Mar 10 Mon
How should my spiritual direction be?
In the Gospels, we see how Jesus spoke to people, especially with the Apostles. “Jesus pours out his love. He forms their minds, strengthens their wills, corrects their faults, and sets their intentions straight. Finally, he sends the Holy Spirit to build his Church."
For their part, the Apostles approached Jesus with the utmost simplicity, when things went well or when they seemed to go badly.
This is how we should open up in our personal spiritual direction: spontaneously, naturally, like a spring of water.
We need the virtues of simplicity and sincerity for our spiritual coaching. We never mistake what we would like to be, for what we actually are. In it, we should avoid referring to our virtues or achievements to be praised. Nor do we look for sympathy, since very often this is a sign of pride.
Sincerity is all-important. “What does a sick person do when he wants to be cured? He goes to a doctor who knows him. And if the patient isn't a madman, he will briefly tell the doctor all the symptoms and circumstances that he thinks are relevant, even the most trivial ones. Otherwise, you will tie yourself up in knots, and what started as nothing will end up as something huge."
St. Josemaría: “Open up your hearts. It is the best way to reach the goal safely. Let yourself be known for what you are! Talk about the things that make you feel tired, or cause you suffering; talk about your worries, and anything that upsets you."
“Don't let the dumb devil take control. The devil tries to separate us from God; and if we allow him to gain the upper hand, people will turn away from us as they do from the friends of Satan and those possessed by him."
“Remember the Gospel scene. The dumb devil stops people from hearing and tries to keep them from speaking; he doesn't want to let go of his prey. Open up your hearts to God's grace, and let it purify and burn. That is what will make us fit instruments for apostolic work."
To be sincere we need to examine our consciences well.
In this way, we will avoid the danger of presenting things in a confused or superficial way. For this purpose, we should have a chat beforehand with our Lord in the Tabernacle. We talk to him about how the past period has gone; what use we have made of the talents he has given us and the time He has placed at our disposal; how we have taken advantage of the opportunities that arose to do good to others; how we have fulfilled the norms of piety; and the state of our interior dispositions.
In the chat, it will simply be a question of going over the same things as we have already pondered in front of the tabernacle. And it will be easy for us to take the advice we are given as if it were coming from our Lord Jesus Christ himself. After thanking God and engraving that advice in our hearts, we will try to put it faithfully into practice.
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