.org to refer women to female spiritual directors and men to male spiritual directors.)
General Information:
Some people ask how to find a spiritual director. What first comes to mind for many seeking spiritual direction is to ask a priest, but nowadays it is often difficult to find a priest to be a spiritual director. Because of the shortage of priests they are often very busy and don't have much extra time for spiritual direction. Also priests are not the only people who might be spiritual directors and you might want to consider asking a nun or lay person as well. St. Teresa of Avila was an example of a nun who gave spiritual direction to many people including priests and her brother. Nowadays we have lay people who receive training in spiritual direction. We need to be discerning as to whom to ask. St. Teresa of Avila advises us to find someone as knowledgeable (on the faith), prudent and holy as possible. St. John of the Cross says that we will have an inclination inside to talk to the proper person. I feel we need to pray and ask God to give us this inclination to ask the right person for us and to show us whom (if anyone) to ask for spiritual direction. Sometimes we can also get a little bit of spiritual direction in confession (while being sensitive to those who are waiting in line behind us so as not to take up too much time).
Spiritual direction is about seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit as our true spiritual director and putting all our trust in God... realizing that much of what we need to know is already present in the teachings of the Church through Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition as interpreted and presented by the magisterium of the Church. But it is helpful at times to get personal input if we can find someone who is helpful because as members of the Church we help keep each other on track ... and it is easy to be misled at times by our own desires or misunderstandings or backgrounds and also not see ourselves clearly. God doesn't want us to remain alone but wants us to be not only in relationship with him but others that are his friends. He wants us to interact with other practicing Catholics and spiritual persons to help them and be helped by them. So besides spiritual direction it is also helpful be involved in spiritual friendships and small groups where we can interact with others about our spiritual life and faith over time and to find and get to know respectful, loving, spiritual people who care about us and let them get to know us and care about them in return.
We also need to take time to really study our faith including the Bible and official teachings of the Church, so that is why I put so many links on this website to those resources. Today learning the faith is confusing and it is very important to read and study the official teachings of the Church as that is where the truth may be found. The saints also have gone before us in living the faith and have a lot to share if we take time to read what they wrote and ask for their intercession through prayer.
Everyone doesn't absolutely need a personal spiritual director at all times in their lives (or else God would provide one and he often doesn't), but most of us come upon things that we might benefit from some outside help and if God inclines us to ask a person's advice, we should follow his inspiration on that too as to whom we feel inclined to tell things to.
One place to get some spiritual direction is having a regular knowledgeable confessor that gives reliable advice in confession. We can also cultivate friendships with good, holy, spiritual Catholics to help each other and do such things as join associations or groups that study Catholic spirituality in small groups. The links on this website have a lot of general resources on the Catholic faith. If there are no small study groups or spiritual groups in your area, you might want to start one. Some ideas are Bible studies using Catholic resources and Catholic book clubs where you choose and read a spiritual book and come together to discuss what you read a chapter at a time. I hope to develop some links for ideas as I see a great need for this as well as developing spiritual friendships as it is so easy to get off-track without someone to support and help us by interacting with others with the same desire to follow God and be good practicing Catholics. We are not meant to be alone in our walk of faith but united to others in personal relationships and with a little effort on our part, this can be accomplished.
Spiritual direction can be helpful, but it is also helpful to be involved in reciprocal, in-person relationships with other practicing and devout Catholics who are seeking to live an authentic Catholic life obedient to Jesus and to the authentic teachings of his Church. They are out there if you look, either as friends or members or organizations or small groups, where you can interact on a personal level.
Some general ideas about the spiritual life:
God desires that we love him with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves. In the spiritual life there is the "active" life (things we do) and the "passive" life (things God does). God respects the freedom he has given us and he would like our free cooperation with his grace. Spiritual growth is not something we do on our own, nor something God forces on us. It is kind of a joint project between us and God. With us alone it is not possible, but with God all things are possible. There is a lot we can do with the help of God's grace to become the person God would like us to be and to do the things God made us to do and accomplish.
God desires what is best for us and others and also knows everything whereas our love and knowledge are limited. God desires to be the God of our life (Our Father) and that we conform ourselves to his ways through obedience to his will and commandments. Someone who really desires to know and love God seeks to learn what God's wants. We can do this through studying the Bible and Church teachings and through prayer... and seeks to apply God's truth and ways to their life.
Prayer is important and essential, as prayer is our personal communication with God and you can't have much of a relationship if there is no relating. There are many ways of personal pray. One simple way, which St. Teresa of Avila advises is to talk to Jesus as you would talk to a friend (because Jesus is and wants to be your best friend.) Another is saying the rosary as it is a meditation on important events in the lives of Jesus and Mary. Lectio Divina or prayerful reading the Bible is another good way.
The Bible says that "the truth will set you free". Jesus came to give us his peace. The spiritual journey is one of growing closer and closer to God until we are united to him in a very close union that is one of love, peace, joy and happiness that lasts forever.
