The Visitation: a model for spiritual direction
A reflection by Fr Sahaya G. Selvam, sdb, for “The Day with Mary” –London, 24 March 2011
Luke 1: 39 Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could into the hill country to a town in Judah. 40 She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. 41 Now it happened that as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? 44 Look, the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. 45 Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’ 46 And Mary said: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; 48 because he has looked upon the humiliation of his servant. Yes, from now onwards all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Almighty has done great things for me.
Last year (9 March 2011), as a follow up after the year of priests (2009-2010) – “yet another fruit of the Year of Priests” – the Vatican Congregation for Clergy issued a document entitled, “The Priest, minister of divine mercy: An aid for confessors and spiritual directors”. Though this document is addressed to priests, there are some valuable points in it that could be meaningful for any Catholic.
This document points out to a significant relationship between the sacrament of reconciliation and spiritual direction:
no. 42. “The ordinary form of confession, that is individual confession (even when preceded by a communal preparation) is an excellent opportunity to call people to a life of holiness and, consequently, for spiritual direction (with the same or another confessor)” (no.42).
It goes on to quote Blessed John Paul II:
“Thanks then to the individual character [of private confession], this form of celebration makes it possible to link the Sacrament of Penance with something which is different but readily linked with it: I am referring to spiritual direction.” (JP II, Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, 1984, no.32).
What is Spiritual Direction or Spiritual Accompaniment?
Two Jesuit experts in the art of spiritual accompaniment define it this way:
“Christian spiritual direction, then, [is] help given by one believer to another that enables the latter to pay attention to God’s personal communication to him or her, to respond to this personally communicating God, to grow in intimacy with this God, and to live out the consequences of the relationship” (Barry & Connolly, 2009).
This definition could be a commentary on what the Vatican Congregation for Clergy says in the document:
In … the Sacrament of Penance, the most important thing is to assist the penitent in conforming himself to Christ. A simple and wise counsel can be an illumination for life or stir one to take seriously the process of contemplation and perfection under the guidance of a good spiritual director. The spiritual director is an instrument in God’s hands, to help others discover what God desires for them in the present moment: his knowledge is not merely human knowledge. (no. 48).
It should be noted that spiritual accompaniment is not same as counselling or therapy. It is not a moment for problem-solving. It is much more than even a spiritual conversation. A spiritual director is not merely a “soul friend.” It is important that the director is a wise and prudent person, having sufficient assimilation of Christian spirituality, and may be also has gone through some training.
Why do we need Spiritual Accompaniment?
1) “The Christian life is a ‘journey’” (no.77). We have not yet arrived.
2) “The basis for this practice of accompaniment or “spiritual direction” is the fact that the Church is a communion” (no.77). We are not alone in our Christian life journey. It is also helpful to verify and confirm our experience of God, with another prudent person.
3) And more importantly, “The principal objective of spiritual direction is therefore to discern the signs of God’s will for our journey of vocation, prayer, perfection, for our daily life, and for our fraternal mission” (no.78).
How do we make use of Spiritual Accompaniment?
Here, I see Mary as a possible model. I would like us to recall the scene of her Visitation toElizabeth. At the Annunciation, Mary has had a particular and powerful encounter with God. She has been called by God to be the Mother of God. She is perplexed. She has her doubts. But she says ‘yes’ to God. This is her experience of God. In a sense, this was a private experience!
During the visitation toElizabeth, Mary is helped byElizabethto go deeper into that experience, and give an expression to that. The company of another human person, in whose life also God has worked powerfully, Mary gets the confirmation for the working of God in her own life. Mary breaks into song:
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; because he has looked upon the humiliation of his servant. Yes, from now onwards all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me.
In some way, this is what we do in a moment of spiritual direction. We might begin with what is going on in our ordinary lives, or we might begin with what is happening in my moments of prayer, but a good spiritual director helps us acknowledge how God is working in our lives. Thus the experience of God gets deepened. Even in our struggles and doubts (desolations and counter-movements), reframing of our perception of things in the light of faith helps us recognise how God may be working in our lives. And a session in spiritual direction might help us just reframe our stories in the light of faith.
What I have said here is in no way exhaustive. Through this very sketchy reflection, I would just invite you then to explore the possibility of spiritual direction in your own life.
I conclude with a quote from Redemptoris Missio with which also the document from the Congregation for Clergy concludes its reflection on Reconciliation & Spiritual Direction: “Like the apostles after Christ’s Ascension, the Church must gather in the Upper Room ‘together with Mary, the Mother of Jesus’ (Acts 1:14), in order to pray for the Spirit and to gain strength and courage to carry out the missionary mandate. We too, like the apostles, need to be transformed and guided by the Spirit”.