Array of faith tools available at spirituality center

By Doris Melito
Archdiocesan Spirituality Center

On of my earliest memories is of a statue of Mary given to me by my mother’s friend, a Sister of Charity. I treasured that statue for many years.  Another memory is of my dad never leaving Mass without stopping by St. Anthony’s statue and putting his hand on St. Anthony’s foot, looking up at him and saying a prayer.

I grew up in a loving, chaotic household with eight siblings – seven sisters and only one brother. I recall us kneeling down nightly before our Holy Family statue praying the rosary. What a scene – pushing, shoving, elbowing one another while angelically praying!

As I grow older, those memories are a reminder of the gift of faith handed down to my siblings and me from our parents.

As a “senior,” my thoughts turn to: What is next? How do I use that gift of faith given to me by my parents and nurtured throughout the years by catechism teachers, nuns and many others, in my golden years? Where is God in my life as I age and am no longer concerned with raising children or establishing a career?

My job, really my ministry, as a staff member of the Archdiocesan Spirituality Center helps me explore those questions and the many spiritual questions that come with aging.

Through the gift of individual spiritual direction, I meet with my director monthly and talk about my life and my prayer, or sometimes my lack of prayer. My director listens attentively and helps me notice where God is in my life and my prayer. So many times, I hear myself asking my director, “Why didn’t I think of or notice that?”

On the other side of meeting with my director, I was accepted into the internship in spiritual direction, a two-year training program to become a spiritual director. I told myself that I was too old to take this class. Well, here I am, four years later, seeing directees myself. God is a God of surprises!

Individual spiritual direction provides an ideal opportunity to explore many issues, such as images of God, ways of praying, a personal relationship with God, noticing God in my life and prayer, anger at God, God being silent and dryness in prayer.

Spiritual direction takes place in a quiet, confidential, one-on-one setting with a director who is trained to listen and help the directee notice the movements of God in his or her life.

The skills I learned from taking the Faith Companioning class have enabled me to participate in spiritual conversations at a deeper level.

I invite you to visit us at the Archdiocesan Spirituality Center for a class, a day of prayer for spiritual directors or faith companioning. Upcoming September offerings include Salvation History; Finding God in Our Everyday Life Experiences; Companions Along the Way (a faith-sharing group); Mind/Body/Spirit Connection; Spiritual Excellence: The Path to Happiness, Holiness and Heaven; Advent Retreat in Daily Life; Finding Advent Peace Sheltered in the Arms of Joseph and Mary; Lenten Retreat in Daily Life; Finding God’s Mercy in Our Brokenness; and Ways of Praying With Our Personality.

Doris Melito is an administrative assistant and spiritual director at the Archdiocesan Spirituality Center’s new location at the Archdiocese of New Orleans Retreat Center, 5500 St. Mary St., Metairie. Visit https://nolacatholic.org/asc.