What Spiritual Direction Is …

This post is a definition of what constitutes spiritual direction, its main focus, its central aim and its ultimate end as well as a listing of posts which explain what spiritual direction is not and a link to spiritual direction posts on this site.

Now that we are clear on what does not constitute spiritual direction (see the posts listed below), we can provide a summary of what makes up spiritual direction: a relationship between three persons: 1) the Holy Spirit, 2) the director, and 3) the directee. God’s will for the directee is the main topic of spiritual direction. Spiritual direction’s central aim is to help guide the directee to purposefully, consistently, and substantively grow in his or her relationship with God and neighbor by discovering God’s presence and embracing his will through the fruitful practice of prayer and virtue. The ultimate end of spiritual direction, as Jesus commanded, is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” and to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:29-31).

This post and the posts below are excerpts from Dan’s book Navigating the Interior Life – Spiritual Direction and the Journey to God. To learn more about the book, click here.

Other Posts on Spiritual Direction:

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Art for this post on what spiritual direction is: Christ and Saint Mina [or Menas], iconographer unknown, 6th-century icon from Bawit, Egypt, PD-US author’s life plus 70 years or less, Wikimedia Commons.

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Dan Burke

Dan Burke is the past President and C.O.O. of EWTN's worldwide news network. He is presently the founder and President of the Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation, which offers graduate and personal enrichment studies in spiritual theology to priests, deacons, religious, and laity in 90 countries and prepares men for seminary in over 40 dioceses. Dan is the author and editor of numerous books on authentic Catholic spirituality and hosts the Divine Intimacy Radio show with his wife, Stephanie, which is broadcast weekly on EWTN Radio. Past episodes can be found, along with thousands of articles on the interior life, at SpiritualDirection.com. In his deep commitment to the advancement of faithful Catholic spirituality, he is also the founder of Apostoli Viae, a world-wide, private association of the faithful dedicated to living and advancing the authentic spiritual patrimony of the Church. Most importantly, Dan is a blessed husband, father of four, grandfather of one—and grateful to be Catholic.