Why Does Spiritual Direction Matter?
St. Bernard of Clairvaux once said, “He who constitutes himself his own spiritual director is the disciple of a fool.” Why would such a gentle saint make such a harsh statement?
It is because he saw many good souls get stuck spiritually.
He once also lamented that many who make initial progress in the interior life get stuck and very few make it past the most basic progress. St. John of the Cross also reveals in his writings that very few gain the great graces of the life that God desires to give them because they don’t understand the spiritual life.
The good news is that God has provided all we need to gain every grace He intends for us. Beyond the sacraments, prayer and the Mass, there is no more powerful tool than spiritual direction.
Join us this Saturday, July 11, for our “Understanding Spiritual Direction” webinar to learn what spiritual direction is, how you can engage in it, and, if you are engaged, how you can get more out of this powerful gift of the Church.
Image credit: “Laughing Fool,” By Netherlandish (possibly Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen), ca 1500, PD-US, Wikimedia Commons.
About Dan Burke
Dan is the founder of Catholic Spiritual Direction, the Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation, and Divine Intimacy Radio, author of the award winning book, Navigating the Interior Life – Spiritual Direction and the Journey to God, and his newest books Finding God Through Meditation-St. Peter of Alcantara and 30 Days with Teresa of Avila. Beyond his “contagious” love for Jesus and His Church, he is a grateful husband and father of four, the Executive Director of and writer for EWTN’s National Catholic Register, a regular co-host on Register Radio, a writer and speaker who provides online spiritual formation and travels to share his conversion story and the great riches that the Church provides us through authentic Catholic spirituality. Dan has been featured on EWTN’s Journey Home program and numerous radio programs.
