I am also looking for a new spiritual director. My previous director is no longer nearby. I suppose online is OK, but in-person is better.
The Spiritual Life and the place of a Spiritual Director reminds me of driving a car and a Car Mechanic. If things are just motoring along fine in your prayer life then who needs a Spiritual Director? But in times of trouble or great change a Spiritual Director can be a huge boom The same with a car, who needs a mechanic when everything's driving smoothly, but when it breaks down the very first call will be to a mechanic. In addition at motor races you will find hordes of mechanics to service the high performance cars. When folks are going into the race track of the spiritual life such as in the Religious or clerical life that have kinda gone into the high performance field , they are going need helped along by the mechanic or Spiritual Director. Even so I would say if you happen along to find someone who can trust, grab them. But they are very rare out there.
Life can be very,very hard at times and it can be such a huge help even to have someone who will just listen. This be be a dear friend, a good neighbour, someone you know at Church, but at least someone. Especially these days when things are so uncertain.
Someone at Church the other day told me he may have pretty advanced cancer and we chatted for a while and I promised to pray for him. I hope this helped a little. It's great even just to have a listening ear.
The author mentions New Age Stuff such as Mediums,, Ouiji boards Boards, Spiritualism and so on. If the warnings of the Church were not enough to frighten you off some of his stories of attacks by demons on those who took part in this awful stuff would certainly put you off. One Spiritualist interestingly mentioned that in his conversations with supposedly dead people the voice at the other end would often turn really nasty, time and time again. The demons showing their true colours. Perhaps most frightening of all Mexiacan and Hispanic Drug gangs sometimes summon a demon called, 'La Muerte', 'Death', to give them the names of police informants in their ranks so they can kill them. Awful. So they are taking directions from demons as to who they can and cannot kill. You cannot sink much lower than that. This is very nice though, Spanish Legionaires, Holy Week, Malaga , carrying the Cross. Death's Bridegroom No one in the Regiment knew Who was that Legionary So bold and daring That he came to join the Legion. No one knew his story, Yet the Legion knew That a great pain gnawed Like a wolf, at his heart. Yet if anyone asked who he was He would reply reluctantly and sternly: I am a man whom fortune Struck with a beast's paw; I am death's bridegroom Who is to be joined in a strong bond With such a faithful sweetheart. When the fire and fighting Were at their fiercest, Defending his Flag The legionary advanced. And without fearing the onslaught Of the exalted enemy He died bravely And rescued the ensign. And as he soaked the burning ground with his blood, The legionary murmured in a mournful voice: I am a man whom fortune Struck with a beast's paw; I am death's bridegroom Who is to be joined in a strong bond With such a faithful sweetheart. https://lyricstranslate.com
I wonder if in the Early Church there was some distinction among the priests of the entire church, in its fullness, that distinguished the exorcists from the “non-exorcists” or if the spiritual gift of casting out demons was the prerogative of every priest, perhaps as a ministry's unique source of healing and liberation. If this is the case, can this power be restored in full force to faithful priests around the world after the triumph of Mary's Immaculate Heart? MARK 16:17-18 17 And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
This no doubt helped very much ~ something seemingly very small, but at the time means so very much to a person, especially if they are struggling with something heavy.
I remember the Abbot saying to me one time, 'Be kind to people, you often have no idea what they are going through'.
Some exorcists want all priests to be allowed to do exorcisms again. I am not sure but Fr Ripperger might have suggested this. But I think some would be too afraid. I am not sure if I blame them. I doubt its for everyone.
I have often thought of the Cure of Ars the first time he realised he was under outright attack from the devil. There has been strange noises around his house. Like a coach on cobblestones, or strange shouting, noises as though someone was trying to break into his house. So he got a local peasant with a shotgun to stay with him one night to scare what he took to be burglars away. Sure enough the noises stared up. The guy with the shotgun went down to see but when he returned he was white faced there was no one there but the noises continued. He said the Cure had a resigned look on his face. Then told him to go home. I wonder, I wonder , I wonder what went through the saints head that night when he understood for the first time he was facing the forces of hell...and on his own? What were the thoughts going through his head when he stood..alone in the dark..the poor man. I have heard exorcists saying they almost find exorcisms boring. But I do find going toe to toe very,interesting. Sometimes very scary, sometimes very,very scary, But never ever the least bit boring. I must say. Well I have never found going toe to toe boring. Never the least bit boring. But maybe that is just me.
Malachi Martin said that there a certain type of man the bishop looks for--middle aged or older. Virtuous with strong faith but down to earth. Pragmatic. Like an engineer with a slide rule. As M. Martin put it the Church isn't producing men like this any more.( this was the 90's--i think it is better now) Those who are sensitive and imaginative get ground up and destroyed. I would think that a wholesale expectation of every priest being expected to be an exorcist would be catastrophic.
In the beginning it must have been horrible. But he continued undaunted and reached the stage of laughing and ignoring. Like St Teresa waking up to see the devil at the foot of her bed and said " oh. Its only you" and went back to sleep.
