Camino, 62

A director. —You need one. —To offer yourself, to surrender yourself… by obedience. —A director who understands your apostolate, who knows what God wants, who can effectively help to forward the work of the Holy Spirit in your soul, without taking you from your place... filling you with peace, and teaching you how your work can be fruitful.

 

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The source of this point in the Notebook is referred to in the commentary to point 60, earlier. Now it becomes clear why St. Josemaría presented the two parts of the one original paragraph in reverse order. The first part, which became this point, summed up the doctrine presented so far in this chapter: a spiritual director is needed, but it must be a Director who will foster the action of the Holy Spirit, since it is the Holy Spirit who actually guides the soul. (...)

 

The weight of this point is clearly the relative position of the spiritual director, as a human being, regarding the sovereign action of the Holy Spirit (see point 57 earlier). The director does not impose anything; he "seconds," he follows up, the work of the Holy Spirit. And in this "accompanying" lies his authority and his strength. It is the Spirit who rules souls who allow him to act ("Don't hinder the work of the Paraclete," point 58). The "obedience" referred to in this point is the obedience of faith. (For the long Catholic tradition on this topic, see for example Didache, IV, 1-2 and the Exercises of St Ignatius, 15th note.)

 

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[excerpted from "The Way: Critical-historical edition," prepared by P. Rodriguez of the Josemaría Escrivá Historical Institute]

 

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