Spiritual
direction takes place within the context of a special grace of the Holy Spirit,
ordinarily in the context of a formal conversation between spiritual director
and directee, to assist the Christian pilgrim to recognize more clearly the
Lord’s guidance in his or her Life.
Spiritual direction is the grace of Christ operating with the
cooperation of the directee and director to assist the Christian pilgrim in
recognizing more clearly the Lord’s guidance
through the Holy Spirit and in making use of the gift of discernment to
know in a particular and personal way the divine will for the direction of
one’s Christian pilgrimage.
Through Spiritual Direction a person may
also come to appreciate in a greater way the spiritual teachings
offered within the circumstances of daily
life as well as more profound moments of
spiritual insight. Through regular spiritual direction a person can receive a
growth in virtue and greater ongoing conversion of life by overcoming habits of
sin and recurring temptations. Also through regular spiritual direction the
directee may come to recognize
previously hidden talents and gifts. Ordinarily it
required for spiritual direction to
a generous commitment to growth in theological and moral virtues, developing
faith knowledge through the discipline of theology, as well as life experience
and knowledge of human life.
On the other hand, the directee, by
honestly striving to cooperate with the grace of Christ in living a virtuous
life is able to be most receptive for the grace of spiritual direction. It is
one element of the Christian life in which the
pilgrim has times of regular daily prayer, reception of sacraments
especially the Holy Eucharist and Penance/Reconciliation, and spiritual
readings.
1.
Internal
Forum and External Forum in Spiritual Direction
An important document of Leo XIII bearing
specifically on the direction of religious souls is the decree
"Quemadmodum" of 1890. It forbids all religious superiors who are not
priests ‘the practice of thoroughly inquiring into the state of their subjects'
consciences, which is a thing reserved to the Sacrament of Penance.’ It also
forbids them to refuse to their subjects an extraordinary confessor, especially
in cases where the conscience of the persons so refused stands greatly in need
of this privilege. The pope abrogated all constitutions, usages, and customs so
far as they tended to the contrary; and absolutely forbade such superiors from
in any way inducing their subjects to make to them any such manifestations of
conscience. For this reason, the Church carefully distinguishes between the
internal forum and external forum. [1]
In canon law the word ‘forum’ denotes the context, arena or ambience of
living to which an action or condition belongs, or in which it comes into
being. For instance, a secret marriage (cf. Can. 1130- 1133), or secret
ordination is an act of the external forum. Even the sacrament of
reconciliation (penance), which is most confidential, is an action of the
external forum because it involves liturgical words and actions which can be
observed. The internal forum consists of the arena or ambience of interior
life, which can be manifested externally and still not belong to the external
forum. One’s thoughts and feelings, one’s virtues and sins belong to the
internal forum, unless they are manifested in such a way that it impinges upon
the societal order or things. This means such actions of the internal forum
cannot be the legitimate concern of the external forum and thus, attended to by
Superiors. Spiritual direction, the sacrament of reconciliation, and
confidential disclosures about oneself are all committed secrets, even strictly
professional secrets. They always belong to the internal forum and remain
there. Their only legitimate purpose is one’s betterment.
Good spiritual direction is frequently bilateral, and it is common that
the spiritual director also shares personal experiences as a means of affirming
or encouraging the personal experience of the directee. This self disclosure of
the spiritual director is a natural secret, and in fairness, should not be
betrayed to others. Also, the person in spiritual direction whom we have
referred to as the directee cannot refer to the guidance or counsel of the
spiritual director in order to obtain from the Superior what has been earlier
refused on legitimate grounds. Neither has the spiritual director the right to
impede upon the external forum of governance by championing the cause of
the directee.
2. Practical Aspects
in Spiritual Direction
While the relationship between directee
and God is primary in spiritual direction, two other relationships also affect the
effectiveness of the directee’s s search. First, the spiritual director must be
a person of discernment in communion with God, respectful of the teachings of
the Church, having attained maturity through self discovery. Second, there must
be a secure, mutually un-exploitative and therefore, enriching spiritual
friendship between the spiritual director and directee.
(i) The
Directee must be sincere in the
quest for God, the attainment of self knowledge, perseverance in prayer and
obedience to the teachings of the Church.
(ii) The spiritual director must also be a
seeker in communion with God, who has attained an acceptable degree of self
knowledge that ensures emotional maturity, in communion with God through
prayer and convinced of the teachings of the Church. It is imperative that the
spiritual director be so grounded in God that the Holy Spirit speaks to the
directee at crucial moments of the his or her life.
Openness
to the Holy Spirit will inspire the spiritual director assume different roles
in the course of direction: to be a stern task
master at one session, while being a loving and supportive person in another. A
close relationship with God is also necessary, if the spiritual director is to
serve as a model for the directee. Ideally, in looking at the spiritual
director, the directee understands what it is to live the spiritual life more
fully. One of the main functions of the spiritual director is to be an
‘intercessor in the night’ in praying for the directee in quiet moments and
while performing acts of mortification. The spiritual director cannot be
involved in emotional turmoil of the
directee. This demands self knowledge and emotional and spiritual maturity. The
spiritual director functions as a mirror to the directee. The spiritual director must empower the
directee to make room in the life to
experience and recognize God’s presence and intervention.
(iii) The relationship between the
spiritual director and the directee must
involve: mutual respect, trust,
openness, friendliness, concern.
3.
Role of conversion in the model of Spiritual Direction
A central
focus for spiritual guidance is the human heart’s desire to grow and to change.
Therefore a constant response to the call to conversion is inevitable in the
process of spiritual direction. It is a
call to be converted again and again in the direction of its ultimate love. The
Christian guide or spiritual director wants to help this metanoia happen
in the directee. He or she is there to
assist in gaining self-knowledge
and in the process of appraisal in
divine life. Spiritual direction gradually
unfolds and is realized in a relationship involving transcendent mystery.
As a director
views the human journey, he or she will notice the many shifts and changes
within. The directee, who is confronted
by the need to “let go”. Spiritual guides from all great traditions have
encouraged such shifts and changes. In this sense, these shifts and changes are
necessary components of the life time process known as conversion.
3.1 What conversion means for Christians
A Christian basically turns to the
New Testament when he speaks about conversion. Three of the four gospels
indicate that Jesus began his preaching
with the call “metanoia[2]”
Metanoia means
“repent and do penance”, reads a Catholic translation from 1956. “Reform your
lives” says another version. “You must change your hearts
and minds” say one ambitious
translation. Turn from sin and turn to God says the living Bible, trying to get
it all in at once. In the Gospel of John the first words spoken by Jesus
are not “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” but “ what do
you want?” and the two disciples of John answer, “ Rabbi where do you
live?” Jesus next words are: “ come and see.”
There are different ways of understanding the process of conversion in
the later stages of life.
3.2
Christian Baptism and conversion
Basically
spiritual direction is for the baptized person. Therefore we need to understand
the basic call involved in baptism. From the time after baptism one may go
through a process of conversion in his life journey. Within the Christian faith tradition, conversion is a process of undergoing a change of mind and
heart. It is usually connected with the notion of Christian call. When Christians think about
God’s call, they include in it a turning away from what is of lesser value
(detachment) and a turning towards the
highest goal, God (attachment). That implies
not only an interior reversal of disposition and attitudes, but also an
exterior change in practical conduct. This may require the one who goes through spiritual direction
to show growth in virtues externally.
When we look
at the rite of Christian initiation
Christ demands “metanoia” of those
who desire to become his followers[3]. In the early Church, it was only after years
of testing in community and radically re-evaluating the major choices and
directions of their lives that
catechumens were finally admitted to the ranks of those elected for initiation.
Certainly baptism continues to be a sacramental celebration of a mysterious
divine gift. Baptism celebrated the fact that from the instant of our
celebration we are children of God as
well as well as of our parents and the culture into which we were born.
The call of Jesus is a call to conversion to a new life, to life in abundance, to life that
is above and beyond the limitations of mere human achievements. The hope of
this new life corresponds precisely to
the human capacity as spirit to go beyond, to transcend oneself, to respond to
the vocation of “otherness” to the larger realm of meaning , truth, value, and
love.[4]
For adult
Christians conversion usually involves repeated returns to the somewhat
neglected element of faith and love that continues to flicker beneath the
surface of the soul. Conversion consists in recalling forgotten
aspirations and divine inspirations native to this fundamental form of our
life. Conversion involves reawakening in limited freedom to a fresh perception
of the merging self in a continually forming universe. This new perception is
characterized by an increasing capacity
to discern the invisible initiatives of God at work in the self and in the
world.
In
conversion, human person grows in freedom to assent to his or her foundational
capacity for new life. As conversion and transformation of heart proceed, he or
she will begin gradually to understand the deep mystery of Christ is an
offering. It perceives life as a mystery
and a gift, and conversion as detachment for the sake of more appealing
attachment, as simply a return to the foundations of that mysterious gift of
faith and fruitful commitment.
The central focus of Christian spiritual direction
emerges at this point. The Christian pilgrim goes through a interior
shift. It is an interior shift from
pre-occupation with one’s own plans and
projects to suspecting that there may be
an invisible plan and a project, into which those plans may or may not fit. This invisible plan is the
plan of God for the directee in his
spiritual Journey.
3.3
Familiar
Pattern of Conversion
Conversion is
from one thing to another, from one stage to another. In “metanoia” one would like to have happen to him or her (or
others), a shift which is known in terms
of a “ from…to” pattern.[5] This is very well known pattern of conversion
in the Christian world. It is a change
in oneself from selfishness to otherness, from superficiality to depth, from
fragmentation to wholeness, from slavery to freedom, from a state of stagnation
to newness of life, from being trapped in the idealized self to acceptance of
their real self. Christians find
themselves wishing for metanoia in terms of a shift from sinfulness to
gracefulness, from despair to hope, from narrowness to breadth of vision
3.4
Conversion is a shift
The
conversion means transformation, a profound expereicne od personal, interior
change. The depth of a particular
conversion is sometimes emphasized by saying some one has become a new, a
different person[6]. In this way conversion is a
shifting from one way of being in the world to another. This newness harmonizes with a deep mysterious dimension
of one’s being that can only come to life if this entire pattern is allowed to unfold. One may
wonder how this reactive mode can be shifted, be converted to a free response.
This is certainly the wisdom of all great spiritual traditions and is in
unanimous agreement about the need for the alienated human hearts to begin to
open themselves to what is the “other”.
One basic way in which the spiritual director helps
his seekers to become more open to what is the “other”, is by teaching them to cultivate a more
receptive kind of consciousness. We can learn to foster receptive
presence to all levels of the unpredictable initiatives of realties, whether in
the form of people, events, or things. We can build in moments of retreat and
relaxation, for reflective pauses even in the midst of the day’s activity.[7]
True conversion
heads in that direction: toward trustful solidarity and communion. It calls for
a shifting of one sense of self : from isolated “I” through a letting go of
familiar boundaries, to an intensity of at-homeness on a new, more
other-centred level. Like the grain of wheat, the person being converted must
leave behind a dying form, the broken husk of the former self, and freely
welcome a kind of death along with any new possibilities of life that may
accompany this change.
At times like this mid-transition, we find it helpful
to set up personal life structures that will allow whatever death may be
appropriate to happen. We may begin keeping a journal, or start meditating
regularly, desiring to consult a helpful
person. Life, as we know, will seem to
be caving in, but all that really begin to happen, is a radical change in some aspect of our egoistic striving and
pride , or of our exalted ambitions and illusions. At the same time, after a
longer or short period of creative waiting, we will begin to discover that,
concurrent with apparent death, there will be a release of new energy in
service of the new attachment of our heart. We are enjoying the release of
rebirth. We realize that the patterns of our conversion has been that of the
paschal mystery, from death through suffering and decision to new Life. [8]
The fruits of this transcendent movement of life, of this “ Spiritual revolution” can continue to
be integrated into our hearts and minds
by the dynamics of our personal assent to inner renewal.
However to
consistently live out our capacity for transcendent aspiration, we humans need
the help of the Holy Spirit of God. By ourselves we can obtain only a limited
release from our self-groundedness, from our closedness to the wider vision of
a Christian worldwide, from the deep fear of the freedom that accompanies
spiritual rebirth.
3.5
Reformation of
the heart’s dispositions
One of the areas where our capacity for freedom can be exercised with most
effect, is in the area of dealing with the dispositions of our heart.[9]
As Christians we are asked to become renewed in the
spirit of our minds, to try to dispose ourselves in certain ways, and to deal
wisely with the ways we find ourselves and our hearts already disposed. Since
dispositions of the heart are internal structures that channel formative
energies and power in specific ways and since these powers are not well
integrated in our fallen conditions, we need
to attentively make discipline of our sometimes unruly dispositions.
For example, in religious life, in the realization that we
acquire certain dispositions, such as taste of certain foods, habits of sleep
and prayer, ways of thinking and recreating, functional routines, and so on,
form interaction with our situation. These acquired dispositions, both
formative and deformative, taken on throughout the course of our life more or
less freely and reflectively, are somewhat open to change if we so desire. No
so the innate disposition with which we were born. Persons who are from birth
disposed to being physically strong or weak, heavy set or sprightly, intelligent
or dull, easy going or melancholy are not free to change these dispositions
though, of course, they are free to take an attitude toward them.
When we speak about
conversion of dispositions we are speaking
about a shift in those
dispositions of heart that guides have tended to recognize as being
deformative, as sapping a person’s life energy, as paralyzing freedom. The
guide’s task is to help men and women to grow in self knowledge in gentle self presence to
whatever dispositions, innate or acquired, may be dominating their lives.
As we become more aware of what impedes our
freedom to live from the Christ centre, as we are able to surrender ourselves
more fully into the divine presence, we can take on more responsibility; that
is, we are able to respond more fully, thereby revealing the divine presence
within us and the world. Surrendering oneself, being overcome by the power of
the divine energy, is not an admission of human weakness; it is a recognition
of the weakening of the enslaving bonds that separate us from this energy and
of our ability to respond in more Christ-centred ways.
4.6 Christ is the true light of the
world
Christ is the good and gentle physician who brings
healing to human kind, a medical imagery was created by patristic writers notably
Sts. Athanasius, Cyril of Jerusalem, and
Gregory of Nyssa:
The incarnation is the divine prescription for
humanity’s health and salvation. God touches humanity through the person of
Christ the good and gentle physician. Jesus has brought God. He has brought the
God who formerly unveiled his countenance gradually, first to Abraham, then to
Moses and the prophets, and then in the wisdom literature. God has revealed his
face only in Israel, even though he was also honored among the pagans in various
shadowy guises. It is this God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, the true God, whom
Jesus has brought to the nations of the
earth.
He has brought God and now we know his face, now we
can call upon him: Now we know the path that we human beings have to take in
this world. Jesus has brought God and with God the truth about our origin and
destiny: faith, hope and love.
Jesus from the Start is acknowledged as savior and
healer of the whole person. In the New Testament the same Greek word “sozein”
is used to signify both saving and healing or making whole. Jesus is by nature
the healer because he is the incarnation of the salvation of God. In Jesus “the kindness and love of God our
savior” (Titus 3:4) is manifested to all, and everyone who reaches out to him
experiences the beneficent effects of his saving presence and power in every
dimension of his being. Jesus himself then is the Good News, and the Good News
is that Jesus saves us from our sins and heals us from all our afflictions.
4.7 Transforming reality of
Divine grace
Conversion is
multi-leveled reality of grace beginning with the spiritual faculties of the
intellect and eventually transforming the whole person so that the emotions are
directed by the intellect and will, and these capacities are directed by the
theological virtues of faith, hope and charity. Stages of Conversion (
Christian Illumination) In the Epistle to the Ephesians we read: “You must
give up your old way of Life; you must put aside your old self, which
gets corrupted by following illusory desires. Your mind must be renewed by a
spiritual revolution so that you can put on the new self that has been created
in God’s way, in the goodness and holiness of truth.”( Eph. 4:22-24)
A.
Human Experience
Awareness: experience of suffering and pain at
some level of human existence. Motivation to change
B.
Catechesis: Interpretation and giving of faith
–meaning light of faith: Begging to be
united to Christ in Love beginning of
understanding, interpretation in the light of faith
C.
Moral content of faith: acting from the teachings of
Christ
D.
Religious Conversion: acknowledgement of grace of accepting
change/transformation: co-operating with the Grace of Christ active
nights of the senses and the Spirit. Conscious choice to live one’s lives from
the teachings of Christ, united in Friendship with the Lord.[10]
4.8 The Mystical experience
Mystical Experience is awareness
that all is grace St. Theresa of
Lisiuux. The desire for conversion or greater conversion is itself a perceived
grace. Profound humility, growth in Illumination through passive dark nights of
the senses and Spirit “It is no longer I who live, but Christ Jesus who lives
within me”
In the life of Christ, he was led
by the spirit into the Desert. In the perspective of his human life after the
profound illumination of his baptism and the revelation of his relationship to
the Father in heaven ( the voice of the Father saying, “ this is my Son the beloved; my favour rests on him” Mt
3:17, “ you are my Son, the Beloved: My favour rests on you” Mark 1:11, and
Luke 3:22) All the synoptic Gospels report that Jesus was led by the Spirit out
into the wilderness” (Mk 1:12)After this moment of illumination and before the
public ministry there was the time of temptation and testing in the wilderness.
a.
Completion of Spiritual Pilgrimage
A directee needs to be transformed
in ways that are more profound than simple human efforts and supported by grace.
This is the spiritual pilgrimage completed through active cooperation with the
graces of conversion, transformation through ascetical effort, prayer to grow
in the theological and moral virtues.
When he or she has cooperated to
the extent of our ability with divine providence in this spiritual
transformation then comes the total and complete transformation which is not so
much our effort and awareness of reaching out to God, but rather our receiving.
But this light of divine love is bright and he or she needs the capacity to receive and know it,
since from our perspective it seems dark.
b. Spirit is the
Image of Desert
One way to represent this mystical experience in the life of prayer of the
passive nights of the senses and the spirit is the image of the desert.
Directee needs to be taught by grace and transformed by grace in the capacity
to see. This purification and transformation which while painful is also
healing grace. Through this desert experience we come to a deeper capacity to
receive and to know divine love and truly love others with the charity of
Christ in great transparency. Although Christ is perfect and without sin, he
became like us in every other way, and
the sacred Scriptures record that he was tempted. His passage through
the desert becomes a model, providing a sense of companionship for us in our
pilgrimage. We are not alone but Christ is with us.
Conclusion
Spiritual Direction is concerned with a
person’s real experience of their relationship with God. It can best be described as the art of
contemplative listening carried out in the context of a one-to-one trusting relationship. It is when one competent guide journeys with
another person, listening to that person’s life story with an ear for the
movement of the Holy Spirit, of the Divine and offering response as is
appropriate. An important component of
listening is discernment of patterns and relationships that lead toward God. Conversion
is the main element which playes a vital role to arrive to the point of
transformation. One can begins his conversion with the help of deep interior
freedom of choice. The heart of spiritual direction is the religious dimension
of experience. A spiritual director helps a person to notice and to respond to
our self-communicating God.
This
enables the directee to receive and revere God’s action and invitation in such
a way that it elicits a natural and genuine response. We believe that God is
active in all the areas of life of the director and
directee. Therefore, in addition to listening to the personal and interpersonal
stories of directees, spiritual directors are assisted to learn how to listen
to the wider context of the directee’s life: the communal, organizational and
environmental arenas in which people experience God acting in their lives, and
help them to deepen in their response. Final goal of the Spiritual direction
is help directee with the graces of conversion, transformation
through ascetical effort and prayer to come to total complete trasnforamtion
and there by reaching out the awareness of God.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CAROLYN Gratton, The Art
of Spiritual Guidence, New York:
Crossroad Publishing Company, 1992.
GORDON S Wakefield, A Dictionary of Chritian Spirituality,
SCM Press Limitted, London, 1983.
PHILIP S Rake, The new SCM Dictionary of Christian Spirituality. Scm Press Limitted, Suffolk,AlbanPlace
London, 2005.
[1] Nilindra Gunesekera, “The Importance of Spiritual
Direction in the Life of the Believer”, http://www.rainbowinformation.com/sss_srilanka/Theologicals/SpiritualDirection.pdf (accessed, May 28, 2011).
[3] Carolyn
Gratton, The Art of Spiritual Guidence,
New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 1992, 123.
[4] Ibid.
[6] Philip sheld
Rake, The new SCM Dictionary of Christian Spirituality. Scm Press Limitted, Suffolk,AlbanPlace
London, 2005, 214
[8] Ibid. 121
[9] Ibid.
