So welcome everybody to the presentation for the spiritual direction certificate program here at Divine Mercy University.
Just to introduce myself, my name is Greg Shapiro.
I'm the admissions adviser here for the SDC program.
I've been with Divine Mercy University for, about two and a half years now, and I I started with the master's in psychology program.
And as of last year, I I switched over and began enrolling for SDC, and I've really enjoyed it.
Just just being able to talk about the faith with people that are passionate about spiritual direction and accompanying others and and guiding others as as folks are trying to grow closer in their faith.
So just being able to speak with others about about that sort of ministry has been a real joy.
So with me today, who's cohosting is father John, as a faculty member.
So if you'd like to just share a little bit about yourself, that would be great.
Sure.
Thanks, Greg.
So my name is father John Pietropoli, and, actually, my first assignment as a priest years ago was at Divine Mercy University.
So I was ordained in 2012, and then I spent some time studying in Rome after that, Rome, Italy.
And then I was assigned as the chaplain at Divine Mercy, which back then was actually just the Institute for the Psychological Sciences in Crystal City.
And, I was there for three years.
So I was actually there when it became Divine Mercy University when we opened the faculty of counseling in addition to the faculty of psychology.
And then in 2017, I was reassigned, and I've been all over the place since then.
Right now, I'm teaching at the Legionary of Christ Seminary in Cheshire, Connecticut.
But I've been involved in different ways in the spiritual direction program from its inception in, 2000 actually, initially, 2017 is when the the project began.
And what I've really done mostly, actually, is, number one, I facilitate I colead the 500 residency in the 500 course where the students come to Divine Mercy University for that residency.
And then I've helped as well to co lead the 300 course residency.
And then I've also taught the 600, which is the kind of the the cherry on top, the last course in the entire program.
Yeah.
Great.
Well so, I mean, you I think this is very helpful that you're here for this presentation because, you know, I I think the the residencies are a very powerful part of the program because it gives the students a chance to hone in even deeper into their knowledge and into the skills that they're learning.
And so you've got a hand in both residencies.
So I I'd love to talk to you about that, but also the fact that you you you're involved with SCC 600, which really does play a part in the psychology component of the program, which really does make this program very unique in that word.
We're training students to be spiritual directors, and this is coming from the, the traditions of Saint John of the Cross and Saint Francis of, Saint Francis and and Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
There's a there's a human development piece in here, and maybe maybe we can start there.
Maybe you can share just from a faculty perspective, just sharing a little bit more about that psychology component and what students should expect as they're going through the program.
Sure.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
I think maybe to do that, we could actually just zoom out a little bit, if you bear with me here, to the first chapter of the book of Genesis.
Because it's always good to go back to the beginning.
Whenever we're talking about the human person, and here, obviously, we're talking about the human person, particularly our relationship with God, I think it's really important to ask, who is the human person?
What does it mean to be a human person?
In Genesis one, there are those lines, Genesis one twenty six, which we've heard so many times that probably for many of us, they've almost become something almost routine, you might say.
But they're absolutely revolutionary.
So God said, let us create man in our image.
In the image of God, he created the male and female.
He created them.
So it's really all right there.
I mean, the rest of of the Bible is really a commentary and a development on that.
And, of course, the fulfillment, the the fullness of what that means is revealed in Jesus Christ, true god and true man.
But when we say the image and likeness of god, I think it's really helpful to reflect for a minute.
What does that actually mean to be created in the image and likeness of god?
And so the image of God means that we're created out of love and for love because God, father, son, and holy spirit is his communion of persons.
Actually, Saint Augustine has this beautiful, beautiful image.
He said, we can understand something about the trinity itself.
It's obviously an analogy.
Right?
But we can understand something about the trinity when we think about the relationship between a lover, a beloved, and the love between them.
So he said in any really, really profound human love, there's a lover, there's a beloved, but then there's the love between them, which is so strong and so real that and sometimes it might seem like another reality.
He said the father is like the lover, the son is like the beloved, and the holy spirit is like the love between them.
Obviously, again, it's an analogy, but I think it's interesting.
Very interesting.
So we're created out of that love and for that love.
What does that mean for us specifically?
It means that we're created with a mind, so with an intellect and understanding, which enables us to enter into relationship with reality.
We can know truth.
We can know reality as it is.
Then with a will so that we can choose, we can freely choose what is right and good and loving, we're created as well with emotions.
So these emotions that god's given us to move us out of ourselves, to move us towards what is good, what is true, what is beautiful.
We're created with a body.
We're embodied.
We're an incarnate spirit.
So all of that coming together is what it means to be created in the image of God.
And then the likeness of God, that's an interesting distinction.
Why image and likeness?
Why both?
Why not just one?
Obviously, part of it's just to reiterate, and that's very common in Hebrew just to restate something in a different way.
But there's a slight nuance because likeness also seems to imply something like we're called to choose what is good, to choose to follow God.
We're free.
We're the only creatures that have that choice to follow God.
And so all of that is extraordinarily important if we're going to understand who the human person is.
And then there's a story in sacred scripture.
We're created in the image and likeness of God, so created good, but we're also wounded.
Sin entered the world.
Satan tempted our first parents.
They fell.
And so we're we're born in this world that isn't the way it should be, that there's something that's not entirely right with the world.
It's still good.
It's created good.
At the same time, it's wounded.
It's fallen.
But the story doesn't end there.
It's also redeemed.
In Christ, we are redeemed.
We're made into this new creation in Christ.
And so all of that actually provides, we could say, the foundation or understanding what the modern human sciences and modern psychology, for example, is is trying to do to bring about this growth in the balance of the human person, this health of the human person.
So I think that that's actually a very, very beautiful and very important dimension that we study in the spiritual direction program.
So say, let's take our emotional world.
That's part of being created in the image and likeness of God.
Modern psychology and the study of human person and relationships has really helped us to go deeper into that.
So what what is a healthy relationship?
What does that look like?
Healthy relationship with our parents, with each other, also ultimately with the Lord.
What role does my emotional world have to play in the decisions that I make, in my ability, my freedom to to follow the Lord?
So I think that that's it's very, very, very important.
Obviously, spiritual direction is different than psychology.
We could speak about that later if you'd like.
But what we're trying to do at DMU is to bring all the different knowledge about the human person that modern the modern sciences like psychology afford to us and then integrate that with the the perennial teaching of of the Catholic church about the human person.
Yeah.
That's great.
You know, I'm I'm glad you sort of spread it out that way because every time I I speak with students and I go into the subjects of, how psychology is related or how it how we relate it within the context of spiritual direction, I use analogies.
And, typically, I bring up pretty extreme analogies where a scenario could be a a spiritual director working with someone that is really carrying around a real trauma.
Maybe they've been abused in the church or they've been abused in their childhood.
And because of that, it's very difficult for them to, perhaps continue growing in their faith.
There's a psychological block.
And so I I share how, as spiritual directors, we want to train them on, of course, not being their their therapist.
There's a separate, purpose for that.
But how to speak to that with gentleness and empathy as the spiritual director, and if necessary, how to properly refer them to a licensed clinician if that's needed, so they can get that healing.
But still, it doesn't mean you're turning them over, but rather this could be a means for them to, better receive the fruits of spiritual direction.
So, I mean, that that's an extreme example, and we we do want to equip students for that.
But even on a maybe less extreme position, it's really just the acknowledgment, like you said, that we're made in the image and likeness of God and really what that looks like and how that plays out in understanding human human development along with that.
Yeah.
That's such a good point.
You know, there's this phrase that you study quite a bit in theology from Saint Thomas Aquinas that, that grace doesn't doesn't remove our humanity.
It perfects it.
And so grace is building on that that human nature that god has given us, and part of our human nature is to be relational beings and also beings with creatures, human persons with with emotions, with an emotional world, with different ways of relating to different people.
And so, of course, all of that is going to play into our relationship with God as well.
Yeah.
Great.
Okay.
Good.
This is excellent.
So, you know, we we talked about really the uniqueness of this program.
And you shared a little bit how your involvement with SDC three hundred and five hundred, which these are two points in the program where the residencies take place.
For the students that are now just learning about this program, it's, you know, I'll share very briefly that this is a, primarily online program.
There are six courses that you're taking, and they're all done online.
They're done, asynchronously.
In other words, this gives you the the flexibility to log in to your classes at any point that works within your schedule.
But with that, there are students do get the benefit of the residencies where they come to campus for a few days, and they gather together as a cohort and with, with a couple of the instructors, you're one of them, where they get to attend lectures and break out into groups where they, basically mock spiritual direction sessions where they're they're evaluated.
So, you know, since you're you have that sort of activity, would you mind speaking to that and sharing a little bit about what the residences are and what to expect for them if they were to be active in this program?
Sure.
Yes.
As you were saying, Craig, there are two residencies.
There's one that comes at the end of the 300 program, which is really focused on on listening skills, actually.
And this is so interesting because, you know, I think probably we all like to think at least I like to think I'm a good listener.
But every time I go to the residency, I realize, oh, okay.
There's there's little little areas where the Lord is trying to polish that.
And the 500 is 500 course, that's also continuing to practice those those listening skills, but starting to wrap that into spiritual direction itself.
So, really, what we're doing in the residency is pretty simple.
So, the students arrive around five, 05:30, 06:00 on a Wednesday evening.
We have mass for those anybody who would like to attend.
We start off with mass.
And then there's a meet and greet.
And, actually, it's kind of interesting for the 300 residency because most of the students there have never been to the university before.
We actually do a tour of the university, which is always interesting for me because as I said, when I was at the Institute for the Psychological Sciences years ago as a chaplain, it was it was in this an office building in Crystal City, and there were two floors.
And it was I don't know if you're ever there, Greg.
It was very cramped and That's what I heard.
Yeah.
I could tell you stories about the parking wars trying to find parking there and who got the parking pass and who didn't.
And now it's so amazing to see the facility that we have now.
It's it's so beautiful.
And so that's always exciting for me just to see the way that the Lord has has helped that to grow.
And then we begin Thursday morning with, as you mentioned, some some content, some lectures.
And we alternate the content of lectures with actual, practice sessions where we're really practicing spiritual direction.
And that is incredibly valuable.
It's so helpful to do that where students pair up, and it's in small groups as well.
We usually break up into groups of three or four with one instructor, and the students pair up, and they just receive a vignette, so a scenario.
You know, imagine somebody comes with this in spiritual direction, and then you you actually practice what that's like.
And I cannot tell you how helpful that is.
I mean, I remember myself, just full disclosure, when I was trained as a spiritual director, I was terrified of that the first time.
I thought, oh, no.
This is gonna be like getting getting evaluated in a certain sense.
But it was such a beautiful experience for me just to to realize that the Lord is calling me to this ministry.
He also wants to give me the tools to really be his instrument, to be the most effective instrument possible, as a spiritual director.
And, yeah, it's just been really beautiful.
And now as an instructor, just to to watch the Holy Spirit working and the students is so powerful.
So Thursday, that's what we do.
We alternate back and forth between that.
We have mass as well.
And then Friday is the same where we're practicing the skills.
We're also having some lecture time.
There's also time for the students to just to to talk to each other.
We have a nice long lunch break in there.
And that's really beautiful too because the students, in general, don't know each other except through the online to the Canvas platform.
So there's the the virtual component.
So they do get to know each other, but they haven't actually met, in real life, as they say.
And they get to do that as their residency, which is so beautiful.
Just to see the the way these friendships, which have already formed online, now they they're strengthened even more.
And then Saturday morning is a time I really love because we actually have a retreat that morning.
So we have the first half of the day set aside for a spiritual retreat for those who would like to attend that.
And we have adoration of the blessed sacrament.
We have some directed reflections, time for silence, and then we have mass after that lunch.
And then Saturday afternoon, we have more, content, another lecture, and then we have more practice.
And then Sunday morning, we end, with kind of a final debriefing session where we're just sharing different experiences from the residency.
And then at the end, each student meets one on one for ten to fifteen minutes with one of the faculty members and actually receives, really a plan for personal growth.
So we say, you know, these are the things that you did really well.
And maybe this is an area or two areas where you might wanna continue working on this.
This might be a way to continue working on this.
And that's so beautiful too.
Right?
Because we're all here because we wanna serve the Lord, and it's so helpful to have specific areas for growth.
So that's what we try to offer the students kind of a a qualitative, report there, which gives them, areas to continue growing as spiritual directors.
Then we have mass, and then we wrap up around midday on Sunday.
That's what the residencies look like and kind of a broad overview.
Yeah.
It's I thank you so much for laying it out like that.
You know, and it's funny because when you mentioned the students coming together and seeing each other for the first time, you know, because I'm I'm on campus throughout the week.
And and when the residencies take place, I like to come downstairs and and just speak with whoever I can that's in the program.
And what's interesting is, you know, even though it's an online program primarily other than the the residencies and the practicum, I think for a lot of people that are just learning about the program, they're they're not sure if they're gonna have that opportunity for a sort of camaraderie with the students, but they do.
They the students really even before the residencies, they do get to know each other through the discussion boards.
They they engage with each other.
And when the residencies happen, like you said, this is their first time meeting face to face.
But it for them, it's that they're just meeting a friend that they have been communicating with for a while, their fellow classmates, and they're now getting to participate in this.
And what's what's in addition to that very interesting, interestingly, is that the the students who I've spoken to, who are maybe not too sure about what to expect with the residencies or for them, it was more of, well, you know, I I'll do it because it's a requirement, but but that's just how it works.
When I speak with them, they're really excited about it because I I think the the reason why I believe is because they know that they're called to this ministry.
They have a real joy of being able to speak with people and and accompany people and walk with them in their faith and and guide them.
And so this is really a way for them to this sort of rejuvenates that joy and that anticipation of being able to go into this ministry.
So that's what I've gathered every time I speak with the students, and it it seems to be a a a greater motivation every time they participate in these residencies.
Yeah.
It's a good word, rejuvenate, because I see and feel the same thing.
I mean, personally, and I also feel that in the students at the residencies when I go there.
Yeah.
Good.
Let's see.
You know?
And by the way, I'll remind everybody if any questions are are spinning in your heads right now, you're welcome to drop those questions right now in the either the chat or the q and a.
Father John and I are here to answer those questions, so don't be afraid to do that.
Let's see.
I wanna make sure I'm painting a a good, illustration for everybody here on what to expect in the program.
Let's see.
It looks like we might have a question here.
So Jackie asked, could you give us information on the re on the pre course work?
So it sounds like this is related to the, I'm not sure if you're you're referring to the orientation.
If you're not, maybe you can expand on that.
Let me know what you're referring to.
But if if it is regarding the orientation, what happens for students is once they are admitted, they'll go through a process of of, just preparing for starting the program, and one of those would be, participating in an orientation.
It shows up on your Canvas.
That's the online platform we use.
It shows up almost as, like, a an additional course.
It takes about three hours to complete, and it's you don't have to sit down for the full three hours and do it.
You can break it up into, fragments if that helps out.
But it's really designed to help you get acquainted with the program, what to expect, the university, the different departments in case you have any questions, whether it's related to billing or registration.
It also covers the APA writing style.
This is the the writing format that's used, the American Psychological Association's writing style.
It's a very common standard of writing that you would find in different psychology programs.
If that's something that seems seems intimidating, don't be intimidated.
Most of the students, I would say, that go into this have no experience with it.
It's something that every student, they adapt to.
They learn it.
Again, the fact that it's in the orientation means we wanna give you that opportunity to get acquainted with it.
So this is just an idea of what to expect as you're entering into the program.
So I hope that helps out.
And looks like there was another question by Lisa.
What are any requirements to join the program?
So what are the requirements to join?
Lisa, great question.
So I'd say as a baseline, the first requirement is that you have at least one year of experience with the spiritual director that you've been working with.
And, you know, when we say a year of experience, we're referring to a recent year.
So maybe within the past, I'd say no further than five years as long as you've worked with a spiritual director for a year within the past five years, and that's the first place to begin.
It's also required that when you're in the program, you do have a spiritual director.
If right now you have that experience, but you don't currently have a spiritual director, that's perfectly fine.
You you can still go through the application process and begin that before you've officially, found a spiritual director to work with.
And my hope is that if that's where you are, regardless of where you are, even if you're going through the year of experience, I'd love to have a one on one conversation with you or anyone else here, and we can sort of map out a plan of how we can make this work.
So I hope that's helpful.
And, let's see.
We're getting a lot of questions.
This is really good.
So one one question, father John.
Is age a factor?
I am 76 years old.
I'm a 76 year old deacon.
No degree.
Ordained at 37 and soon to celebrate my thirty ninth anniversary of ordination.
Congratulations.
So I'll I'll start.
And, father John, I'd love to hear your sort of perspective as a faculty member too.
It's it doesn't play any sort of factor at all.
It's not required that you have a degree.
And, you know, you're 76 years old and and you're a deacon.
My experience and father John, I think you can probably speak to more of this, but just speaking with the students that are interested in this program, I think there's something to be said about, folks who are who've lived a full life and are now being called a spiritual direction.
Not to assume anything of of what God chooses for each person, but I think having that life experience and that wisdom really does add way more weight to offering direction to others.
And so I don't think there's any sort of hindrance of being in your seventies or even in your eighties.
I just from my experience speaking with people, it seems like that's actually been a great strength because they can bring with them that experience and that wisdom.
So, anyway, I I'd love to hear father John just because you you do work with a lot of students on this.
Yeah.
I concur absolutely with you, Greg.
I mean, god he god calls whom he will, whom he wills and when he will.
So I I agree with you completely on that.
Yeah.
Good.
Let's see.
There's one couple other questions.
I'm happy to to just go right into this, father John, if you are.
This is excellent.
Sure.
So let's see.
Can the spiritual director be our pastor?
Jackie.
Yes.
Absolutely.
So your your your pastor can be your spiritual director.
For some people, that's the case.
Their pastor their parish is their spiritual director.
For many others, it's a layperson.
It is someone from a different parish, but, you you know, especially with with a lot of places, there is a scarcity of of spiritual directors.
So for some people, they they reach out to wherever they can.
But if your pastor is also your spiritual director, then, yeah, that's great.
I I think what's important is to make sure that that relationship has director and direct key has been established.
You know, for some people, they think of, for instance, when they go to mass as being an example of spiritual direction or if they go to confession that that spiritual direction and both very important.
We should be doing both of these, though, these would not be considered spiritual direction sessions.
These are, different activities that we participate in.
So, but as long as your pastor you and your pastor are meeting in a in a defined context of spiritual direction where you're reserving that specific time for that, then that's perfectly fine.
Let's see.
And, Lisa, you have a question.
I've had a spiritual direct I I have had spiritual direction through confession with my priest.
Not sure this counts as formal direction.
Would that count?
So confession is is a separate sort of activity.
That's a sacrament where, you know, spiritual direction is a little bit different where It's it's not confession, but rather the director's there mostly to listen and help offer some guidance.
Now and then, you know, when I've I've gone to confession before and I'll, as I'm doing that, the priest may offer a very brief perspective and offer some advice on where to go from there.
But, confession is a little bit more weighed out where there's maybe, like, forty five minutes to an hour reserved of of that listening and that dialogue.
So confession would be a little bit different, but that's a great question.
I'm glad you asked that, Lisa, because I think it's important to distinguish the two.
And father John, may you're the priest here.
Maybe you can you can paint it out a little bit more.
Yeah.
Again, it's an excellent question.
And, maybe one thing that would be helpful here, Greg, is I could just delineate quickly, the way that we try to teach spiritual direction in this particular program.
So the way that we approach it is really as a a sacred conversation between two people, the director and the directee, where both are listening to the Lord, in particular, as regards the directee, what the Lord is is saying, what the Lord is doing in the directee's life, to then help the directee to respond to that.
So it's that listening and responding to the Lord.
So in that sense, it's it's a little it's different than confession.
Because in confession, what's happening is when I go to confession, I'm going to a priest who in that moment is acting in the person of Christ.
And it's a sacramental encounter.
It's actually the most sacred encounter, the most privileged encounter we could ever have because it's a direct encounter with the lord.
That's why the church actually puts such tremendous safeguards around that sacrament because it's it's really a direct encounter with the lord.
But as Greg was pointing out, it's an encounter that's focused on me confessing my sins and receiving the lord's forgiveness and mercy.
Now is there a guidance that takes place in that?
Yes.
Many times there is.
Sure.
The priest will will give us some advice that can help us in our relationship with God.
But spiritual direction is that longer conversation between two people who actually in that moment are basically peers.
That's really important to remember.
It's not that the director is in the person of Christ.
I mean, when I when I was spiritual director there, even as a priest, I'm just listening, asking questions, trying to help the directee just to to recognize.
Okay.
What is it the lord is doing?
We're discovering that together.
I don't know what the lord is saying to this person either, but we're discovering that together.
And then the directee is then better able to respond to what the lord is inviting him or her to do.
So they complement each other, spiritual direction and confession, but they are different.
Yeah.
Thank you for for saying that.
And I know a lot of people, by the way, just to add on to that very quickly, that for many people, they they their spiritual director is a priest, and they, for some of them, they'll do that because they they like the idea of being able to have their spiritual director also as their confessor.
But, what I've seen in cases like that is that they reserve different times for that.
So they're not sort of merging the two, but they're making sure that they're they're taking specific times and reserving that specific time for that specific purpose, whether it's the sacrament of confession or, the activity of the ministry of spiritual direction.
So, yeah, father John, thank you for for sharing all that, and that's very helpful.
And it looks like there's, one more question, and then we'll we'll just go over a few more things.
But I again, feel free to keep dropping these questions.
They're great.
Jackie asks, is there guidance or a schedule to follow for working with your spiritual director?
So, if I understand correctly, you know, one thing that that we look for as far as a requirement is that you not only have experience, but that that experience is consistent.
And by that, that means that you've been regularly going to a spiritual director.
And that could mean for some people, they're going once a week, which is pretty active.
For a lot of people I speak with, they're going once a month or maybe once every six weeks.
But I think the most important thing is that there is a consistency, that you are consistently receiving spiritual direction.
When it's sporadic and it's, you know, once every six months and then maybe you see them again the next week, but then seven months goes by.
That's a little bit all over the place.
So I would say if that's sort of where you are, and not disparaging that, the fact that you already have that that established relationship with the spiritual director's grade, I would see if you can try to, make it more consistent and make it more regular, and that would be a great place to go from there.
And, Marion asked a question.
I've returned to the Catholic church after over a decade of attending a Lutheran church.
I was a sister of Saint Joseph.
I currently have a spiritual director.
Do I have to wait until I've had a year's worth direction before beginning the program?
So, Marion, that's a great question.
It's so it is required that you have a year of experience before you start the program, but maybe I can distinguish something.
It's not required that you have a year of experience before you apply.
So students do apply before they've actually reached a full year of spiritual direction.
I work with a lot of people that are on their way to gaining that full year.
So it is important that you do have a year of experience before you officially begin.
But let me know you know, maybe we can have a one on one dialogue.
Let me know where you are in that.
You know, if you're six months, seven months in and you're not quite at a year, but you're getting there, let's map out a time.
We can figure out when would be a good time for you to apply if God is calling you to this ministry, and we could just go from there.
Gary, there are couple of questions earlier that, that weren't answered.
There's one somebody asked, Paul, will you be discussing costs somewhere down the line?
And there was a question about, how many weeks in each term, how many terms, and where do we stay during the residency.
Yeah.
Good.
Okay.
Let's let's start with where do you stay during the residency because we're on that page right now.
So when it comes to what to expect, and we talked about the activity, but so if you're flying in let me start there.
If you're flying in, then you'd be flying in through Dulles Airport.
And, Dulles is this is Northern Virginia.
So you would be attending the residencies on campus, and we're in Sterling, Virginia.
That's about a thirty five, forty minute drive from Washington DC.
Dulles Airport is a five minute drive.
It's right around the corner.
If I need to go to the post office when I'm on campus, I usually just go to Dulles because it's the closest one.
And so students are flying they fly in through Dulles, and they're picked up by a, shuttle, and it takes them to their lodging area, which will be I can't remember if it's the Marriott Hotel or the Fairview Hotel, but it's hotel that's walking distance to the campus.
So everything is in very close proximity.
So you would be staying on, next door to the campus at the hotel.
That's just give you an idea of the logistics.
And, again, it goes from a Wednesday evening, as father John mentioned, is a meet and greet and mass and just a chance to gather together and go over what to expect.
And then Thursday morning to Sunday afternoon will be all of those activities.
And then let's see the other questions.
The let's go over the the time frame, because that's a good question too.
So the the amount of time per course, each course is eight weeks.
You're only taking one course per term.
So each course is eight weeks.
And usually and this isn't set in stone, but this is just how the courses are built out in a pattern that we've seen.
Typically, students are committing somewhere between six hours a week to nine hours a week.
So I would say if this is something that you're looking to, look at your own schedule, see if that's something that you could afford to put in as far as that time commitment.
For some people, they they might carve out some time early in the morning, or they might do it late at night, and they make it work.
But, definitely take that time to see if that's something that you can do that would work for you.
I'll also share very quickly that between each term, there's a break.
And these breaks last between six weeks to ten weeks.
And I I actually really appreciate that these breaks are here, and I know that the students do too because this gives the students a chance to take a step back and reflect on the content that they're learning.
The major holidays happen during these breaks.
So especially for you that are any of yours any of this the, guests here that are active in the diaconate or the priesthood, I know that Holy Week is intense, and I'm sure that father John can speak to that as well.
Holy Week happens during a downtime, so you're not having to juggle submitting assignments while at the same time having that sort of activity leading up to Easter week.
So with Holy Week, Easter week, Christmas week, Thanksgiving, all of these happen during the breaks.
And it's also a chance for students to take a a chance to come up for air and and replenish their funds.
So that financial piece is helpful.
And since we're speaking about the financial piece, another question, father John, that you mentioned that someone asked was the cost.
So the cost per course is 800.
And, by the way, if there there there is room to bring the cost down.
So if you are active in any form of ministry, if you are a volunteer at your parish, even if you're just a member at your parish and you've been a member there and you're in good standing, as long as we get a letter from your parish or if you're in ministry, a letter from your, whoever oversees that or your superior, if you're you're in religious life, with that letter, we can reduce your cost by 10%.
So it'd go down from 800 to what is that?
$7.20 per course.
So let me know, by the way, if if if we get a chance to speak one on one.
Let me know if that's the case, and we can talk about how to bring the cost down even further.
And then the cost per residency again, there are two residencies.
Each residency is 1,100.
So 1,100 per residency.
That'll cover the cost of your lodging.
It'll cover the cost of, your materials, and it'll cover the cost of most of your meals.
You'd only be responsible for three of your dinners while you're here and also your travel, but everything else will be covered under that 1,100.
And It looks like we have some other questions.
Good.
So let's see.
I wanna make sure I'm not missing these.
These are these are coming in fast.
Okay.
Here we are.
So, so Jean writes or is it g n?
Pardon me.
Thanks, father.
I used to live in, is it Cheshire?
I can never pronounce Cheshire.
Yeah.
I can go to go to holy hours at the seminary.
Yeah.
I've been to many of those.
Good.
Alright.
Excellent.
Lisa writes, I am currently a teacher in a Catholic school.
Sorry.
There was there was a question that Jean Oh, good.
Sure.
Does the six to nine hours include class time?
Oh, good.
Yes.
So the six to nine hours is basically everything related to the program.
So that includes class time.
And you know what?
I shame on me.
I skipped over something very important.
The class time you know, when I mentioned that it's asynchronous, asynchronous, this is kind of a strange word, and some of you are familiar with it.
And for some of you, this might be a new word.
Synchronous education versus asynchronous education.
Synchronous education is what I think a lot of people imagine an online program to be.
So typically, people imagine an online course to involve students logging into Zoom like we are right now and being online for a certain designated amount of time.
So in other words, it's live.
You all logged in at 07:00 this evening, eastern or six, wherever you are, depending on your time zone.
And we're here, doing this synchronously.
In contrast, this program is asynchronous, which would mean that instead of you having to log in for a specific amount of time at a specific time.
It's up to you when you want to log in and for how long you're participating.
Now, again, it there may be some weeks where you don't have to put in as many hours because you are breezing through the content very effortlessly, and you're doing you're able to get through that in a shorter amount of time.
And then there might be other weeks where you find yourself that you'll need to take a little bit more time to absorb the information.
And so those six to nine hours are really just, again, a pattern that we've seen in in a way that the courses are built out.
So I would say expect the courses to take about that amount of time.
But as far as the classroom time, that doesn't that that does mean activity in the discussion boards.
It means the activity in your modules, so your reading assignments, your writing assignments, any prerecorded lectures that there are.
So six to nine hours covers everything related to the program.
So I hope that answers your question.
Let's see.
Lisa Lisa asked, I'm currently a teacher in a Catholic school looking towards retirement eventually.
What is the workload like per week?
So, yeah, six to nine hours per week.
It really just it varies.
I'm also the music director at our church.
So, yes, Holy Week and Christmas, two very busy times of year.
Yeah.
Busy for for a lot of folks, not just, deacons and priests, but anybody active that's active in ministry.
So, yeah, I'd say look at your schedule.
Look to see if you could reserve I'd say just to be on the safe side.
See if you could reserve nine to ten hours per week just to be on the safe side because there may be some weeks where you're putting in a little bit more.
Yeah.
So let's see.
The total number of courses not included the residencies.
Paul, great question.
So there are let me scroll up.
There are six courses that students are taking.
These are the six courses in front of you, and they're sequential.
They're they go in this order.
So, and we have the course descriptions on our on our website as well.
Father John, since you're you're here, maybe you can speak a little bit about the courses you're that you're active with.
Sure.
Yeah.
Maybe even I can speak briefly about sort of the flow or the sequence of these courses because a lot of a thought went into this.
A lot of prayer went into this from the directors of the program.
And this is actually done in conjunction with some of the professors from psychology and counseling as well.
So everybody at Divine Mercy put a lot of thought, a lot of prayer into this.
So the first course, obviously, is just the foundations.
So it's really just an overview of the spiritual life, our relationship with God, spiritual direction, and spiritual direction's role in our growth and our relationship with god.
So it's it's very foundational in that sense, and it's it's, you could say, setting the bases, which will then be referred to again and again throughout the different courses.
Then the 200 is human development for spiritual direction.
What that means specifically, actually, that's where we we dive deep into what does it mean to be a relational being.
So how do we form relationships as human beings?
Because, obviously, spiritual direction is about the most important relationship in our lives, which is our relationship with god.
But since we're human beings, it's very important to know how do human beings form strong relationships.
So what helps us to form strong relationships, and then what maybe are some some things that can hinder us?
And, obviously, with God's grace, we can we can overcome that, but it's important to know what they are.
So this is a really interesting course because we're we're going deeper into that reality of being created in the image and likeness of god as a relational being using the tools of modern psychological study to understand ourselves and each other more deeply.
Then the 300 relating skills for spiritual direction, that's really where we study and practice.
How do we form a strong, secure relationship with other people in practice?
So the 200 is kind of the theory of it.
The 300 is, how do we do that in practice?
In particular, we emphasize listening skills.
We could talk so much about listening, but Jesus does it in the gospel again and again.
It's interesting how many questions Jesus asks in the gospel.
Who do you say that I am?
What do you want me to do for you?
What are you looking for?
What are you talking about?
The road to Emmaus.
We just read that after Easter.
Right?
The road to Emmaus.
What are you talking about as you walk along?
You know, we were hoping that Jesus would be the one to save us.
And so it's really interesting how the lord himself does that.
And so we're really learning that and then practicing that in the residency in the March.
April is discernment and spiritual growth theory and practice.
So this is where we're we're trying to take what we've learned in these first three courses and now integrate it more and more with kind of the, you could say, the meat and potatoes of spiritual direction, which is that listening to the Lord, discerning the Lord's voice, distinguishing his voice, being attentive to the way that he's speaking to me, to the circumstances in my life so that I can choose him and keep responding to him.
So that's the 400.
The 500 is really just continuing to to put all these different skills together.
And then also, the residency in the 500 is where we really begin to practice, how would I start a spiritual direction session with somebody?
How would I start a relationship with somebody?
What are kind of the parameters of spiritual direction?
So we're studying and practicing all of that.
It's becoming more and more practical, you could say.
And then the 600 continues all that, but we're also studying there.
What does prayer look like as it develops?
You know, somebody moves along in his or her relationship with the Lord.
What are some some common elements in that growth?
Granted that everyone's different, but at the same time, what do the spiritual masters and the saints teach us about that?
And, also, what are some unusual or rare, but still possible situations that might come up in spiritual direction?
And how does one, how does one address those?
So it's kind of going from the the basic, the general, to the more and more specific and particular.
So it's a it's a really, really beautiful flow.
And what I found teaching it and just talking with the students about it, it's it's very organic.
We just kind of grow into the next step with the help of God.
Yeah.
Excellent.
This is this is great, and and thank you for sharing, really the just what to expect in the program, what the students are gonna be learning.
Yeah.
This is very good.
And looks like we have another question.
Is it pass fail?
What is the grading system?
So father Jonathan, can you speak to that?
Sure.
I mean, there is a grading system.
So it's not it's not pass fail strictly speaking.
So there is a grading system.
At the same time, what we try to do with the grading is, as I mentioned before, to be to be very qualitative.
So it's not just this is the grade, but these are things that you did very well, and they're always things that everyone does very well.
And then these perhaps are some areas for growth in there.
So it's, yeah, my experience is that it's it's very personalized in that sense.
And, I mean, my experience teaching it too has been everyone has done has done well and then gives the opportunity as well.
If someone needs a bit more coaching in a certain area, then the professors do that, which is really interesting and very, I think, very helpful as well just to ensure that everyone who whom the Lord is calling to this program and who who is following the Lord's call in this really has the support that he or she needs to flourish in this.
Yeah.
Good.
Let's see.
You know, there there's one question that, wasn't asked, but I I do get this question a lot when when speaking with students that are looking into this.
Let me go back to the residencies.
So one question that I typically get is what if a residency happens to fall on a week that you can't make?
Maybe you have a wedding to attend or you have a scheduled surgery and it happens to fall during this this week of the residency.
If that ever happens, then as a student, you can just take a leave of absence.
Basically, this means that you're taking a term off.
And every student can take three leave of absences.
I only ever suggest using it if there's a good reason for it, but this gives you a little bit more flexibility.
So if let's say that you're approaching your third term where the residency happens to fall and you won't be able to make that, you'll just take leave of absence with the program administrator, and, you're taking that term off.
And then when you're ready to come back into the program, you could come back in at any other term, whether it's one leave after that or, two terms after that, meaning you're taking two leave of absences.
But, this will just give you a little bit more flexibility.
So I wouldn't want you to feel like, you know, things are up in the air with your schedule or maybe you are required to travel now and then.
I wouldn't let that be a prevention from you going into this program, especially if God is calling you to this ministry.
We wanna make sure that we can equip people with that and wanna give them a little bit more room to follow their priorities while also being able to to participate in that.
There was one other question, and, I typed it out to a student, but it was a good question.
But he just wanted to make sure how long is the program.
So the program is it's a two year program.
So from beginning to end, again, you're taking six courses.
You're taking three courses per year.
One course per term, again, breaks in between.
So, yeah, it's a two year program from beginning to end.
And let's see.
We are just about at the end, but, father John, I'll ask one more question that I do get from students.
Is it required that you're a Catholic in order to be active in this program?
Good question.
No.
It's not.
In fact, we've had a number of, non Catholics in this program.
In fact, this is an interesting question you bring up because spiritual direction really all it requires is that there are two people who are both listening to the Lord, who who have some familiarity with the Lord and who are listening to the Lord's voice.
So we also have had people, and I've actually had spiritual directees as well, who are not Catholic.
Obviously, I'm Catholic.
Right?
But I've had directees who are not, and it's really, really beautiful just to see the way that the Lord works in that.
So, no, it's not required that, someone be Catholic in order to enter this program and complete this program.
Yeah.
Good.
Well, let's see.
We are now at 07:59, so we're right at the top, of the hour.
So maybe this is a place to, to end it.
So I'll just share very quickly that, you know, we're we're about to start our summer term, but we're about to begin enrollment for the fall term.
Fall is going to start, on August 23.
That's gonna be the start of the fall term, and now is a great time to apply for it because it'll give you time to, get your recommendations in.
It'll give you time to if you're admitted, it'll give you plenty of time to look at the orientation and and take that, giving you more wiggle room to learn about what to expect.
So, my contact information is right here.
Feel free to screenshot it.
There's a code, by the way, if you'd like to apply for the program.
We can waive that application fee, if you use that code.
And, again, what I'd like to do is if that's something that you're looking to, I'd love to speak with you one on one.
So, everybody, thank you so much for for being here.
Father John, thank you.
Oh, you're welcome.
Thank you.
I really enjoyed it.
Maybe we end with the glory be.
Yeah.
Let's do that.
In the name of the father, and the son, and of the holy spirit.
Amen.
All glory be to the father, and to the son, and to the holy spirit.
As a living in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.
With that end.
Amen.
In the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy spirit.
Amen.
Alright.
Thanks, Greg.
Thanks, everyone.
Thanks, father John.
Take care, everyone.
God bless.
Bye.