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I don't know if obliged is the word I would use. I would certainly share how I had discerned in the situation and the decision I made. I expect directees to do the same with me. I don't see how this would be a waste of anyone's time since it furthers the aim of spiritual direction, namely, to accompany a directee in their growth, and to assist them in negotiating the decisions they must make in their journey with, in, and towards God. Since the client's ongoing moral and spiritual development and growth in virtue is the very purpose of spiritual direction, and since the capacity to make informed and mature choices or decisions is something SD fosters as part of that growth, no one's time is wasted at all. All of this assists a directee/client in attending to life goals and direction. Of course, if the model of SD one is using sees the director as a superior who commands obedience in the narrower sense of "doing what one is told to do", then a client simply not doing what they are told will also tend to cause SD to be seen as a waste of time. All my best, Sister Laurel.

Je crois en Dieu, le Père tout puissant, Créateur du ciel et de la terre. Et en son Fils unique, Jésus Christ, Son Fils unique, notre Seigneur; Qui a été conçu du Saint Esprit, né de la Vierge Marie, a souffert sous ponce Pilate, a été crucifié, est mort et a été enseveli, est descendu aux enfers, le troisième jours est ressucité des morts, est monté au cieux, est assis a la droite de Dieu, le Père tout puissant, d'où il viendra jugé les vivants et les morts. Je crois en l'Esprit Saint, à la sainte Église catholique, à la communion des Saints, à la rémission des péchers, à la réssurection de la chair, à la vie éternelle. Amen JE CROIS EN DIEU

G1.3 Je vous salut Marie, pleine de grâce, le Seigneur est avec vous, vous êtes bénie entre toutes les femmes et Jésus, le fruit de vos entrailles est béni. Sainte Marie, Mère de Dieu, priez pour nous pécheurs, maintenant et a l'heure de notre mort. Amen

Would you be obliged to tell the a spiritual director that you wouldn't be following this advice and why. I think you would or else it would be a waste of everyone's time. But isn't the idea to guide you towards your goal and explore maybe exactly what your goal is. Not that I know that much about it

On January 8th, I posted "Something That the World Didn't Give Me" by the bluegrass group The Marshall Family. Today's song is basically the same message but delivered by Sister Shirley Caesar in a completely different style. She preaches a little bit between verses and choruses, too. And since today's Gospel reading includes "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete," I thought it appropriate to post this song, even if it overlaps with the January 8th post. It would be a fun exercise to listen to one and then the other for the sake of comparison - the Marshall Family is on page 5, third from the bottom.

^ BINGO! ^

Spiritual directors today tend to reject the notion that they "direct" others. They don't. They accompany and guide and help a person maintain a God-focused direction in their lives, but they don't direct. This is the main reason SD's today will call themselves accompanists or guides, for instance. Obedience has a couple of meanings, the most foundational being to hearken, that is, to be attentive (listen) and responsive to someone or something. One listens and listens deeply if one is obedient. Only secondarily, and to a much lesser degree is obedience bound up with "doing what one is told". As a consecrated hermit I have both superiors and a spiritual director. I owe my superiors a somewhat different kind of obedience than I do my SD. I listen to both of course, and I pray about whatever they say, request, or suggest is important. However, my SD does NOT tell me what to do and I do not owe her obedience in this sense of the term. A legitimate superior sometimes does actually tell me what to do in a certain situation. Because she is experienced in the ways of a vow of religious obedience herself, and because she knows me well and knows what is best for me and my vocation, and because I am similarly vowed, she is able to exercise what is called today, the ministry of authority in my regard. She can require me to do x or y. But let me point out that it is actually very rare that a legitimate superior exercises her authority in this way. Still, this is not a form of authority a spiritual director as SD has. Neither does a directee owe the director this kind of obedience. There is something seductive about owing another person "obedience" in this sense. I continue to be surprised that folks seem to want to give a spiritual director such authority (I'm less surprised some untrained directors want to take it!). Still, as someone who does spiritual direction (accompaniment) myself, I recognize this tendency is very real and to be avoided except by those who have been formally called to (and prepared for) a vow of religious obedience and/or to exercising the ministry of authority as a legitimate superior. The reason is significant: when one is not vowed in this way or prepared to assume this leadership role, simply doing what a director tells one can be infantilizing. For the director, requiring or commanding obedience in this sense can be a shortcut to actually listening to the directee or loving them sufficiently to empower their independence; it also can stem from pride (arrogance) and a misplaced sense of power or authority.

Their precepts are a matter of faith although they will never admit it.

G1.2 Je vous salut Marie, pleine de grâce, le Seigneur est avec vous, vous êtes bénie entres toutes les femmes et Jésus, le fruit de vos entrailles est béni. Sainte Marie, Mère de Dieu, priez pour nous pécheurs, maintenant et a l'heure de notre mort. Amen

OUR LADY OF THE MISSISSIPPI ABBEY - TRAPPIST NUNS near Dubuque, Iowa Come and See Weekends June 21-23, 2024 October 25-27, 2024 Join the community in prayer for the liturgy of the hours and Eucharist. Listen to some of the sisters speak about our way of life, and how God led them to Mississippi Abbey. Meet other women exploring God’s call in their lives. Have the opportunity to ask questions, take time for extra silence and prayer, visit one-on-one with a sister about your own discernment, and enjoy the beauty of nature around us. Open to single Catholic women ages 18 – 40. If you are interested in joining us for the weekend click here to fill out our Vocational Inquiry form. https://mississippiabbey.org/come-and-see-october-25-27/

"If Serving God Is Wrong, I Don't Want to Be Right" was originally a secular song. In its original form, "If Loving You is Wrong, I Don't Want to Be Right," it's about an adulterous love affair. A lot of people recorded it, but Luther Ingram had a hit with it in 1972. Somewhere along the way, Gospel singers converted the lyrics to a Christian message. To me, it's another example of Gospel singers taking current events (trains, telephones, airplanes, wars) and using them to proclaim the Gospel message. Here are Willie Neal Johnson and the Gospel Keynotes with their 1989 recording.

The Fifth Glorious Mystery The Cornonation of Mary, Queen of Heaven Le Cinquième Mystère Glorieux La Coronation de Marie, Reine des Cieux Notre Père, qui est au cieux, Que Ton nom soit sanctifier, Que Ton règne vienne, Que Ta volonté soit faite sur la terre, comme au ciel. Donnes-nous aujourd'hui, notre pain de ce jours. Pardonnes-nous nos péchers, comme nous pardonnons aussi a ceux qui nous ont offensé. Ne nous soumet pas a la tentation, mais délivres-nous du mal. Amen G1.1 Je vous salut Marie, pleine de grâce, le Seigneur est avec vous. Vous êtes bénie entres toutes les femmes et Jésus, le fruit de vos entrailles est béni. Sainte Marie, Mère de Dieu, priez pour nous pécheurs, maintenant et a l'heure de notre mort. Amen

On April 27, 2024, Feast of Saint Rafael Arnáiz Barón, Sister Ashwini Worlikar made solemn profession at the monastery of Wrentham (USA). Sister Ashwini was born in 1989 in Mumbai (India). She entered Wrentham in 2016 and made first profession in 2019.

When Johnny Cash died, it had a profound impact on his daughter Rosanne Cash. Her mother and stepmother had died within the previous eighteen months, too. Being a songwriter and singer, she wrote and sang about it. One of her songs is called "Crossing to Jerusalem." It's not a Gospel song in the traditional sense, but it has Gospel themes in it. It's really sort of a 'life review,' the 'life' being that of a Southern professional musician from a family of professional musicians who's on the road frequently ("the towns through tiny windows, the rooms that look the same," "look how the curtain rises, it courses through our blood"). But the song counts as Gospel at least from my perspective if only for the line "We'll be crossing to Jerusalem with nothing but our love."

After washing everyone’s feet, Jesus commissions the disciples saying, “ I shall not call you servants any more, I call you friends,” We are friends of Jesus, too, we might say. This friendship with Jesus means to fold us into the Body of Christ, the Christ who comes to live among us as one who serves, not one to be served. To serve others with God’s steadfast love for all humanity. To seek and serve Christ in all others. We are to serve all, not some, not many, surely not a few, but all others, loving our neighbour as ourselves – as we would like to be served. It ought to strike us, if it has not already, the astonishing irony of John’s story of the Last Supper. Jesus commissions us to be his friends so that his “joy may be in [us], and so [our] joy may be complete,” overflowing from our lives into the lives of others – all others. Jesus is filled with joy despite the fact John tells us, “Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. (John 13:1). And yet he remains filled with joy, commissioning those who wish to follow him to go into the world as those who wish to serve others, not be served by others. Such love for one another, such seeking to serve Christ in all persons, is the source of the same joy that fills the Risen Christ. Jesus imagines a new world unfolding from the events that are to follow that Last Supper. Jesus imagines his friends will now continue in the midst of God’s work: not only the judgment of the world, with all its problems, and troubles but also the renewal and repair of a broken world, as we become the Body of Christ, bringing his joy of service to others as a new reality for all people! We hear in the First Readding about Peter, who, has had a vision. As he is praying, he is hungry. The Lord shows him a vision of all manner of creatures to eat that are not Kosher and says, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” Peter says three times, “No, I have never eaten such things.” We are meant to remember that this is Peter, who had denied even knowing Jesus three times. As Peter emerges from this vision, Cornelius, a centurion, sends men to bring him to his home, where Peter is faced with a house filled with Gentiles, who want to hear about the Word. They want to hear of the God and desire to enter into his new command to love one another, even as Jesus did, marching toward pain. Peter begins to speak, , ‘The truth I have now come to realise’ he said, ‘is that God does not have favourites, but that anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him.’ And then it happens. The Holy Spirit comes upon these outsiders, and suddenly they, too, are extolling God in ways that anyone could understand! Peter and his Jewish, Christ-following friends of Jesus stare in disbelief. So that’s what the vision was all about, he must have been thinking. These are not just words I am speaking. God really, truly does not show any partiality whatsoever! And so, what could they do, but baptize this house filled with Gentiles? They would spend the next few days together, filled with the joy of Jesus, with God’s steadfast love for all persons: male and female, Jew and Roman, slave and free. All divisions would need to cease because the repair of the broken world had begun! God’s Word on this day means to ask us: Do we accept Jesus’ invitation to become his friends? Do we wish to serve? Do we wish to serve even those who are most unlike us, as Peter and the friends of Jesus do? In the Church, each of us has been begotten by the love of God. But the Scriptures today reveal that this divine gift brings with it a command and a duty. We are to love one another as we have been loved. We are to lay down our lives in giving ourselves to others—that they too might find friendship with Christ and new life through Him.

I started with Kenrick Seminary in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Some seminarians from the dioceses below are educated there. Then I went to the diocesan web pages to see if there were any additional ordinands. This is what I've found. Below, the term "deacon" refers to transitional deacons; if I found information about permanent deacons, I specify by using the word "permanent." Bismarck, ND: 2 priests will be ordained 6-11-24 (no deacons this year) Kansas City, KS: 3 deacons on 5-18 and 1 priest on 5-25 Kansas-City-St. Joseph, MO: 1 deacon on 5-18 and 1 priest on 5-25. Website has no further information. Omaha, NE: 3 deacons on 5-24 and 2 priests on 6-1 St. Louis, MO: 3 priests on 5-25 (no diaconate ordinations this year) Springfield, IL: 1 permanent deacon, 3 deacons on 4-12 and 5 priests on 5-25, Wichita, KS: 5 deacons on 5-23 and 3 priests on 5-25 (A photo on the website shows 41(!) seminarians, which would be 7 or 8 classes, I guess.) Belleville IL, Dodge City KS, and Sioux City IA all have one deacon graduating from Kendrick this year. All three will be ordained on 61-24.

One of the best details in the movies of the LOTRs, and most significant, is at the very end when Gandalf sends to 3 eagles to rescue Frodo and Samwise. Why the third eagle? Very few ever ask... and fewer know the significance. The third eagle was for Golum! Why would Gandalf send a third eagle? The easy awnser is that he didn't known Golum had died... The truth however, is that Gandlaf being the Christ-like figure of the trilogy, sent a third eagle because he still believed Golum was worth saving! As corrupted, eaten by sin and evil as Golum was, Gandalf still believed he was worth saving! The Lord Himself must have spoken through Tolkien on that inspired detail. Next time you think your sins are too overbearing, or that you truly screwed up too much, remember the third eagle, and know that God's love is greater than any of your sins.

The previous post refers to St. Anselm (no -'S) abbey in New Hampshire. They're part of the American Cassinese congregation, descended from Saint Vincent's Archabbey. There is another St. Anselm's (note the -'S) Abbey in Washington, DC - they're in the English congregation, along with the abbeys in Portsmouth RI and St. Louis MO. St. Anselm's in Washington DC now has two men in formation - one in first vows, and another who was received as a novice in late February. The quotation is from their FB page: "Tonight John Castonguay was clothed as a novice of our community. He will spend the next year learning to be a monk while the community sees if he “truly seeks God and whether he shows eagerness for the Work of God, for obedience and for trials” (RB 58:7). He will be known in religious life as Br Maximilian after St Maximilian Kolbe. Please pray for him."

St. Anselm Benedictine Abbey in New Hampshire celebrated an ordination to the diaconate in February and an ordination to the priesthood on April 13th.

Joseph Thermadom is a Deaf man who was born and raised in India. He came to the US to join the Dominicans for the Deaf Apostolate and studied for the priesthood. I knew him in that phase of his life. For reasons to which I am not privy, he left that order and returned to India where he joined the Congregation of the Holy Cross. He continued studying for the priesthood, and he was ordained a priest today, becoming the first native-born Deaf priest in India, and perhaps the only Deaf priest in India.

From the FB page of Subiaco Abbey (Benedictine monks in Arkansas), on 30 April. They also posted a photo but I didn't paste it here. "SAVE THE DATE: Rev. Mr. Cody Eveld (Subiaco Academy class of 2014) will be ordained as a priest in the presbyteral order for the Diocese of Little Rock on Saturday, May 25th at 10:00 am, at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock, by Bishop Anthony B. Taylor. If interested in attending this wonderful event for our entire diocese, then email an RSVP to vocationsoffice@dolr.org. If you are not able to attend, then you can also watch this via livestream on youtube at the diocesan channel "cdolr". Our monastic community joins Deacon Cody's family and friends in wishing him prayerful best wishes for this wonderful occasion and congratulate him for answering God's call to the priesthood of Jesus Christ. For this we monks chant: UIOGD!"

The Hillbilly Thomists sing "Keep Your Lamps Trimmed." There are a lot of variations on this song out there - it's a common theme in the repertoire of spirituals. But I think the Thomists must have come up with some of their own verses based on various Bible verses. Which is fine. The only accompaniment is a guitar, and that's just in the intro and between the verses; for all practical purposes, the song is sung a cappella. I also like the final chorus and outro, which they sing as a round.

Notre Père, qui est au cieux, Que Ton nom soit sanctifier, Que Ton règne vienne, Que Ta volonté soit faite, sur la terre comme au ciel Donnes-nous aujourd'hui notre pain de ce jours, Pardonnes-nous nos pêchers, comme nous pardonnons aussi a ceux qui nous ont offensé Ne nous soumet pas a la tentation, mais délivres-nous du mal. Amen