Hello, everyone.
We have people, coming in right now to the webinar, so that's great to see.
And if this is your first time, viewing a spiritual direction webinar from DMU, there is a q and a chat bar.
So if you click that, you can ask a question to the public as we're going through the presentation, or you could send me a direct private message.
I think we're going to get started.
We have 18 attendees right now.
My name is Christopher Garofalo.
If you don't know me, I'm the admissions adviser for the spiritual direction certificate program.
And with me is doctor Begonia Nassif.
She was, she started the spiritual direction program.
She was part of the first cohort, and she graduated in December 2020.
I think she was the first graduate of the SDC program alphabetically with her last name.
So she was the first one.
She's a graduate of the program, and doctor Nassif has been at the University of Cincinnati for thirty years.
In ten years, she served, in the role of laboratory manager, part of the kidney care program.
And she is a research scientist in the college of medicine, and she has many credentials.
Her degrees are numerous.
She's graduated from six institutions, and, they are listed, the ENCB Mexico program.
She's a doctor of philosophy degree, and she's the owner of many patents, and she's a published writer.
And she decided to pursue the, the DMU certification, the spiritual direction certification, after meeting with, faith, you know, faith formation leaders in Cincinnati.
And she, she wanted to be better prepared to be a vessel of God's love for the people she associates with and works with and knows.
So everyone, I'm here.
We're gonna start the presentation, the whisper of the holy spirit.
And, doctor Begonia, you may introduce yourself.
Thank you very much.
As Chris very kindly say, my name is Begonia Nassif.
As you can as you can see, I have a very strong accent because I am from Mexico originally, but I live in Cincinnati for thirty years.
I as you say, I work in the University of Cincinnati as a research scientist.
And, being a scientist have teach me that God is so magnificent, I can say.
Because, when you see how the human body works and how everything works, how he cannot be present.
He needs to be part of our lives.
So, for that is why I decided to, to dedicate myself, to put him at the center of my life.
And, I am a part of the Reunion Christie, Ohio Valley in Cincinnati, and I am a spiritual director here in Cincinnati, Ohio.
And I also be I'm part of the, the Reunion Christie group that help people going to the 19 annotations.
And so I'm very blessed that, they gave me this opportunity about talking a little bit what is very close in my heart.
And before I started, I would like to to start with a prayer.
So in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit, amen.
The father, son, and holy spirit, thank you for inviting us to be your hands.
Help us to answer your invitation like our blessed mother Mary.
And that, thank you thank you for for for giving us the invitation, and help us to answer like our dear blood our dear blessed mother Mary.
We are the hands may of the Lord.
May it to be done according to your word with complete faith and trust in you.
Every day, you chose how the world is in need of you, of your word, and of your presence.
And you are inviting us to be the vessels of the holy spirit for you.
Help us to be be guided by the holy spirit so that we can really through be your hands in in in the people in need in this world.
And I offer this for your honor and for your glory, and please help us that, our hearts are desire what you have for us.
And I offer this for all the desires of the heart of all the people that is present here today.
Amen.
So I decided to call this talk listening for the self whispers of the holy spirit in the spiritual direction because I really think that this is the matter of the spiritual direction.
We know that, the man's fundamental relationship is with God.
We can we can have many other relationship, but the main relationship is with him.
And, sometimes, we start a relationship, for example, with our husbands.
As we meet them, we start liking them, and then we start knowing them better.
And, and when when we know them better and then we start loving the person.
The same happened with our friends, with our spiritual companions, with everybody that cross our our our path until we know that person, and and then we start loving them.
And it's exactly how we love God.
Knowing him, we we learn to love him more and more.
But even if we don't know him, our relationship with God already already started in the moment that we are conceived because he form us, and he form our hands, and he make us to be in his image and likeness.
And he breathe into us the nostril of the holy spirit.
And God God never never stop to give us his self to us.
So even if we don't recognize him, we are here because he want us to be here.
So since then, for that, we are in a relationship with him, even the people that they say that they don't believe in him.
So no no creative being can ever completely fill our heart, and we are constantly trying to fill our emptiness with creative things.
And, so with sometimes we confuse.
We think that instantaneous gratification, the love that we receive, the person that is there, even the things that we have in in our hands are what is going to fill us.
But we always feel empty.
We always feel like we we lack of something that, that that nothing satisfies As very beautiful say, what more do you want or soul, and what else do you search for outside when within yourself you possess your riches, the light, satisfaction, fulfillness, and kingdom, your beloved whom you desire and seek.
And, if if we remember the words of, Saint Augustine also said, everything we get it with him, we are fulfilled until we encounter him.
So, but we look for we look for the superficial things.
And our personal story influenced the way that we relate with God, and in the different circumstances.
Yes.
Sometimes we are hurt, anger, resent.
We we lose the people that we love.
We have broken relationships, and this is spreader this is spreader we are seeking for something.
And we think that we are going to fight to find it in in in in in in trips or in buying things or in superficial things.
And because of this because of this brokenness in our lives, we have a a totally wrong imagine of god.
We confuse him, and and and we don't see his mercy and his love and his care for us because we confuse it with the things that we are living.
And, so so Saint Francis of the Cell said, be who you are, but be that well.
The queen in life is being a saint.
So we need to refocus.
We need to think that no no the the no.
We're personal stories define us.
What define us is that we are the beloved daughters of God, the beloved sons and daughters of God that that, that is giving us the mercy and the love and is giving us the identity that we needed.
So, in the last years, we have lived what is called the what is it has been called the great pulse.
The great pulse is the COVID nineteen that came to our lives.
As I put it in here, we were called to look both inwards and outwards.
Relationship with family and friends become both more intentional and more precarious.
The spiritually were were suspended in an entity like the disciples in the open room where they where do we go from here?
Where who are we called to be?
And as I put here the picture of the open room, I wonder, the apostles were there.
Jesus died, and they didn't know why it was going to come next.
What is next?
And it's how we how how many, many, many of us felt in that time that that, we were thinking we don't have a church.
We cannot go to church.
We cannot see family.
We cannot see friends.
We cannot do our regular life.
Where are we going?
What is this happening?
We we were in more need than ever of all of these things, especially of going to church and be supported, and we were blocked to go and and and and to do all of this.
But we need to remember that grief is is is a a gift.
Grief also usually doesn't feel like a gift, but it's always about love because we grieve for the things that we love.
When somebody die, when we lose a job, when when when we lose something that we really care about it.
We we grieve because we love that.
And God didn't give us the pain of loss without giving us always to work the world for it.
So, there are reports that show that the the the the word that was more searched during these great pause was prayer.
People were in need of God.
People were in need of knowing how to pray.
There were a lot of people going to, a virtual masses, virtual prayers, virtual retreat.
People were in need of to encounter the love.
And I remember listening to father Bartunik in one of the talks that say we are living a life, a a time of post Christianity.
I don't want to live in a in a in a time of post Christianity.
I want Jesus to be present here and now today.
I want him to be part of my life.
I want to send here to to have him center in my life as the main thing that I have to center him to be, my everything.
And these group parts make us think, make make us to react and see where are we going.
What is what we needed?
And, of course, we were absent of the characteristic.
We were not we were we were not having his body and his and his and his blood.
And this is, terrible because, many feel the emptiness, the feeling of the, not close to Christ, not with him.
And, we we we we we were in that moment thinking and react while we gave it for granted.
That sometimes we didn't give the value of having communion or receiving his present to fill our souls and our body, until we we we were not able to have it to have it.
So, as we enter, I enter on knowing that when I saw myself there without knowing where I was, I understood great things.
I should not say what I felt, for I remain in unknowing transcending all knowledge.
It's how we felt.
We turn this and because we realize how important is our relationship with God, how important is our church, how important are our communities, How important is our communion of saints that we have that we were not able to reach out, that we were not able to see?
So so in in in in here, we needed to stop and look inside ourself and and start he come and recognize that he has always been a relationship with god.
Man has been discovered God in silence since the beginning of the time.
And it's when we start praying, when we start putting attention, when we start seeing who is he for us, the important that he has in our life, in our being, in everything that we have.
So so many people are grieving.
So many people are suffering.
So if he is in me, how I can help others to be in there?
I remember during this time, I have friends, very beautiful friends that call me and said, can I please pray a mister Riodi Rosary with you in the phone?
Or can we have a chat?
Can we can we pray, the, you know, the novena or do divine mercy online in order to be accompanied to each other?
People that suffered suffered the loss of people start get gathering together and praying these rosaries of comforting each other to different events and different things.
And in the moment that we stop and look inside of ourselves, we know that Jesus is there, and he will give us the tools in order that we can fight, that we can be his hands, that we can be the person that he want us to be for him because we are vessels of his law.
We are vessels of of of of his, of of of him to be in our lives.
So what does this time means spiritually?
What does it means about what we value and how we we live?
How we can best accompany our people during this time?
So we need to remember that the identity always come first, that we are childrens of God, that we are adopted of the father, that we are making to his imaginal likeness.
So you we can never lose who we are even in the pandemic because we are still be his daughter and his sons, and and he is always with us until eternity.
So, it's a time for us to reclaim who we are, who we are in Christ, and accept, accept his his invitation and say yes.
Recently, we just, we just, read, the story of Andrew, one of the first apostle to be called.
And do I am ready to say yes?
Do I am ready to to give myself to help others?
Do I am ready to give him my yes like Mary did?
We are in Advent, and we are looking at her as a very good role model that he trust God, and he let it go.
So what does this mean for each of us spiritually in a spirituality?
Are I'm do I am ready to say yes to his call?
It is for the present moment that the future is built.
So this didn't happen just because it happened.
God has always a purpose.
God always permit something in order for us to grow, to purify ourselves, to become a better version of ourselves.
So it's the moment in where our church needs to bold, courage, realistic, depth, hope, fill and insights and ideas for all different kind of people.
And and, give our hearts, our minds, and our whole being in order that we can have a better tomorrow, that that we can that we can have a better tomorrow in in everything.
It's time of rethinking the goals, structure, and style, and method of evangelization.
This is the goal of today.
What what what I can do to help in that new evangelization?
What I can do to help others to have that love for Christ.
So we have a goal, but we live in a very secular world.
How we pray when we feel distracted and overwhelmed.
How we pray when we are stressed, when we are grieving, when we have a thousand things that come in our way.
How we pray when when when everything is against us.
The question that I need to ask is, who is my king?
Who is my king?
Recently, we celebrate the calamity of Christ the king.
And the Christ the king is the synthesis of the the internal salvation history.
Cry Christ as the king, he has always been, and his kingdom will have will become evident until the end of the times.
And Christ is our king, and we, his church, you, me, all, we are his church.
We are his army.
We are the people that will defend his kingdom.
And, he he gave us peace because he said, the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
We shall claim our our royal re right and notice our right royal call.
We need to be the lights for Christ.
We need to be the mini Christ that we were assigned in the moment that we were baptized, that we were confirmed, that we can be the mini Christ in order to bring, his his his word to others, in order to bring his message to others.
And, and love instead of hate and hope in the instead of despair and have mercy instead of vengeance And show with the with with with with with him in ourselves because he is the one that is going to act in us to chose how to be merciful, forgive forgive, and forgive others.
And in that way, we can help him to grow the kingdom.
But, you know, we have many things.
We want to be this mini Christ.
We wanted to be that person that he want us to be.
But I'm I'm honestly, I'm praying, and even my phone rings, I mean, my time of prayer.
And I know it's my friends asking me, let's go to pray for this, let's go to pray for that.
And, we can see that even good things sometimes can distract us.
Sometimes we are reading and we forgot to pray.
We we we are not really reading, spiritual books, but we are not really, really putting attention in what he's telling us.
So we have a lot of different instructions, a lot of different things that that take take us away from from from from him.
So what we really need is a a vital and convincing encounter with Christ as proclaimed as authentic witness.
And how we can do that.
So as San San Jeronimo say, ignorance of the scriptures is ignorance of god.
So if we don't go to church, if we don't get his body and his blood to fill our souls, and we don't read the scriptures, and we don't meditate on them.
We don't know him.
It's like we're starting in the beginning.
We are dating, but we don't know him.
How we can love somebody that we don't know?
How we can love somebody that that we don't know where he's come from, we don't know all the things that he have done.
When we when we know that person and then we love that person.
So when we encounter Christ in the in in in in the scriptures and then we start more thirsty for him.
We want more of him.
And then when we encounter Christ, we wanted to share it.
We wanted to share it with others.
And when two or three are gathered, Jesus said that I I I I am in the midst.
So we need to encounter him.
We need to to be with him in order that we can we can share, and then we can bring him to to another people.
So true encounter with Christ, liberate something within us, a power that we didn't know that we had the capacity to grow and change.
We hunger for Christ.
We hunger for growing.
But, Christopher will say very beautiful.
We hunger for the banquet, and we sell it for the dumpster.
We sell it from the dumpster.
Do I really decided to go and get the banquet?
Do I decided to go for Christ?
Do I decided to put attention to him to go to his work?
Or I settled for the Internet, for the Instagram, or for the Facebook that, oh my god.
I cannot pray because all this happened.
This is what is going on in here.
This is what is going on in there.
I I want to know what that person said.
Oh my god.
What is this?
What is that?
So we get into the dumpster.
We don't go into the banquet.
Father Juan Juan Maria Solana, give a talk about that is called feeding by dropping that have touched my life enormously.
He said, what do I am feeding myself with?
Do I am listen podcast that are distracting me from God?
Do I am hearing a message of, that, that that that doesn't allow me to really continue with my values or my Catholic faith?
Do I am going to to readings or pause or things that that that are not supportive of my Catholic faith?
Where do I have my true encounter with Christ?
Where do I find him?
In all of these things that are not feeding me, that are feeding me by dropping, that are allowing me to change the way that I am, the way that I believe in him?
Although I am really, really allowing me to go to the banquet, to choose him to be part of my life, to choose him to be the one that ruled my life.
It's very sad.
I work in in the University of Centenario as I say at the beginning, and, it's it's it's sometimes it's hard for me to see how the new generations, live all day with the phone.
There is no connection.
These students are walking in to the point that they cross the street looking at the phone or even checking if somebody can kill them or not.
We are living in a world that they have the AirPods, and I'm trying to talk to them, and it's like, hey.
Hey.
And they have the AirPods in the ears, and they are not listening.
They are not putting attention.
They are not doing anything.
They are just submerged into these technologies.
And doc doctor Begonia, we do have somebody who raised their hand.
It's Godfrey.
So I'm gonna allow I'm gonna allow Godfrey to talk.
He might have a question.
So I'm gonna click this, and hopefully, we hear from Godfrey.
Yes.
Yes, Godfrey.
You're on yes.
Yes.
Good afternoon, doctor.
Yes.
Good afternoon.
This is, brother Angelo from, Uganda.
Thank you, father, for being here.
Welcome.
I I had sent, requests that if I could get this nice, beautiful presentation, it will it will be really my greatest joy.
Doctor, thank you so much for the nice and beautiful presentation.
It's really entering me.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
It's the holy spirit whispering.
Welcome.
Thanks be to God.
Thank you.
Thank you, brother Andrew.
Thank you.
So so coming back to to the true encounter with Christ is, do I am ready to proclaim the banquet, or do I ready to proclaim the dumpster?
What is going to be my decision?
So, sometimes, we don't want to have that true encounter with Christ because we are wounded, because we want to escape, because we don't want to really see what God want us to see.
And so holiness is a matter of bringing our wills into union with God's will.
My desire to be his desires will say my dear spiritual director.
So I love love this picture, and I cannot put it in purpose because I people that know me would know I love rainbows.
It's my love language we've got is through the sunsets and sunrise and to the rainbows.
And the rainbow has seven colors, and the seven colors are the seven sacraments.
And I feel like we are so blessed because the rainbow, we don't know where it start and when where it ends, and it's how god love is.
We not we don't know where it start, where it ends.
But this also remind me of the eucharistic.
The eucharistic is in the center.
The mass is in the center because when god does don't don't only want us to have a relationship with him with him.
He want us to have an intimate relationship with him.
He want us to be united with him.
By accepting him in his infinite and outpouring of love and grace offered to us through life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we grow.
And, and and we grow with Christ.
And what I wanted to read is this.
We are in intimate relationship with him because in the lie in the last night, he said, now as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed and break it and gave it to his disciples and say, take it.
This is my body.
And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them and saying, drink of it.
All of these is my blood of the covenant, which he's poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
And he also said, I am the living bread that came from heaven.
Whoever eat this bread will live forever, and the bread that I give is my flesh for the life of the world.
Whoever eat my bread, my flesh and this, my blood remains in me as eternal life, and I raise them in the last day.
My flesh is through food, and my blood is through drink for.
Whatever eat my flesh and drink my blood remains in me and I'm in him.
And just as the loving father send me, I will be like it because of the father's souls that one fits in me have life because of me.
So that reminds me we have that intimate relationship with him.
So I I listened to one of the talks of father Mike Smith, and I think that everybody loves father Mike Smith.
And and I really, really love it because he said, we are invited to have a relationship with him, an intimate relationship with him.
Because when we have the body and blood, take it in the in the sacrament of the holy mass, we are having an intimate relationship with him.
As we take him in communion, he come into our body and he formed part of us.
He fused with every single cell of my body.
He transformed every single cell that I have when I have him in my heart.
As as he transformed my heart, he become I become his tabernacle.
I become like Mary carrying her baby in Jesus having him in me.
And what a beautiful opportunity to have that, that he gave us with these sacraments.
I remember, and I think that many of you maybe have the same experience that me, The first day of having mass after so many months that we didn't have mass.
The day that they say the church is open, I just wanted to be there.
I just wanted to go and receive his body and his blood.
As I said, I received the holy communion.
I was just like, oh my god.
How much I miss you?
I I look at myself.
I was sobbing for people that know of me.
And as you can see already, I'm a crier.
I'm very I get very emotional with especially with my spiritual life.
And that day, I was sobbing I was sobbing of happiness to receive him again.
As I look at some of my other friends at church and people around, I saw everybody was sobbing, crying of joy or judgement.
Because now we know that this holiness is a bring us to in union with God, and this is what we needed.
We need this in our lives.
So we need to decided to take this banquet and not take the the dumpster.
So but we don't need to do this alone.
As I say here, Joseph was an spiritual thought tutor by Moses, Elisha and by Elijah, David by Nathan, Paul by Barnabas, Timothy by Paul, Mark by Peter.
God knows that sometimes we need a companion, that we cannot do all of this alone.
And one very beautiful example is in the Old Testament.
In two Kings twelve one three, it says that Joash reigned in Jerusalem for forty years.
Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.
All the years, Johida, the priest instructed him.
The the tragedy of king Joash of Judah is that after his mentor and guardian died, he began to listen the weekend advisers.
And I can testify for that.
I am a scientist, and I go to a work that is very secular.
And, of course, there are days that, I have problems with my students.
I have problems with my boss.
There are sometimes that I want to kill somebody.
And as as as I talk to my coworkers, they could say, oh, don't let him to do that.
He's mean.
Don't let don't let to, don't don't don't you need to do something, and you need to fight it, and you need to do that.
And as I as I pray and and take a time, I call my spiritual director, and my spiritual director said, let's go to think.
Maybe he's he's having a bad day.
Maybe he has another perspective.
Let's go ask god why he's permitting this to happen.
So the the role of the spiritual director is very, very important in our lives.
We have a beautiful example with Santa Teresa de Avila.
She we all know she's a great saint.
But she was she was having in some way she has a scrupulosity.
And she was thinking that all his her visions were from the devil that were not from god until she was blessed by having a spiritual director that helped her to to to to change the way that she was thinking.
So for that, it's important that we have a spiritual director, that we are be that we are guide for somebody that have faith and love to Christ.
And many, many saints have spiritual directors.
We know Saint Ignacio of Loyola, is the pattern of spiritual directors with the spiritual exercises, accompaniment, and he he teaches how he he teaches many ways in where we can discern and how we can help others to discern.
And they have they have we are very blessed to have many of their writings and and and of their things that help us to to, to know how how how to help others in this journey.
And, Pope Benedict sixteen said, he has regular call for everyone, priests, religious, and lady to place themselves on the the guidance of the spiritual directors.
Spiritual directors are instruments of holy spirit and foremost in the way of holiness.
They are coaches that speak from the knowledge and experience of the faith and lie athletic training.
It can be arduous and frustrated.
It's an spiritual exercise that demands regularity, a devotion for the work of the holy spirit in the process, and a hon a humble, teachable heart.
So we cannot do this alone.
We have somebody that we that can help us in this journey.
And the gen the general purpose of the spiritual director, direction is identical what what with that of whole economy of salvation, aiding the directee to love god with the whole heart, soul, and mind and the neighbor as himself.
So spiritual direction bring us back to ourselves by a way of fidelity to god.
It is a process of inner awakening, rising the conscious be beyond the ordinary, Everyday is existency.
And and to know the the truth that we have inside.
So we need to be realistic of who we are and all the good and the bad that we have.
And the spiritual director help us to see all the circumstances of life and, and what we have in our hearts and in our minds and to put it in the in the presence of God and detach and detach from sin and detach from these these lies of the evil one that always is tried to temptate us.
There is a song that I I love that I always said to the person that I guy is like, the son said, tell the devil not today, not today, because he is always looking for opportunities to distract us, to make us feel miserable, and and, you know, I'm we're I am very blessed that I have a spiritual director that helped me to see how the the evil is is attacking me and and to and she have helped me in many years to recognize the the voice of god and to know when he's really talking to me and when the evil is talking to me.
So the spiritual direction is the art of a accompaniment, which teaches to remove our sandals before the sacred crown of the others.
So as you know, this came from the Exodus when, when Moses came to that to the to the burning bush.
And so he came closer to the bush and consider it further, god has claims to him, do not come near.
Remove your sandals from your feet.
For the place where you stand is holy ground.
I am god of the father.
He continue.
The god of Abraham, the god of Isaac, and the god of Jacob.
So in a spiritual direction, we need to be as reverent as to take away our sandals too Because we are walking in the holy in the holy, in the holy ground of the other soul.
So we need to be respectful.
We need to be loving.
We need to be humble.
We need to be the vessel of God in order that we can we can go in the second ground of the other.
This is my favorite my favorite sentence of spiritual direction because I ask God who I am that you allow me to walk in the sacred ground of the other one.
I know it's not me.
It's you that live in me.
Help me to always respect the person that you put in my path.
Help me to always be the vessel of your love so I can I can be that person for you?
So, a spiritual director has a primar agenda to assist the directee in attending god who is always present and pursuing us.
So the spiritual director is always, always, always focused on the directing, one relationship with our true god.
And as we can see here in the in this slide, God is in the center always.
And then is this communication with the direct team.
We are just the vector that help to for them to see to for them to put the dots together.
So the primary, the primary goal is the conversation with goal and the directee.
And the secondary communicate the secondary, conversations are between goal and the director and the director with the directee.
And we need to be very careful that we don't bring our own our own goods to them.
Because sometimes people that we guide can have some of the same good that we have.
But we need to let the holy spirit to just act through us in order that we can be the true vessels of his love for the people that he invite us to accompany.
When the spirit when the holy spirit is evoked in conjunction with the loving companionship of the spiritual director, as a a sacred space is created and allowed the director to reflect, grow, discern, notings, and respond to God in their life, with demand to grow in the margin of Christ.
So we need to let the holy spirit talk.
We are not the person.
We are the vessel of the holy spirit, and we need to let the holy spirit, be part of the conversation.
And we only can be the we only can let the Holy Spirit to work if we have, as a director, a very, very deep relationship with God.
You will let the holy spirit to be part of our lives, to be part of where who we are.
A person that is not a faithful person cannot be an spiritual director.
If a person doesn't have a very good prayer life, cannot be a director because he cannot receive the holy spirit.
So the true director in this relationship is always the holy spirit.
The spiritual director's role is to pray for put themselves aside and be totally attentive to the to the to the needs of the direct of the of the directee.
And the spiritual director, as I said, help connect the dots that sometimes because of our wounds, we cannot connect.
And god is the light that we humans are his hands are his hands.
And he knows that that, that he will assist us.
He will never let us alone.
He will give us the light of the holy spirit in order that we can be his hands.
He never never abandon us.
And spiritual direction is a mystery of mystery of holy spirit presence in attempt to best.
It has a one on one confidential relationship between an individual and a direct seeking a deeper awareness of god's presence in their lives.
We really need to learn how to listen.
We listen normally thinking what the person haven't even finished to talk when we already know in our heads what we wanted to say because we are not really listen what the person had in the heart.
We are listening what we wanted to say.
We are putting to store our self centeredness.
So when we really, really do holy listening, we forget about ourselves, and we can really, really go to the heart of the other person and that for the other person can be a healing.
And we can meet the person where they are.
We are not going to judge them.
We all have goons.
But the word goons don't define us.
What define us is that we are the beloved sons and daughters of god, and we are here to help each other to go to walk in this journey.
And we need to meet them where they are.
Some are more broken than another ones.
But when we really accompany them in the presence of the holy spirit, this is a healing for them.
And this dynamic of spiritual direction help the directee to found self discovery, integration of faith, healing, and a personal transformation.
And and after that, they start increasing and and deepen their relationship with Christ, and they experience healing and mercy as never before.
What I am only can be received for the one who gives me his full attention, who is present to me and becomes aware of what I am, and that I am good and worthwhile.
Isn't it that we all feel like that?
When we know when we have a friend that really listen, that really put attention, that really care for us, we feel love.
We feel taken care.
And this delight is in my goodness.
And I'm revealed back to myself as good, and I am no longer the revealed by the lies of the evil one.
But we also need to be vulnerable.
We need to our let our vulnerability to be open because if we are not vulnerable, we cannot heal.
So we need our vulnerability to come.
We need we need healing.
If we if we close our goons in that in in in in a in a pocket, we cannot reach that today.
So in order that we can be healed, we need to go to that pocket like an infection.
We need to open that goon and go inside in order that we can get all of these that is infecting us.
And in that way, we can we can be healed, and we can be we can be able to receive that love and that mercy that god wants us to see and be joyful because he's there.
Yes.
And god values our vulnerability for this response, their goons, bodies, and hearts to him, they get free.
And this is the big prize.
And we as a spiritual director can help that person to go deeper in this sentiment and to see the wounds and in order that they can be healed.
But we need to be passion.
Have passion.
God isn't finished yet.
We are all in progress.
The world is redeemed by the passions of god and is destroyed by the impassion of man.
We want things to happen today, now.
But god always work in his own time because our healing needs time.
And he let us see after the journey how important was that we were patient, that we let him work in his own time.
And deep relationship could can be healed to the deeper relationship that we improve with God, that we develop with God, that we are closest to him.
Who is himself a perfect interpersonal relationship of love, father, son, and holy spirit?
Help us to enjoy that, to to have that relationship of love.
He invite us, like like we say, in the more part in the more important part part of the of the mass, with Christ with him, with him, within him, and in him to the father in the union of the holy spirit.
He invite us to be that.
And, that happened when we when we trace our relation with with God.
And if the spiritual direction is live well, it can become a test of heaven as the depths of the solar open and the self giving love of God becomes more intimately visible and tangible.
And it is beautiful to know when a person said, I am closer to God because, because I've been coming to spiritual direction, and we are not looking for that.
We are not looking for the price or for or for the, you know, the gratification because we know that we are doing the the kind of job.
So do you think that the church will have many more saints, priests, consecrated men and women, faithful husband and wives, a single and single people of generous soul receiving more serious spiritual direction?
If you and me say yes to be an spiritual director, if you and me decided to give ourselves to this minister, many, many more souls will be close to Christ.
And if we are close to Christ, as the gospel of today said, we can have we can have more houses built in rock, not in sand.
We can have no post Christian time.
We can have a Christian time because we live with Christ here and now.
So I invite you to take it really, really into account and really, really think about giving a chance to go to become an spiritual director.
We need many people.
I can tell you after the pandemic, I have more people reaching out, try to be, try to help us, more help to to try to have an spiritual director.
So we need more people.
We need you, Jess.
So I invite you to to take it, to discern, and to answer his call.
Thank you.
Thank you, doctor Begonia.
And, and people have been messaging me over the last I mean, I guess the the last two years almost, and people are mentioning that there wherever their diocese or churches in the world that, it's the masses did not stop.
So so that's great, and we we hear the word essential a lot.
And some of the diocese in in The United States and the churches were closed and but this is we hear the word essential, and this is so essential.
Right?
Our faith, the sacraments, the Eucharist.
So thanks be to God for the priest and for the bishops who who left the doors open.
People were going to adoration during the pandemic.
And, the the the show must go on.
One of my priests said that.
The show must go on.
But, yes, moving on to the program itself.
These are the six courses of the two year spiritual direction certificate program.
And, the application deadline for spring twenty twenty two is December 15.
So that is thirteen days away.
So, if, you know, after seeing this presentation, and, you know, doctor Begonia is an alumni, if this is speaking to you, if the holy spirit is speaking to you, and if your finances are there and you've been on our website and you just you've done some discerning of your own, by all means, if spring twenty twenty two is doable, feel free to apply.
If you're not quite there, like, if everything's there but you're still looking for a spiritual director because that's a prerequisite.
If you're still looking for a spiritual director but you know someone else who does have a spiritual director and and who is equally qualified, if not more qualified, refer them.
Word-of-mouth is always important.
I think our program, a lot of referrals, a lot of alumni are spreading the good news, I mean, the gospel, and then also the good news of the program.
But this is the track.
So in the spring, SDC 100.
That would be spring twenty twenty two.
That's the upcoming start.
And I'm looking if there's any more questions.
Doctor Begonia, a lot of people are thanking you right now.
So great presentation.
But on the next slide, you can find our contact information.
Thank you for your time.
So look at this information here.
You have my email address.
Please shoot me an email if you're interested.
If spring twenty twenty two, like I said, the deadline's thirteen days away, if that's too soon, but you're looking to the summer semester.
Summer semester starts in May.
Fall twenty twenty two starts in August.
So by all means, shoot me an email if you're interested.
That is my direct work number.
Doctor Begonia's personal Gmail account is there.
She's been so generous to share that.
But, definitely, this video will be posted on YouTube, and I believe it will also be emailed out, sent around.
But, yes, we do have divine mercy has a YouTube channel.
But, please, I mean, spiritual direction, like, we don't want, as doctor Begonia said, a post Christian world, question Marvin.
No.
Like, we want we want the new evangelization.
We want young people especially, to come back to the faith, to learn about the faith.
Some people now, people my age, don't even know what Catholicism is.
Some people have never heard of the church.
So and and that's no fault of their own.
Right?
That's where compassion comes in and people spreading the good news.
And and they're having conversations with people, face to face.
You know?
And and sometimes during the pandemic, we were very used to the video calls, and the video calls are so convenient.
How we're doing this now communicating with people all across the world.
But there is something about meeting face to face.
But I I still see thanks coming in in the in the chat, which is great.
But this will be posted, so stay tuned and be on the lookout for an email.
And like I said, our contact information is here, for future correspondence.
But, yes, spring twenty twenty two, if you're very set on the program, do apply.
Thank you very much, everyone.
So I wanted to say if I can say something, Chris.
Besides if if anybody that is interested would like to talk to me, you have my email.
I will be happy to talk to anybody.
And thank you very much for being here, everybody, and thank you for your support.
Thank you, and I'm happy advent to everyone, and enjoy the feast and the nativity coming up.
Oh oh, Godfrey.
Yes.
I I I see let me before we go, brother Angelo.
Yes.
Thank you so much.
It has been so sweet.
We appreciate.
We are happy here in Uganda.
God bless you, and we'll wait to see you again.
Thank you.
If you allow me, I would like to close with a prayer.
In the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit.
Amen?
Amen.
We thank you, God, for this time, for open our hearts to know you better.
Help us to keep our word just like Mary did with all our heart, with our soul, and with our mind.
And we thank you for the many blessing that you have bring us, especially for the gift of faith and for the gift of our Catholic faith.
And, we thank you for the priest and for the bishop and all the consecrated people that help us to be close to you.
Jesus Christ, we pray today.
Amen.
And also for Divine Mercy University.
Amen.
Thank you, everyone.
And, we will stay in touch, and we'll see you next month.