Evangelization Outreach / Teresa Venatta

Ordinary Time offers opportunity to seek God’s presence in spiritual direction

Spiritual direction is a ministry of loving listening and can be particularly helpful in times of transition, discernment or even crisis. These are the times when whatever is happening in our life requires extra attention—circumstances that are anything but ordinary.

In times like these, it can be extremely helpful to have the generous space of spiritual direction and the compassionate ear of a spiritual director to talk out what is happening on the surface, within our hearts, and in our relationship with the Lord. The question becomes: How can I consecrate this chaos?

The premise is that God is communicating with us by and through our lives. In times of transition, discernment or crisis, life is crying out to us. This divine communication can be difficult to ignore and often hard to understand—our full attention is required, and it is helpful to talk things out with a spiritual director in light of our loving God.

But, what about in the ordinary and seemingly “boring” times in life when nothing particularly dynamic seems to be happening? Can spiritual direction play a helpful role in the “ordinary time” of our lives?

One of the great blessings of our Catholic faith is the liturgical calendar. Ordinary Time encompasses the majority of the year and is not part of the major seasons such as Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter. The focus is on the life and teachings of Jesus. It is a time to reflect on what it means to live as a disciple of Christ in our everyday lives.

Since we are not celebrating any particular mystery of our faith in Ordinary Time, we can focus on the mystery of Christ’s presence in all facets of our life. In spiritual direction, this can translate to a shift in focus from big decisions or major life events to an exploration of how God might be present in the small details of the everyday.

Jesus begins his preaching ministry with the declaration, “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel”

(Mk 1:15). This is the reading that opened Ordinary Time in this liturgical cycle. In every moment of our lives, the kingdom of God is at hand and we are called to conversion, even in the ordinary and common place.

Through loving listening and evocative questions, a spiritual director can help a directee recognize and interpret the subtle signs and movements of the Holy Spirit in the everyday. Given the space to talk about our “ordinary,” we are invited to recognize God’s presence and discern God’s guidance in the mundane—work, play, relationships and daily sorrows and joys.

Just like sharing our ordinary can draw us into closer relationship with family and friends, contemplating our ordinary in light of God’s love can also result in a more intimate relationship with the Lord.

We can notice God’s presence everywhere and in everything! The safe space of spiritual direction offers the opportunity to be completely honest and vulnerable with our thoughts and feelings, even when they feel unimportant.

Thomas Merton said, “Let us come alive to the splendor that is all around us, and see the beauty in ordinary things.”

The spiritual journey invites awareness, love, intimacy, vulnerability, forgiveness and presence. In spiritual direction, we can explore God in our everyday feelings, thoughts and routines.

Please reach out if this speaks to you!
 

(Teresa Venatta is the discernment companion within the archdiocesan Secretariat for Evangelizing Catechesis. She can be reached at spiritualdirection@archindy.org.) †