Book Report 1 the Practice of Spiritual Direction Chapter Summaries

J. RAYMUND PATRICK S. SANCHEZ, SJChapter Summaries: The Practice of Spiritual Direction by William A. Barry and William J. Connolly

CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS SPIRITUAL DIRECTION?

In general, spiritual direction refers to the assistance that one Christian provides to another

to enable him/her to pay attention to God’s personal communication to him/her, respond

appropriately and generously to the Divine personal communication, grow in intimate

relationship with God, and live out the fruits of the relationship. In short, the practice of spiritual

direction is a helping relationship between two Christians where one is helped to mature in his

or her relationship with God. Thus, the focus of the helping relationship is the processing of the

religious experiences of a pray-er in his/her daily life that has been brought to reflection in

prayer. What is key therefore is that the individual has brought his or her experiences to

dialogue with God where he/she addresses his/her thoughts and feelings to God and listens to

what God has to say.

Christian spiritual direction therefore concerns the dialogue of a Christian’s life with God as

assisted by another Christian. The spiritual dimension of one’s day-to-day experiences is

brought to fore through communication with God which presupposes that the individual speaks

from the heart with radical honesty with God and listens to God’s invitation to him/her as

communicated through these religious experiences. And because one is not always well-versed

in the life of the spirit, the individual may need the help of a spiritual guide.

With this in mind, the spiritual director must bear in mind his/her crucial role in the nurturing

of the relationship between a pray-er and God. The spiritual director must therefore keep in

mind that spiritual direction is more than advice-giving and problem-solving and that it is helping

people find and center their lives in God. One is called a director because he or she is

supposed to accompany a spiritual pilgrim along the way to every Christian’s destination—God.

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CHAPTER 2: THE CENTRALITY OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE

This chapter focuses on religious experience, which is essentially a relationship between a

Christian and God, as both the center and the context of spiritual direction. First, the context of

spiritual direction is both cultural and religious. It is cultural because the content is one’s day-to-

day experiences as he/she searches for his/her stable center in this so-called restless world

where many do not find the time to reflect and focus on what ought to be the center of their

lives. Second, the context of spiritual direction is rightly spiritual because it concerns the heart

of Christian life—prayer and a life based on the fruit of one’s prayer.

As to the centrality of religious experience, it is through the processing of religious

experience in spiritual direction that one is able to enter one’s interiority and discover both the

existence of God and one’s transcendent nature. Firstly, spiritual direction is about allowing the

pray-er to enter into his own experiences not with the objective of simply examining external

occurrences in his or her life but more to discover the full implication of what these events mean

to him or her. As Peter Berger says, “Theology does not begin with the God who reveals but

with the human being and his human experience.” Such experience allows the pray-er to

discover God’s unquestionable existence and God’s personal care and concern for him or her.

Secondly, entering into one’s interiority through prayer and spiritual direction, enables the

pray-er to both know and hopefully lovingly affirm himself as a being whose basic movement is

always outward the self. Having discovered the indubitable existence of God, the Christian

likewise discovers that his self is oriented to somebody outside the self—God, who is the source

and ground of his or her existence. Thus, through the interiority that is arrived at through prayer

and spiritual direction, one comes to know God through his or her experience of God.

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CHAPTER 3: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOD AND INDIVIDUALS

As has been noted in the earlier chapter, spiritual direction is aimed at fostering open lines

of communication between God and the Christian pray-er. We must bear in mind though that

God continues to communicate with us even if we are unaware of it for His creative and

redeeming work continues despite our lack of consciousness of such divine action. Moreover,

as we have already noted earlier, human beings are self-transcendent for we are oriented

towards the Divine. Hence, there comes a point in our lives that we experience a metaphysical

unease when we experience sustained periods of rootless-ness and self-doubt that we yearn to

get in touch with a deeper level of our being and our life that we cannot seem to name. This is

where spiritual direction may help—to make our relationship with the Divine more explicit.

Given this understanding of man’s relatedness to God and how spiritual direction facilitates

reflection and awareness of such a relationship, the activity of spiritual direction must therefore

foster authentic dialogue and an attitude of transparency in the context of contemplative prayer.

First, spiritual direction must help the retreatant grow in relationship with God and in his ability to

engage in a dialogue with God. This can only be done if the retreatant learns first, to listen to

the movements of God and secondly to respond to the promptings of His Spirit.

Second, authentic dialogue will only take place if the pray-er possesses an attitude of

transparency and radical openness. Basically, what this means is that the retreatant must be

able to freely share his or her thoughts and feelings, without editing what he or she perceives

what will be offensive to God. Such radical honesty comes with complete trust and confidence

that God accepts each one for what he or she is, that God loves each one unconditionally. After

all, prayer should involve the whole person and his or her whole context.

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CHAPTER 4: FOSTERING THE CONTEMPLATIVE ATTITUDE

We have noted earlier that authentic dialogue and radical transparency that are so important

in nurturing a relationship with God, are cultivated in the context of contemplative prayer. Of

what does the contemplative attitude consist?

First, we must keep in mind that a contemplative encounter with the Divine may take place

in various media—nature, scripture, or life events and circumstances. Thus, it is important that

the retreatant must be able to pay attention to God as He reveals Himself in any of these

conduits. One difficulty is that the object of contemplation is ineffable and invisible; thus, the

importance of transcending the self towards things spiritual. Moreover, it is important that

spiritual direction focus on the contemplative substance (what and who is contemplated) rather

than the insights and meaning drawn from prayer.

Second, the pray-er must be able to recognize his or her reactions to the content of his or

her contemplation and decide on appropriate responses to these movements of God. Much of

what happens in contemplation is spontaneous and cannot be willed for one allows God to

participate in the encounter; thus, the communication is not directed by the pray-er but is a back

and forth interaction between him/her and God. One allows himself/herself to be surprised by

God and at the same time is aware of how he/she is being surprised. Such dynamic allows the

Wholly Other to be real to the pray-er that it elicits a response for him/her.

In contemplative prayer therefore, the person stops being so focused on himself and his

own concerns and simply allows another person—God and His movements in this case—to

take his attention. Spiritual direction, if it is to be helpful, must foster this contemplative stance.

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CHAPTER 5: HELPING A PERSON NOTICE AND SHARE WITH THE LORD KEY INTERIOR FACTS

The Christian who wishes to grow in relationship with the Lord must be able to note two key

details—God’s movements in his/her life and his/her reactions to these movements. In addition,

aside from noticing, the retreatant must be able to express his/her thoughts and feelings that

arise from these movements. Thus, the Christian pray-er must constantly answer two key

questions: Do you listen to the Lord when you pray? And are you telling the Lord how listening

to Him makes you feel?

It must therefore be noted that feelings play an important role in one’s spiritual growth.

Feelings must be both respected and shared. In human relationships, both parties must be able

to express their feelings to the other so that the loved is able to know the lover better and share

in his/her life more intimately and explicitly. However, in prayer, the relationship is between a

human person and the Transcendent. Hence, noting and expressing one’s feelings helps not

the Lord but the person himself/herself get in touch with his/her feelings and deeper affective

attitudes—his/her hopes, fears, anger, frustrations, guilt. Such deep-seated feelings emerge in

prayer if the pray-er possesses the openness and honesty as far as his/her feelings and

thoughts in relation to God are concerned.

The experience of dryness in prayer may be related to one’s contemplative attitude, or lack

of it for that matter. When one denies his/her feelings due to defenses that are usually a fruit of

unarticulated anger, one experiences dryness or fruitlessness of prayer. When this occurs, this

may be taken as an invitation to take one’s prayer to a higher plane where one can be truly

open and honest with the Lord. This is where the spiritual director will be most helpful: by

helping the retreatant notice God’s movements and his/her defensive reactions.

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CHAPTER 6: DEVELOPMENT OF RELATIONSHIP AND RESISTANCE

Relationships are by nature unpredictable and dynamic marked by highs and lows, order

and chaos, constancy and change. The same is true in the spiritual life and relationships for

there are both good and bad spirits that are in motion. Thus, there are particular realities that a

pray-er must expect when nurturing a relationship with God: boredom, discouragement,

depression, fears, or anxieties may set in. Inertia and resistance may set in.

One cause of resistance to set it is one’s own personality structures. Often, we are unaware

of categories in the mind that we use to structure realities. These categories often take the form

of expectations—of life, of others, and of ourselves. Hence, when movements in prayer do not

match what we expect to take place, such “anomalies” lead to anxiety. Another cause of

resistance could be our own fears and unaccepted feelings that prompt us to put up defenses.

In addition, defenses, when held on to over sustained periods may lead to fixation.

What to do when resistance seeps into once spiritual life? Resistances definitely stunt and

prevent the spiritual growth and maturity of the pray-er. Hence, it is important to work for

spiritual freedom—that is, the Christian must liberate himself or herself from biases or fears that

cause spiritual inertia.

The spiritual director must help the retreatant be more aware of biases and fears that

prevent him or her from progressing in relationship with the Lord. It is important though to bear

in mind that the retreatant cannot be forced to face and deal with these disturbances and that in

the event he/she chooses to do so, he/she may be confident that he/she possesses the inner

resources to do so.

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CHAPTER 7: CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE

As we have noted earlier, there are both good and evil spirits in motion in the spiritual life.

Hence, it is important that the retreatant is able to recognize and admit difference between what

is of God and what is of the Evil One. This is the essence of what we know as discernment.

Spiritual directors help pray-ers in discernment by assisting them in noticing what is going on in

prayer.

What can help a Christian pray-er discern the spirits? First, pray-ers should learn to

compare their religious experiences with a “touchstone experience”—a religious experience that

may be considered as an authentic encounter with the Lord.

Second, retreatants must take note of the quality of their dialogue with God. Experiences of

blandness, dullness, or distance in prayer are indicative that evil spirits are drawing them away

from an authentic encounter with the Lord. We must bear in mind that one of the foundations of

the spiritual life is openness and transparency especially as far as expressing important

affective attitudes is concerned.

Finally, if a religious experience is to be authentic, the retreatant must experience a deep

sense of peace, joy, and inner freedom. Authentic religious experience must lead the pray-er to

be more open to God and to be more willing and generous in his or her response to God’s

promptings. One must be careful though that being unaffected or unruffled is not necessarily an

experience of inner peace. In addition, strong emotions do not necessarily indicate that one is

very much into the religious experience if these affective attitudes are irrelevant in the

retreatant’s life.

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CHAPTER 8: BECOMING A SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR

In this chapter, the authors set down an important presupposition regarding spiritual

directors: “[E]ffective spiritual directors are discovered by the Christian community; they do not

put themselves forward without first having others seek their help.” [Emphasis mine] This thesis

amplifies the important elements that a spiritual director brings into a helping relationship. First,

his or her membership in the Christian community. Such is important because in a helping

relationship, trust is important. And the director’s being part of the Christian community in some

way assures prospective directees that he or she has engaged the Christian life and has

involved himself or herself in the life of fellow Christians. Second, the director also brings into

the relationship his sharing in the faith of the community. The director helps by sharing his

experiences with the community that of course assumes that he or she has appropriated many

experiences of a loving God that enables him or her to mediate such a God to fellow Christians.

The latter is another way by which the director shares in the faith of the community. Sharing in

the faith of the community in which they are members makes it easier for directees to trust

spiritual directors. As the authors put it: “[T]heir authority arises basically from the fact that they

share in the faith-life of the Christian community as it experiences its dialogue with the Lord.”

Aside from these, the chapter lists other important characteristics that spiritual directors

should ideally possess: the maturity required to face life squarely; the contemplative attitude that

eagerly opens him us to the movements of God; the surplus of warmth that will allow them to

love people through their commitment; effort at understanding, and spontaneity; enough self-

confidence that he or she need not depend on others to fulfill his needs; a wealth of experience

in life enough for him to show others the way; and a high tolerance for the pain that life brings.

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CHAPTER 9: THE BASIS FOR THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DIRECTOR AND DIRECTEE

Before a director and directee enter into a helping relationship, it is assumed that they do so

with a clear idea of what they ought to bring into their association. Directors bring with them

their knowledge and being borne out a conscious relationship with God and experiences of their

sacramental presence of God’s loving care for others. Directees, on the other hand, bring with

them a deep desire to deepen their relationship with God. When these are in place, then both

parties are ready to enter into a working alliance that serves as the hallmark of their working

relationship.

In this chapter, the authors outline the important elements of a working alliance between

director and directee. First, both should have a clear purpose and vision of what is to be

achieved—that is, to help the client nurture a mature and deep relationship with God—and how

this is to be achieved. Second, this clarity of purpose and means will lead to clear expectations

of both sides. Given this context, clients my expect confidentiality and privacy from their

spiritual directors. Directees share the intimate details of their lives and their selves into the

relationship; hence, keeping this information in strictest confidence helps instill the trust that is

very important in the helping relationship. In addition, since matters discussed are important,

and often of consequence, directees may also expect their spiritual directors to be committed to

both time and effort in hearing them out without any interruption. On the other hand, directors

may expect their client to be faithful to the structure of their prayer since the content of their

conversation is their religious experience in prayer. The question of fees must also be settled

since we do not want to allow money to get in the way of what the director and directee have set

out to achieve right from the very start.

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CHAPTER 10: DISTURBANCES IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DIRECTOR AND DIRECTEE

The helping relationship between directors and directees is an interpersonal process that

takes place over a period and requires some degree of personal disclosure. Hence, the

process brings some degree of closeness between both parties. Just as is expected from other

close relationships, disturbances may be expected to happen. In addition, in the context of

spiritual direction, such disturbances may take the form of transference and counter-

transference.

Transference usually takes place on the part of the directee when his or her reactions seem

to indicate that their director has been assimilated in an image from the directee’s past, usually

childhood. Thus, the director becomes the focus of a directee’s reactions—either attraction or

repulsion—rather than his or her relationship with God. In spiritual direction, transference

reactions are the most persistent of the resistances the client puts up to evade growth and

freedom. Thus, it is important that the director is able to accompany his or her client in looking

into the sources of such interference by going back and focusing on the pray-er’s reactions in

prayer that is the context of the transference. The director must be able to guide and encourage

the directee to allow his or her self-other schemata to surface so that it may be addressed.

On the part of the director, counter-transference may also take place. When the director

engages in excessive personal disclosure rather than focusing on the client’s experience of

prayer or when the director has intense and inappropriate reactions or when responses are

whimsical, capricious or ambivalent, counter-transference may be taking place and is best

discussed with the director’s supervisor.

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CHAPTER 11: SUPERVISION IN SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

Supervision is important to the growth of spiritual directors. Its focus is the person being

supervised (the spiritual director) and on his growth as a helping person. The aim of

supervision is helping spiritual directors to be more helpful in promoting the growth in

relationship of directees with God. In short, the primary purpose of supervision is the personal

and professional growth of the spiritual director as a spiritual director. With this in mind, the

content therefore of supervisory sessions are the experience of listening and responding of the

spiritual director his or her directee (and not that of the directee!) and his or her faith life. As the

authors put it, “the supervisor of a spiritual director concentrates on the director’s experiences

as a spiritual director and the lived beliefs that color his responses to the directee.”

Just like in the relationship between the spiritual director and his or her client, there are

important requirements in the relationship between the spiritual director and his supervisor.

First, there must be trust from both sides since the growth of the spiritual director takes root in

the core of his or her person where he or she intimately encounters God and his or her

directees. Second, the purpose of the relationship must also be clear: the relationship aims at

the growth of the spiritual director as a person so that he can become a better helping person.

Third, a working alliance must be established based on the shared reasons and expectations of

both parties in engaging in supervision.

Since the relationship between spiritual director and supervisor is a close relationship,

disturbances may also seep in. Hence, to prevent transference or counter-transference, it

would be good for the supervisor to listen and raise questions without firing accusations for after

all, he or she is not a detective or analyzer but a listener and a responder.

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REFLECTION:

Reading the book of William Barry and William Connolly, has provided me with many points

for reflection that has helped me deepen my appreciation and understanding of years of spiritual

direction with various individuals and groups. I wish to focus on the three most significant points

that I have mulled over as a fruit of reading the book: spiritual direction is a helping relationship,

that involves the entire being of persons, and has a communitarian dimension.

First, spiritual direction is a helping relationship. Both the spiritual director and the directee

must be aware of this dimension of spiritual direction. The directee must always bear in mind

that he or she has come into the relationship precisely because he or she wants to be assisted

in his or her growth in relationship with God. The direction that is received is not one that is

instructive or prescriptive (just like a movie director would do to movie actors or a doctor to his

patients) but supportive. The director is more of a companion who assists the pray-er by

pointing out signs along the way that may be significant in reading and interpreting God’s

stirrings in his or her life. Thus, the directee must bear in mind that much of the development in

his or her relationship with God relies on his or her motivation and action. The directee, and not

the spiritual director, is the one who relates, reacts, and communicates with God; all the director

does is to help the directee (who is usually uninitiated in the spiritual life) see how God relates,

reacts, and communicates with him or her.

On the other hand, the director must also be clear with what he brings into the helping

relationship. Perhaps the definition of the word “director” that we have expounded earlier must

also always be borne in mind by the director. The spiritual director, if he or she is to be fair to

his or her clients, must allow them to progress and grow in their relationship with God must

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allow this maturity to take place in their client’s terms and not in his or her own terms. There are

many ways to God and each one has his or her own unique path. The directee’s journey is

unique and different from that of the director’s. Spiritual directors must therefore be careful not

to impose his thoughts, reflections, and wisdom on his or her clients if he or she is to be truly of

service to his or her clients.

Second, spiritual direction involves the entire being of both director and directee. Prayer is

the context of direction and one’s relating with God is its content. If prayer is to be fruitful and

helpful in nurturing a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God, the entire being of the

pray-er must be involved. That is, the individual must be able to communicate his or her

innermost thoughts and feelings with God and allow God to communicate His thoughts and

feelings as well.

The entire being of both parties involved in a spiritual direction or supervision relationship is

also involved. The person seeking assistance in the relationship, if he or she is to be truly

helped, must be able to narrate and share experiences clearly in all honesty and trust in his or

her director or supervisor. In a sense, the individual must be able to bare his or her soul as

honestly enough as possible so that the director or supervisor will be able to truly understand

these experiences. On the other hand, the helper must be able to listen with empathy and

respect and provide structure to the experiences of the aided by pointing out significant

movements and occurrences which may have escaped the attention of the person. And the

helper is able to do this best by drawing from his or her many experiences in the spiritual life. If

need be, he or she must also be able to share these experiences with his or her clients.

Finally, spiritual direction has a communitarian dimension. Such a relationship is one of

Christians helping other Christians. It is their membership in the Christian community that has

drawn them together. It is their common faith and desire to encounter the One God in a

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significant and profound way that will sustain the helping relationship. Moreover, our Christian

life is a journey back to our Creator. This journey is not embarked on in solitude but in

communion with fellow Christians. We must admit that we may get lost along the way or we

may even backtrack or even completely abandon the journey as a response to our many

experiences along the way. It is therefore a consoling realization that we are not alone in

deeply desiring to be united with the Lord. We have many companions along the way who can

help us and whom we can help. At the end of the day, we must be cognizant of the fact that

what really matters is not only that we achieve our so-called telos, that we arrive at our

destination. What is equally important is what becomes of us as we trek the roads of life in

companionship with fellow Christians. The giving and receiving of spiritual assistance in our

sojourn towards our creator must contribute to the building and sustaining of that Christian

community of which we have been called to be part.

Christians helping other Christians—this I believe is the best way to summarize the

experience of spiritual direction (and supervision). Such relationship, if it were to be truly helpful

in our growth as persons and our progress in relationship with God, must engage the entire

beings of the parties involved and must include as many members of the Christian community

as possible. Our lives are a journey back to our Creator but we must keep in mind that it is not

a solitary journey where we meet each other in the end. It is a voyage we embark on with fellow

Christians as we strive to meet our Creator as one community. And what better way can help

us that through the practice of spiritual direction.

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Book Report 1 the Practice of Spiritual Direction Chapter Summaries

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