CV NEWS FEED // A Catholic university is partnering with the Diocese of Baton Rouge and the Archdiocese of New Orleans to develop a spiritual leadership course aimed at increasing the number of spiritual leaders in the Diocese and Archdiocese of Louisiana.
The course is offered by the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University in Baton Rouge. Dr. David Whidden, a professor of theology at the university, said in a promotional video for the program that the school had heard there was a “great need” for spiritual directors throughout the Baton Rouge diocese.
Spiritual directors can “help people in their relationship with God and help them get to know Jesus in a more personal way by listening to them as they grow in their spiritual lives,” Whidden said.
To apply for the course, the candidate must be a committed Catholic with a strong prayer life and have at least 24 credits in Catholic theology at the undergraduate or graduate level. Candidates must also have had at least two years of Ignatian spiritual instruction, completed all the Spiritual Exercises and attended silent retreats of the Ignatian Church.
The requirements are referred to as the Pray, Gather, and Discriminate phases of applying to the program. Once the first phases are completed, an application can be completed.
Becky Eldredge, who has been a spiritual director for ten years, defines the role of a spiritual director as “being a sacred listener in a person’s life.”
“Spiritual direction is this wonderful ministry that has existed in our church for centuries,” she said in the promotional video. “It actually goes back to the mothers and fathers of the desert, who often simply came to the people and taught them and were holy listeners to them. This ministry has grown over the centuries and many of our great saints were both spiritual leaders and had spiritual leaders who listened to them.”
She encouraged Catholics to consider becoming a spiritual director or at least to discern whether God might be calling them to be a “holy listener” who accompanies someone on their journey of faith.
For more information, visit the Diocese of Baton Rouge website.
