So welcome everybody to the spiritual direction certificate webinar.
I'm glad that you're all here.
My name is Greg Shapiro.
I am the admissions adviser here at Divine Mercy University for the spiritual direction certificate program.
Sometimes we call that.
Sometimes we call it SDC.
You'll probably hear two different versions of it.
But, I'm glad that you're all here, and I also want to introduce you all to Maria Brackett.
Maria, would you like to introduce yourself?
Thank you, Greg.
It's joy to be here, today.
I was gonna say this morning, but maybe for some people, it's still morning.
But here in Virginia, it's already noon.
So my name is Maria Brackett.
I'm the director of the spiritual direction certificate program here at Divine Mercy University.
I'm happy to be with you today.
Great.
So, a lot of you are here because you might be just inquiring about this.
Maybe you've been feeling the calling toward, becoming spiritual directors.
But today, we're we're gonna just share with you all the information that you're looking for just to get an understanding of what this is and to see if this is a good fit for you.
So, here are the topics that we'll be discussing.
So the first thing is we'll we'll share a little bit about the university, who we are, and our mission, our accreditation, of course.
And then from there, we're gonna talk about the program, well, not the program, but the, spiritual direction itself.
What is spiritual direction and who is spiritual direction designed for?
And then from there, we're gonna talk about the program and the ins and outs of it and what to expect, the courses, and that sort of thing.
And then lastly, we'll talk about the, time frame, the sort of commitment that students are putting in as well as the tuition and cost.
So from there, let's start with who we are as a university.
So Divine Mercy University, I'll just start by saying that we began back in 1999 under the name of IPS, the Institute for the Psychological Sciences, And, that still exists.
So we actually still have that as a school here, and that, that's sort of the umbrella for the PsyD in clinical psychology program as well as the master's in psychology program.
And then in 2016, we added the school of counseling, so that that carries over for the master's in counseling program.
But in 2019, we then began the spiritual direction certificate program.
And, all of these courses ultimately make up Divine Mercy University.
Now the mission of the school, Divine Mercy University is an institution of higher education offering graduate degrees, continuing education, and certificate programs globally.
We have students all over the world.
The university is dedicated to the renewal of the Catholic Christian intellectual tradition and the integration of the theoretical and empirical basis of psychology, professional counseling, and related fields, with the Catholic Christian view of the human person through teaching and learning both knowledge and critical school skills.
So that integrated integration component of psychology with the, with the Catholic Christian understanding of what the human person is is ultimately our bread and butter and why we exist.
Now the university provides students with an appropriate academic and educational environment that supports the integration of science, scholarship, and as we mentioned, the Catholic Christian understanding of the person through a rigorous, critical, and objective search for truth.
So, again, this is ultimately, the Catholic Christian understanding of the person and looking at the person holistically is what makes us so different from so many other universities.
Now our accreditation, we are institutionally accredited through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, sometimes known as SACS.
It's one of the seven major accrediting bodies, so we do hold to a high standard of education.
And, at the top, you'll see the American Psychological Association.
Now I'd like to highlight this.
This is a an accreditation, an accrediting body that you would only find in the doctoral program, but we do use that same APA writing style in all of our programs, including in the spiritual direction certificate program.
And then we're also approved to operate by SHEV, and that's the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia.
Now what is spiritual direction?
Sometimes people that, look to us and they're they're considering entering into this ministry, they might look at it in many different ways.
But, ultimately, what I wanna do now is just talk about what it really is and, what to expect in it.
So the first thing is, spiritual direction is accompaniment.
So it's assisting people on their path to the Lord.
So it's ultimately that that guidance as people are growing in their faith.
It's the act of being there for them in service both to them and to the Lord.
And then it's also deep listening to the directee, the person that you're directing as a spiritual director to help them deepen in their experience of the Lord and his narrative in their lives.
So it's spiritual direction is really the ability to listen closely to the directee, understanding where they are in their faith life and helping them, helping guide them in their walk closer to the Lord.
Now it's also a pilgrimage toward God.
It's a clear goal goal of growing closer to God, and it's not designed as therapy.
Sometimes people might look at spiritual direction as therapy, and I think that it there are some similarities as far as how they resemble each other that there's you're working with individuals, and so it could resemble it that way.
But it's not therapy, but rather, it is walking with someone in their walk with the Lord.
And then lastly, it's formation and mission.
So it's the effort to, just like Christ, summon, form, and send forth.
So it's that calling for the individual.
It's it's formation, forming them in their in their, spirituality, and it's sending them forth.
Many of you have been in spiritual direction.
And as you've been in there, you've been growing, hearing closely that calling to also become spiritual directors, and this is an example of that sending forth moment.
So, Maria, I'd love to open up the floor you as well to talk on this.
Thanks, Greg.
We are aware that there's many different understanding of spiritual direction in the world, and so this is why we wanted to kinda share with you kind of how we see spiritual direction in the program.
Of course, this is you don't see it as anything, as if we've created a new model or anything.
We just really try to put ourselves richly in the Catholic Christian tradition that already exists and, place ourselves firmly in that.
And so this understanding of spiritual direction that Greg has given you and that we, you know, that we've throughout the whole program, is really this understanding that's deep within the the Catholic Christian tradition.
Now next, why is spiritual direction such an important ministry?
And like Maria said, this is really sort of a rich tradition within the Catholic Christian world that there are so many, that are active within this, and this has been a very, sort of common activity that has happened within those Catholic Christian communities.
Now why is Christian direction so important?
So first, it's offering the service of deep listening to another, which is very important for people as they are trying to understand the mystery of God and trying to, grow closer to him.
So that sort of deep listening is very important.
Now next, it's also accompanying our sisters and brothers in the faith to help strengthen their faith, hope, and love.
So those those theological virtues, are the things that we've been commanded to embrace, and that sort of accompaniment is something that we ultimately need as we're trying to grow in our faith.
Guiding another to find the lord in every situation of life.
This is, this is, in some ways, can be challenging for people, especially as they go through different traumas and crises or even just the mundane lives.
But having the, having the guidance to find Christ in in all scenarios that we encounter in life, is is incredibly important for us.
It's also a way that others may discover their call to be a spiritual director.
I had mentioned earlier that many of you have gone through spiritual direction.
And as you've been going through it, you've been hearing yourself the call to also guide others.
And so this is another example where as spiritual directors yourselves one day, you'll be working with individuals, and they in turn will also, begin to hear that calling themselves.
And then lastly, giving spiritual direction as a help also for the director to grow in his or her relationship with God.
So this is just one of these natural things that happen where as you're offering this sort of assistance and guidance for others, you're growing in your own faith.
Just as we pray for other people when they ask us to pray for them, there are spiritual fruits that we also receive in doing that.
So there's a lot of benefit to this, not just for the directee, but even for the spiritual director.
And, Maria, I'd love for you to open up here as well.
So what I was say thinking as you were speaking, Greg, is just, the beautiful part of spiritual direction that is you know, it's almost a ministry of presence, of being present, you know, being present to another person, to the directee, preem presence to the lord, allowing that space where where that person can receive the gift of presence.
And hopefully, through your presence with them, be able to connect with the presence of the Lord in their own lives and his healing presence.
So you kind of work as a bridge to a certain extent in that in that world of presence.
And, and and so much of our training here in the program has to do with that of how how to learn to be present to another person and what that that what that means for you.
Your capacity, you know, learning how to be present to yourself, how to be present to the Lord is so much important, important in learning about how to be present to another.
So this is kind of like underlining all these elements of the ministry of spiritual direction.
And and just like the presence of the Lord is a healing presence, I think that a spiritual director can make that presence of the Lord more real to a directee, and it can be a way that that the lord heals, through spiritual direction.
I appreciate that, Maria.
I'm gonna move on to the next topic.
So what to expect in SDC?
I know many of you are curious.
What is it gonna look like for you as a student?
What sort of activity will you be, engaged in?
So the first thing I'll highlight is that these courses are done online.
And so what you'll be doing is logging into discussion boards.
You'll have your reading assignments.
They'll be posting in these discussion boards, engaging with your cohort, the professors this way.
And so it's done online, and it's also done asynchronously.
So this does give the students a lot of flexibility.
So in other words, as a student, you can log in to your classes at any time that works within your schedule.
So if you're a morning bird and, it just makes more sense for you to wake up a little bit earlier before the day officially begins and logging in and getting your work done when, when things are still quiet and, before the activities of the day begin, you can do that.
If you're someone that likes to stay up late and do your, your your studies and and your post, you can do that too.
So it's really up to you when you wanna have that sort of activity.
Now, also, there are six courses in the program, and you're taking one course at a time.
So one course per eight week term.
And then along with that, there are two residencies, and these residencies happen at different points in the program.
So the first residency and we'll we'll talk a little bit more about that as we go further, but I'll highlight first residency will happen in your third term, and then your second residency will happen in your fifth term.
And then there are also 60 practicum hours.
So these will be, a little bit closer toward the end of the program, an opportunity for you to put your skills and practice, your your skills and knowledge into practice where you'll be able to, work with individuals as a spiritual director.
I can explain that a little bit, Greg, if you want.
I'd love for you to.
So those practicum hours, it's it's something very intentional that we put into the program when we designed it.
And basically it's broken up into, about three fourths of those sixty hours is actually seeing people in spiritual direction.
And then the other fourth is, receiving supervision.
And the supervision is actually given within the last two courses of the program.
So you don't have to go find a supervisor yourself.
Your your instructor actually serves as your supervisor.
So, this allows you to really, like Greg was saying, to really start putting into practice the skills and the knowledge and getting feedback about that and learning as you go, in order to do this.
So in the second residency, it's where we kind of launch you into those practicum hours and, starting to see people in spiritual direction and having those supervision hours.
Very good.
And, since we had highlighted too that there are six courses that you'll be taking, these are the six that, that the students are taking in their program.
So the first one, SDC 100, is ongoing conversion, deepening discipleship, and the foundations of spiritual direction.
And then SDC 200, this will be for your, of course, your second term, is human development for spiritual direction.
So, again, one of the things that makes us so unique as a university, is that integrative component of psychology with the Catholic Christian understanding of of the human person looking at them as a whole.
And this course is is a good example of where that integrative component is brought in, though it's brought in throughout the entire curriculum.
SDC 300 is relating skills for spiritual direction.
And, as we've mentioned, that first residency will is built into this third course as well.
So this residency will happen during your seventh week.
And then SDC 400 is discernment and spiritual growth theory and practice.
And then for SDC 500, you'll have advanced spiritual direction skills and practicum, putting out into the deep.
The second residency is built into this course.
And as Maria said, this is also going to be that launch into your practicum hours.
And then finally, SDC 600 will be your final course, and this is advanced prayer and situations.
Now, again, the terms you you're taking one course per term.
Each term is eight weeks.
And, also, highlight here that there are breaks between your terms.
So these breaks last for about eight to nine weeks more or less.
Does that sound accurate, Maria?
Yeah.
The only one that's, is between the the spring the summer term and the fall term.
That's about five weeks there.
But all the other ones have that that space either from eight to sixteen weeks.
So it's a good length of time.
We really try to think about, the people that would be taking this course and when those breaks would be, you know, just better for them.
So we tend to not be offering classes around times of holidays, you know, holy week, Christmas, Thanksgiving.
Because we know that our students are really either involved in a lot of activities at their church, or family activities or, you know, they have a they have a full life, and they're just trying to learn, get this training in the time that they have.
So we designed it in that way.
Yeah.
And, you know, I'll also highlight I I had a great conversation with one of our SDC, students at one of the residencies, and I had asked her about, sort of what what she would do between these courses when she had this sort of downtime.
And, while they would usually schedule their holidays and their their vacations, during that downtime, so it's been very beneficial for them.
She also had a chance to go back to the readings that were assigned to her and just reread them, and she could do it in a more of a leisurely pace.
She didn't have the, the weight of her assignments due.
So she could actually re revisit these these things and listen closely again to what God has been telling her on on these subjects.
So this has been very beneficial for our students.
And also highlight too, it's a great time for them to replenish their funds as they're as they're paying for their courses.
So it does make it more financially feasible with these breaks between.
Mhmm.
Also, Greg, we do have a retreat requirement as part of the program.
Some some of the students do their retreat spiritual exercises of Saint Ignatius in one of these breaks.
And as you were saying, some of them just spend time go trying to go deeper into their the material that they received or we also run, like, a workshop, a practicum workshop, in these off times.
So if someone wants to be getting more practicum hours, they can get supervision in that workshop, the practicum course.
Great.
Very good.
So the next thing and we had talked a little bit about the residencies already, but just to reiterate, we have two of them.
So your first residency will happen during your third term, for week seven.
And then your second residency will happen during week, during your fifth term, and that will be week two.
The residencies, just to go a little bit more to depth with these, however, these happen here on campus in Sterling, Virginia, and they officially begin on a Wednesday.
That's sort of the the launch of the residency.
Mhmm.
I believe Wednesday evening.
Mhmm.
Right.
That's right.
So more in the evening hours.
And, is that more Maria, is that serves as more of sort of a meet and greet for this Yeah.
It's a very you know, like, a light dinner, meet and greet, just, and giving, you know, giving the binders to the students, kind of introducing the faculty so that the next morning at eight, we can start.
Very good.
No.
Yeah.
And, and and these residencies, as we mentioned, they're each for four days, so they conclude on a Sunday.
And By lunchtime.
Lunchtime, Sundays.
And and, and we have mass here, for the students as well.
Yeah.
So it's very doable, Greg, for people that work, you know, in the sense that they don't have to take off tons of time because since we're so close to the Dallas Airport and also just a lot of major highways, we're pretty accessible.
So we're hoping that we're not eating into too much of their work time or family time, you know, that they really could travel like a Wednesday afternoon and get here.
And then on Sunday for the lunch, we pack it up.
So if they wanna stay here and still visit, and eat it here, they can.
Or if they want to, you know, hit the road already or catch a plane, they can do that too because we know that Monday comes soon, and they probably need to be back with their families or their job.
Mhmm.
Yeah.
And and I'm glad you brought that up too because having the residencies carry over into the weekend, also just makes it a little bit more accessible for those that do have their responsibilities to work or, or those things related.
Mhmm.
And as Maria mentioned, the campus is very close to Dulles Airport.
I think we're about a five, ten minute drive from there.
Yeah.
Like, six, I think.
Yeah.
Something like and we're always hearing airplanes over us, so that's how close we are.
Mhmm.
But it's very convenient for the students that are coming in for the residences.
Well, yeah, Greg, and just before we go on, I'd love those two pictures there.
Those are pictures of some of the residency groups as they've come through.
So you can just see the diversity of the groups, you know, priests, religious, laypeople, men, women, all different ages.
It's really it's really great richness.
Yes.
So the next thing and and we had talked a little bit about this as well, but this is term based.
So, again, you're taking one course per term for eight weeks.
And, usually, when it comes to the time commitment, from what we've seen, students are typically, committing somewhere between six to nine hours per week.
So if this is something that you're considering doing, it's always important to look at your current schedule, look at your responsibilities, and see if if, fitting in nine hours is something that would work for you.
So at some point, I hope to speak with you one on one, and we'll talk more about that.
And, and then we also mentioned the breaks between there's roughly nine to ten, weeks of breaks between these, except for in the summer.
There's gonna be a little bit of a shorter one between the summer and the fall term.
And then, in total, the program would be completed in two years.
That would include those breaks between your terms.
Yes.
And if anyone needs to take a leave of absence at any time, Greg, each student is allowed three leave leaves of absence, in their time in the program.
So it can extend up to three years.
We really don't, allow someone to spend more than three years in the program, but it could be up to three years if you're taking some leaves of absences or LOAs as we call them.
Mhmm.
Yeah.
And I'm glad you brought that too, just because that that does happen.
Students, they need to take a leave of absence because of an emergency or they had something very important planned that they need to make sure they can, they can do.
I'll even mention very quickly because you might be thinking this sort of thing right now, for our guests.
Let's say that your residency were to fall in the, let's say, the summertime, and you know that you have something that would prevent you from, from proceeding with that residency, if it makes more sense for you to take a leave of absence and then pick up that residency, that that third term or that fifth term, whichever residency that is for, for the next start date, for the next term, then that's something that can be done as well.
So there is some flexibility that we offer to the students.
Yes.
Exactly.
Now let's talk about the cost.
So the first thing I'll mention is, as we mentioned, there are six courses, and it is 778 per course.
And I'll also mention very quickly that we do have opportunities to reduce the cost by 10%.
But as a baseline, it's $7.78.
And then the cost per residency is 1,000.
So you'll have, 1,000 for each of your residencies.
And this is gonna cover your lodging.
It will cover the materials.
It's gonna cover most of your meals.
So the only thing that you as the student would be responsible for would be, your travel as well as three of your dinners.
So let me take a moment to talk about the potential of reducing your cost by 10%.
This would pertain to the cost per course.
We do have the ability for a 10% tuition reduction.
Now what this would mean is that let's say that you belong to a faith community or you you're you're a member of your parish or you're a member of an apostolate.
So whatever it may be, if we were to receive a letter of good standing so let's say it's a parish.
If we were to receive a a letter from your parish, stating that you've been a member with them and that you're in good standing with them, then with that letter, we can reduce your tuition by 10%.
So this is a great way of bringing the cost down and making it a little more affordable for you.
And this brings us to the end.
So one thing I will highlight, we we still have an upcoming start date, which is gonna begin on August 17.
That will be our, our fall semester, and we're still enrolling for that.
We still have some seats open for this cohort.
Now is a great time to begin applying, because those seats are filling up.
But if you're really looking to to begin the process in starting your classes, I would begin that application process today.
If you look at the bottom, bottom red box, you'll see that, typically, there's a $25 application fee, but we can waive that for you.
We'll make this a free application.
All you'll need to do is put in the code SDC REGFREE.
And that way, if if you're really looking into starting for this upcoming fall semester, you can begin that process, and we can do this as a free application for you.
So, along with that, my contact information is right here.
Again, my name is Greg Shapiro.
I'm the admissions adviser, and my email is gshapiro@divinemercy.edu.
And my telephone number here is (703) 705-9118.
You can go ahead and screen grab that.
I would love to hear from you and to cover the information.
So, with all of that, what I'd like to do now is open up the floor to all of you as the guests.
I'm sure that you have some questions.
You might wanna get a little bit more clarity on some of these topics.
And so Maria and I are here to, to answer those questions.
So, it looks like we have one question from a Maria, and she asked, is it correct to say that spiritual directors can't offer counseling, but counselors could also offer spiritual direction?
How would one choose between the two?
Maria, you are an experienced spiritual director.
I'd love for you to answer this one.
So yes.
I mean, not necessarily you spiritual directors are not trained to be counselors nor are they licensed to be counselors.
Right?
So they can't offer, counseling.
And, and a counselor could be trained as a spiritual director and could, give spiritual direction.
But we'd like to say in the in the in the certificate is that you really have to separate the moments if you're trying to do two things, you know, because of the fact there could be confusion.
Counseling is different than spiritual direction.
As you know, we talked about what spiritual direction is.
Counseling does have the it's, it's really focused on the human growth of the person.
Of course spirituality plays into that religion plays into it, but it's really, it's really about that human functioning and really spiritual direction is focused on the relationship of the person with the board with, right.
And so, and spiritual direction is not a problem solving ministry.
It's a walking with someone as they walk with the Lord.
Whereas counseling really does have some problem solving, You know, it's trying to help a person so that their human functioning becomes better.
So it does go into that.
So there are differences.
And since our goal with the certificate is really to form professional, spiritual directors that are, that know well their field and, and are able to, give this service to others.
That's really what we try to do.
So I hope that's answered the question.
And you have some great questions here.
I'm glad that you're all so engaged.
So Amy asked, is payment due in full or per class?
Very good question, Amy.
So sometimes students might pay in full.
That's not very common.
They, I I think that might be an option, but, usually, students are paying per class.
That's the most common that you see.
It's gotta pay as you go.
As they as the way that it works, Greg, is as they register for classes, they're invoiced, for each class as they register for it.
Yeah.
In fact, yeah.
And I'm glad that you you had mentioned that.
So the invoice, I believe is sent to each student more or less about two or three weeks prior to the class beginning.
Mhmm.
And then the student has thirty days, after being invoiced to pay in that balance.
Mhmm.
Exactly.
And so Jean asked, where are the, I suppose she means, where are the Ignatian retreats held?
So for that requirement, you'll see on our website, this the list of requirements, to graduate from the program.
That requirement is to do at least a three day Ignatian spiritual exercises.
And we ask the students to find them really, you know, so the students come from all over The United States and Canada and sometimes even other countries.
Right?
So we ask them to find an option that works, and we really do ask them to finish to do that requirement by the time that they finish the third course because we want them to have that knowledge as they're going into discernment and deeper into the spiritual life and knowledge of the spiritual life.
Right?
So sometimes students will reach out to me and be like, I'm not finding a retreat so I can help a problem solve that and try to see something, you know?
But usually they're able to find something.
And, I mean, basically, what the requirement is is at least a three day Ignatian spiritual exercises.
So in that also falls if you wanna do a five day, if you wanna do an eight day, or maybe you've done, the nineteenth annotation or you're doing the nineteenth annotation, the spiritual exercises in daily life, all those things would count too.
Yeah.
And it looks like she had a a, second part to her question, which I think you answered very well, Maria, which was, can she asked, can I find my own Ignatian retreat, or do you have a specific location you prefer?
And, and like you said, this is something that that students will find on their own.
They might be very close by.
So you do have the the liberty to find the one that's, that you that you prefer.
Exactly.
There's another question, which is, what is the most typical time frame from start of the program to finish?
So, the program is a it's designed as a two year program, and so you're taking one course per eight week term.
Though it can be extended depending on the student, depending on if they if they, take leaves of absence or an LOE LOA.
If they decide to take a leave of absence for a good reason, if they're if they they need to travel for something or if they if it's a health related issue, you have that availability.
And then whenever you're ready to come back to the program, we would just get you reinstated back in.
Yeah.
So, Greg, they also sometimes it can be extended a little bit past two years if they're having problems getting their practicum hours.
They've got six months from the time that they finish the last course, to finish their practicum hours.
A lot of students actually as they're finishing the last course, they're finishing their practicum hours.
But there are people, you know, probably about 10%, 15% of the students that really do use that six months.
Right?
But I think in general, you know, from what I understand, if I'd probably say that probably be a good eighty, eighty five percent of the students finish within a two year period, you know, or a little bit more than two years.
Great.
Okay.
And, Cheryl asked, how can I go about getting the letter of good standing from my pastor to you?
Can you simply send it via email, or what exactly must the letter contain?
That's a great question, Cheryl.
So what we prefer is that we get a letter, on letter ed and that it would come from your pastor.
And this is, for example, if it's coming from your your parish.
But it would be ultimately him stating that you've been a member with this parish.
He would mention how long you've been a a member with this parish, and and he he could he could send it to us via snail mail if he prefers, but I usually see them come in via email.
Mhmm.
That might be more efficient as well.
So the parishes are very accustomed to doing this type of letter because they have to do it for godparents, for people that are being baptized, you know, with someone that wants to be a godparent or, a confirmation sponsor.
So they usually already have a template, but, basically, yeah, it's just that you are a member pair of that parish, that you're active member.
Right?
We also do require at the program letters of recommendation, and those are on the website.
It's very clear that letters of recommendation, those will be a little bit different because we do ask you to get a letter of recommendation for your parish priest, but there, we want your parish priest really to tell us if he recommends you to be to partake in training for a spiritual director, if he's really recommending you to that ministry.
Whereas a letter for of good standing is just, a typical one that the parishes do for a lot of different reasons.
Yeah.
And, Maria, thanks for sort of providing that distinguishing these differences between the two.
So, yeah, the the letter of good standing will be served to provide a tuition reduction, whereas the recommendation, that will be for the application process, which Yeah.
That's really about the fit.
The Right.
Your fit for the program, you know, because we wanna hear from that faith community that you belong to, that they themselves are thinking that this, you know, it's one of the ways that the Lord speaks.
He speaks in our heart, but he also speaks, through the people that we serve and that know us and whether they themselves would, would recommend us for this service.
And that letter from the parish priest or the head of the faith community, that you belong to has just been a big gift for us.
We didn't really realize what a gift it was gonna be when we created it.
But, we it opens up this whole conversation between our students and their leader of their faith community.
And, and and, you know, the faith, it it opens up this conversation where they talk about, this interest.
And, and then a lot of times that leader of the faith community says, how can we help you?
How can we support you?
What would you wanna do?
It even gets down to saying, oh my goodness.
Tell me when you're ready to start seeing people so I can give you an office to see people in.
Or, is there any way that we can help you?
Would you like us to help pay some of the tuition?
So it's kind of interesting, but, you know, sometimes we don't realize that we never talk to the head of our faith community about this interest or this desire that we feel like the Lord's putting in our heart.
So we're kind of happy we have that requirement because it's it's it's born a lot of fruits for our students in a lot of different ways.
Mhmm.
Yeah.
Very good.
We have another question, which is, this guest asked, how does it work for Canadians?
Is the certificate recognized in Canada?
Maria, I think this would be a great place for you to to answer this.
Yeah.
I can.
So for you all to know, spiritual direction is not a licensed field.
Right?
It's a ministry.
It's not really a career.
So there are no requirements as far as having a certificate.
It's kinda becoming best practice now in the Catholic church and the and then the Christian world that that the people do get training.
Right?
So this question about is it recognized in Canada, well, there's not any, you know, there's not any stipulation that you need this type of thing.
But what is happening is that, you know, ecclesial authorities are asking for a proof of some type of training.
Right?
And so this is what our certificate gives you.
It get it's a certificate of completion.
It means that you've done the training that you needed to be able to be, qualified to be a spiritual director.
But to actually be sent as a spiritual director to minister to a certain group of people, we really leave that up to the local authorities and the the people that you will be serving.
We just we just give you the training.
So I hope that answers that question.
Yeah.
And that's a great question.
I'm glad that you did ask that because I think many times people will look at this as, as Maria mentioned, a, sort of, a licensure preparation program or or something like that.
And as Maria mentioned, it's not, there isn't really a certificate connected to them.
This is more of a ministry or a discipline, and that's what we're preparing you for.
Mhmm.
Yeah.
And since it isn't we wouldn't even be able to say that we were giving you a license in spiritual direction because that doesn't even exist.
You know?
That's right.
You know, to get a license, it means that there has to be an entity outside of the educational institution that's actually licensing or, certifying people.
And that doesn't really exist, in the Catholic world who know if it well, and in the Christian world, some universities have created that.
But it's really doesn't exist outside of that network of those universities that have come together to create that.
And we have one more question from Amy, and she asked, is there a directory offered by Divine Mercy University to assist, to assist spiritual directors connected with potential directees?
So I I it sounds like Amy's asking about the students in the program that are preparing for their practicum if we, if we help in connecting them with potential directees.
Yeah.
So, Amy, we don't, because those directees will probably be be local to you or, people that know you.
And also because of the nature of spiritual direction, people have to be kind of drawn to you.
There has to be relationship of trust.
So we don't really get involved in that, that networking to find those directees for you.
But we do put means in the program.
Like, after the first residency, we we ask you to start finding, people that you can just have, spiritual conversations with.
So even from that time, we're asking you to have two or three people that you're having spiritual conversations with and something, sometimes those relationships just move right into, a spiritual direction relationship when you're ready to be able to do that.
And then usually what happens is that your priest or your pastor knows that you're you're getting getting this training.
Your friends start knowing, people start knowing, the word spreads, and, yeah, There's usually not a difficulty for our students to find spiritual to find directees at the end of the day when they get there.
Yeah.
And, you know, it it's interesting because there sometimes is that moment where the director and the directee are in that beginning phase where they're trying to understand each other and understanding their, their communication, their their ways of communicating with each other.
And that's a very important part between the director and the directee, which is why it's so important that that you're doing this in within your community in the area that's near you.
I'll even share.
I remember five years ago five or six years ago, I I was seeking a new spiritual director, and I met with someone that I knew from, from the parish I was going to at the time.
And, we had that sort of initial meeting where we just talked to each other and tried to understand where we were, and, I got to learn about him as a spiritual director.
He got to learn about me as a person and, in my faith journey.
And, he's he was great with his communication, and and I think he's from I I still know him today, and I think he's very well equipped with what he does.
It just turned out we had very different ways of communicating and probably what we were, what I was looking for within spiritual direction.
And so sometimes that might happen, and that's okay.
There's nothing wrong with that.
But I think those initial times where you get to actually speak with them and understand one another is such an important part within, within this ministry.
Exactly.
One thing that, you know, this brought up to mind to me, Greg, was, just to tell the whoever's on this conference call that we also, if you go to the Divine Mercy University website and go under alumni, there's actually an alumni directory there.
And so all of our alumni from all of our programs, whether psychologists or therapists or spiritual directors, those that have wanted to be listed, on the website are listed for the sole purpose of people finding spiritual directors and counselors and therapists.
So you can go there and you can see.
So, it's another, it's a kind of flip side.
The person was asking about finding directees and it made me think about finding spiritual directors.
You know, How can I find a spiritual director?
Well, that's a way, that you can find one.
We do you know, we didn't mention this, Greg, but what are the requirements to get into the program is that you do have a history of frequent spiritual direction and that you are in spiritual direction and that, you will continue in spiritual direction throughout your time in the program, just because we really do think it's a an ethical obligation of a spiritual director to have a spiritual director and to be in search spiritual direction.
Yeah.
Well so it looks like we oh, excuse me.
We have one more question.
And the question is, I have not had a spiritual director, but have been very active in the church, apostolates, and Catholic formation.
Is that a problem?
So that was, you know, that was exactly what Maria was referring to.
So what I would do is I would suggest if you haven't gone through spiritual direction, now would be a good time to begin that process, to seek out a spiritual director and, begin that journey.
Understanding what spiritual direction looks like from the side of the directee, is very important.
Not only is it important just in terms of the admissions process, but it's going to be very fruitful for you as well in your journey.
So I would begin there.
That's a great place to start.
Very good question.
Yeah.
It is.
And we'll pray that you find a great spiritual director.
That's why one of the reasons this program ever came about because we realized there was a need for spiritual directors out there.
And we wanted to, from our place, within education and our understanding of the human person to offer that.
Pope Benedict, pope Benedict Emeritus, pope Benedict, says that every every Catholic should have a spiritual director.
Right?
So, we're like, oh, we need a lot more people out there and there.
Right?
Because of the the idea that we walk as a community with the Lord, and so many of the things that we do do is in a communal fashion, but the also the Lord walks with each of us and the particular gifts that each of us is to, the world and the gift that, we want to be for the Lord.
It's it, it kind of needs that individualized attention.
The Lord wants to meet us.
He wants us meet us in confession and the sacrament of confession for Catholics on an individual basis, but also in spiritual direction.
It's just an opportunity for, for, for us to see more clearly just where he is in our lives.
Yes.
Good.
Well, again, thank you all for being here.
I I'm I'm just glad that we were able to share this information with all of you.
Once more, I'll just highlight that we still do have some open seats for our next upcoming start date.
So this will be for, August 17.
So if you're interested in applying and you you'd really like to begin the process, give me a call, send me an email.
You're even welcome to text me if that's easier so we can establish that time, establish that communication and see if this is in fact, a good fit for you.
And then if it is, then I'd be more than happy to get you moving forward with the full application process.
So with that said a few more questions come in there, Greg?
Let me check.
There there might be one more.
You know what?
We do have a few more.
We don't wanna keep them too much, but, to Yeah.
Yeah.
No.
I'd be happy to to answer these.
So, so follow-up question from the last one.
So should I not apply at this time?
If you have not gone through, spiritual direction for, I think we would say, roughly a year Mhmm.
That that sort of stands.
Yeah.
Frequent spiritual direction for at least a year.
We really want them.
Yeah.
So I would hold off on applying.
And for now, I would just begin by seeking out a spiritual director.
But, again, if you still have any questions and you still wanna have a conversation just to better understand it, you're more than welcome to give me a call.
I'd be happy to speak with you.
Mhmm.
Yeah.
And exactly.
And I think there's some resources I think I've shared with you, Greg.
There's a few websites where you could find spiritual directors if you're looking for a spiritual director besides what I've mentioned about the alumni, tab here at the universities on the university's website.
So there there are other places that are that other websites also that you can find spiritual director a spiritual director.
Mhmm.
Yes.
Yeah.
Good.
And, and one more question was, that I was just wondering if this webinar will be provided for those that may have shown up a little bit late.
We can do that for you.
So this has been recorded, so we'll make sure that for those of you that would like to, revisit the information, we can get that sent to you.
But, of course, you're also welcome to give me a call.
I'd be happy to just cover the information with you one, one on one basis and and, also ask you some questions just to better understand where you are in this and see if this is a a good fit for you.
So, let's see.
Looks like those are all the questions.
So, again, these great questions.
I'm so glad that you're all here, and, we will, you know, again, my contact information is here.
So if you have any questions for me, please give me a call, email, text, whatever works for you.
And, I hope we can be in touch.
Thank you all.
Thank you all for being here, and, have a great day, and god bless.
Yes.
Thank you so much.
So good to to have this time with you all.