Colleen Orchanian

I am a spiritual director. Some might wonder what that means. It's more than a friend you can talk to about God, although they are someone you can talk to about God. And it isn't someone who tells you what to do—how to live your life, although they will often make suggestions about your spiritual life. It is a place where we can share our spiritual walk with another person who can help us see what God is doing. They can bring clarity to the struggles we face by shining a light on the spiritual side of things.

Why is spiritual direction a weapon in our arsenal?

Sometimes we don't realize when we are being attacked. And even when we know it's happening, we don't know how to fight back. A spiritual director can help in both areas. I can say from experience that spiritual warfare comes up in every single spiritual direction meeting I have.

That was a surprise to me. I'm not sure what I expected, but I remember in my training that we spent a lot of time on spiritual warfare, learning the rules of discernment from St. Ignatius of Loyola. I wondered at the time why we focused so much on that.

And then I started meeting with people. There are three people in a spiritual direction meeting: the director, the directee, and the Holy Spirit. My role as a director is to listen to the Holy Spirit and let Him guide the meeting. And the Holy Spirit sometimes helps me see the spiritual battle unfolding. I recognize an attack in the situation someone is sharing. Or I see God's movement in the situation when they can't.

That's why spiritual direction is a powerful weapon—because we get a view of the battlefield that we can't see on our own. It is especially helpful in healing the distorted images of self and God, and the attacks that are so successful when we have those distorted images: confusion, fear, temptation, discouragement, distortion.

A director can help get your spiritual weapons battle-ready. They can guide you to a more fruitful prayer life, bring deeper meaning to Scripture, help you practice proper self-denial, heal spiritual wounds, and find a community that nourishes your soul. The director is not the answer. Rather, they are a means to the end, which is a deeper relationship with God.

How battle-ready is this weapon in your personal arsenal?

If you don't have a spiritual director, it's not battle-ready.

If you have a spiritual director, but it's not bearing fruit, meaning you haven't seen spiritual growth, it's not battle ready. You might not see growth immediately, but over time, you should. There are two reasons you might not:

1. You are holding back. It's important to share your highs and lows. If you only talk about the spiritual highs, you may be trying to please the director. We enjoy hearing about how God is working in the lives of those we love, and we love the souls we direct. But if you don't also share the struggles, the fears, the frustrations, the failures, you are missing an opportunity to hear from the Holy Spirit.

2. The director is not a good fit for you. Every director is different. We have different styles, different personalities, different gifts. It's important to acknowledge when it's not working. Sometimes a particular director is good for a season but not forever. We understand when it's not working. We feel it, too. It's best to talk about it openly.

How do you know you are battle-ready with spiritual direction?

You have a spiritual director and your meetings bear fruit. What does that look like/sound like?

• You come into a meeting agitated and leave with more peace.

• You are able to see a difficult situation, a cross, in a new light, and are strengthened to continue on the journey.

• You feel loved, not just by the director but, more importantly, by God.

• You have a new perspective on a situation, and that makes you feel closer to God.

• You notice healing of your self-image and are more certain that you are particularly loved by God, even in your imperfections. You like yourself better.

• You are given food for thought in discerning an important life decision.

• Spiritual attacks are less frequent and less effective.

Those are just a few ways that you can know you are battle-ready with the weapon of spiritual direction. In a nutshell, you are better off when the meeting is over than you were when it began.

How can you get and stay battle-ready?

Find a spiritual director and start meeting. Our parish, which is quite small, has three spiritual directors and two more in training. We are very blessed to have the support of our pastor in this holy work. If that's not the case in your parish, ask your pastor for recommendations. You don't have to meet in person. Many directors meet online or by phone.

If you already have a director, prepare well for your meetings. Bring the good and the bad. If prayer is dry, say so. If you struggle with temptation, be honest about it. If you failed to do what you said you would, don't hide it. Question why you aren't comfortable being authentic. Bring that to your director. Share what you are reading and learning. Ask for suggestions to learn more. Let the director help you identify the spiritual attacks that keep you bound so that you can fight and win this battle. Ask them to help you develop your spiritual weapons. They are fighting this battle with you, not for you. They can make you stronger.

Spiritual direction is holy ground, sacred time. We hear from people's hearts in a way they often don't share with anyone else. We honor that trust and hold it in our hearts as the precious gift that it is. We pray for those we direct, and become another spiritual weapon in their arsenals.

I encourage you to develop this weapon because it will be a way to develop all of the other weapons as well. Find someone to walk with you. Better yet, find the person God has already chosen to walk with you, to fight with you, to pray for you. They will be one more person in your spiritual army.

Questions for prayer:

• In what way is this weapon battle-ready? How is it working well for you?

• How can you make the weapon of spiritual direction more useful in the spiritual battle?