{"id":153396,"date":"2022-04-22T09:30:57","date_gmt":"2022-04-22T13:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-can-spiritual-direction-be-a-qa-session\/"},"modified":"2024-10-22T15:00:33","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T19:00:33","slug":"ask-a-priest-can-spiritual-direction-be-a-qa-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-can-spiritual-direction-be-a-qa-session\/","title":{"rendered":"“Ask a Priest: Can Spiritual Direction Be a Q&A Session?”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Q: What do we actually discuss in spiritual direction? If I am seeing a priest, asking him any questions ranging from the Bible, Church teachings, sacraments, current issues related to religion and spiritual life, doubts — no certain pattern though, just asking any questions I have — is that spiritual direction? Do I have to tell him all (serious) sins I\u2019ve done, since sometimes I go to confession with other priests? I do not really tell him about my private life because I am not extrovert; plus, even though he is our pastor, I really don\u2019t know much about him and don\u2019t like to ask unless someone voluntarily tells me. So, it is hard to be like an open book to someone you don\u2019t really know. How frequent should spiritual direction be? Is once a week too often? \u2013 T.<\/p>\n

\n<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC<\/em><\/p>\n

A:\u00a0Spiritual direction isn’t meant to be a question-and-answer session about Church teaching.<\/p>\n

It’s OK if occasionally you raise a question about Church teaching or another topic, but direction is meant to help you discern where the Holy Spirit is leading you as he guides your growth in holiness.<\/p>\n

This requires that you open up to your director about your inner life. This can include the general categories of sin that you are especially struggling with.<\/p>\n

You don’t have to reveal everything you might say in the confessional, but ideally you need to let him know where you are in terms of virtue, etc.<\/p>\n

If you aren’t comfortable opening up to your director, and if you are hiding things, then direction probably will be a waste of time. It\u2019s like going to the doctor and not telling him about the significant aches and pains you have.<\/p>\n

Moreover, it\u2019s not crucial that you know a lot of details about a spiritual director. What is important is that he is orthodox and competent, with a firm understanding of the spiritual life and human nature.<\/p>\n

So, unless your relationship with your pastor can change, it might be better to find a spiritual director with whom you can open up.<\/p>\n

And if that isn\u2019t an option \u2013 good directors are hard to find — then it would be better to just ask for advice within the sacrament of confession.<\/p>\n

Also helpful would be a steady diet of solid spiritual reading, including Navigating the Interior Life<\/em><\/a>. <\/em>And you might want to take a look at https:\/\/spiritualdirection.com\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I hope this helps. Count on my prayers.<\/p>\n

Keep learning more with <\/span>Ask a Priest<\/a><\/p>\n

Got a question? Need an answer?<\/h3>\n

Today\u2019s secular world throws curve balls at us all the time. AskACatholicPriest is a Q&A feature that anyone can use. Just type your question HERE<\/a>\u00a0and you will get a personal response back from one of our priests at RCSpirituality. You can ask about anything \u2013 liturgy, prayer, moral questions, current events\u2026 Our goal is simply to provide a trustworthy forum for dependable Catholic guidance and information. So go ahead and ask your question\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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He was an assistant publisher of the National Catholic Register and Faith & Family magazine and an editor of the Zenit news agency\u2019s English edition. He has written for\u00a0SpiritualDirection.com\u00a0and\u00a0ePriest. Fr. McIlmail also worked in spiritual retreats in the Northeast, New England, the Midwest, and the South\u00a0and assisted with mission work in Mexico. Born in Philadelphia, he worked in journalism and was active in the pro-life movement before entering the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1992. His contributions to RCSpirituality include responding to\u00a0Ask A Priest\u00a0questions and sharing his insights in our\u00a0Weekly Newsletter.","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/author\/emcilmail\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153396"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=153396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}