Spiritual Direction

 “We define Christian spiritual direction, then, as help given by one believer to another that enables the latter to pay attention to God’s personal communication to him or her, to respond to this personally communicating God, to grow in intimacy with this God, and to live out the consequences of the relationship. (William A. Barry and William J. Connolly, The Practice of Spiritual Direction)

• Spiritual direction focuses on religious experience. It is concerned with a person’s actual experience of a relationship with God.
• Spiritual direction is about a relationship. The religious experience is not isolated, nor does it consist of extraordinary events. It is what happens in an ongoing relationship between the person and God. Most often this is a relationship that is experienced in prayer.
• Spiritual direction is a relationship that is going somewhere. God is leading the person to deeper faith and more generous service. The spiritual director asks not just “what is happening?” but “what is moving forward?”
• The real spiritual director is God. God touches the human heart directly. The human spiritual director does not “direct” in the sense of giving advice and solving problems. Rather, the director helps a person respond to God’s invitation to a deeper relationship.

A spiritual direction session can cover any number of things: your prayer life, movements of consolation and desolation, spiritual joys and difficulties. All this, of course, requires a great deal of trust, humility, and honesty, which can be scary! It is not a confession or a counseling session.

Dr. Barbara Hiranpradist

[email protected] 
 

Originally from New York, Barbara completed her doctorate in Music Education and Music Therapy at Michigan State University. She taught strings/orchestra in the East Lansing Public Schools, was employed as a Music Therapist at the Michigan School for the Blind, and taught in the Music Department at Lansing Community College for 28 years. Barbara was also an organist and choir director at St. Thomas Aquinas for 40 years and now serves as a substitute for the Diocese of Lansing. Barbara graduated from the Spiritual Direction Program at St. Francis Retreat Center and serves as a Spiritual Director for retreats as well as in our own parish.

Rick Lewandowski

[email protected] 

Bio bytes: 
- cradle Catholic
- life-long Detroiter
- MSU graduate 1973

- married 41 years (most of the time blissfully) 
- proud father of a daughter and son
- two incredible granddaughters 
- long and varied career, finally retiring from General Motors in 2014
- relocated to East Lansing in 2015
- active in STA and SJSC as lector and in youth group ministry 
- certified Spiritual Director, 2021

Nancy Theis 

[email protected] 

Nancy Theis is a Catholic laywoman, mother, grandmother, and former educator who completed spiritual direction training at the Institute of Spiritual Direction in DeWitt.   Having been on her own spiritual journey, she would be humbled and privileged to accompany others on their journey. As a spiritual director, she hopes to be a loving, listening presence in search of the movements of the Holy Spirit within your life. Whether you are seeking a more intimate personal relationship with God,  a deeper prayer life, a purpose to your life, or to live the healthy, happy flourishing life that God intends for you,  it is her hope to walk alongside you. Nancy is comfortable working with people from any Christian tradition or background.  Nancy believes that God’s love is the central fact of our faith, of our lives, and of history. She has experience in both Ignatian and Benedictine spirituality. No fee.

Denise Waytes

[email protected] 

Denise has been trained in the art of spiritual direction through the Dominican Center of Religious Studies. She has an MA in education from the University of Michigan and an Master of Pastoral Studies from Loyola University – New Orleans. She has served as pastoral associate and RCIA director, campus minister, and liturgist for St. John Student Center/St Thomas Aquinas, East Lansing, which serves the student population at Michigan State University. Denise is currently working on projects as an associate with the Congregation of St Joseph and walking with others on their spiritual path at University of Detroit -Mercy, St Mary Student Parish, Ann Arbor, and  others.  Denise feels privileged to walk with any and all who seek to understand their experiences with God. 

Patty Wilson Perkowski

God has guided me down many paths; working for Catholic social services as a social worker, Director of Project Rachel, DRE for Holy Cross, and as a Catechist for St. Casimir, and along the way, becoming a spiritual director in 1998. My journey with God to my calling as a spiritual director started with me being a newly married woman with a new baby, living in a new city. Like anyone in a new place I looked for things that I enjoyed before. So, I sought out friends and support that was very similar to what I found in college. But the groups do not seem a good fit, they were for young unmarried women, these women, while lovely people, were not mothers and now my focus and needs were changing.

I needed a group that included young moms, older moms going through experiences I was: finding my place as a mother, wife, and spiritual/faithful person, without losing myself as a person/woman. I did find a group. This group's focus was to help moms knew that mothers/women had great spiritual power when connected with God and their faith. It was not a parenting group, it was a faith-affirming group. Some subjects and issues explored were how difficult it was to find time for God, that yes, your life has changed, but you will see you have been given so much more, discussions of why working moms and stay-at-homes seemed to be pitted against each other. In this group, there were "working and stay at homes" and each group had its own unique but similar issues. There were retreats, workshops, and talks around the issues of mothering and finding God, uplifting us in our vocation of mothering, helping us find out who we were as spiritual/faithful women. That is when I knew right I was being called to create such a group, ministry, support for mothers. I have friends who spoke of the need for a Catholic group one that feeds the soul and supports the spirit. Ignatius came right to mind; I have been a spiritual director working exclusively with moms since 1998, and I know firsthand the insights spiritual direction can have for moms. I understand how life can crowd out everything and leave you to feel out of balance and missing your relationship with God. So, if you feel God calling you to be the best version of yourself, be the Priest, Prophet, Queen of our Baptismal roles, I would be honored to journey with you.

Spiritual Direction For Moms
Helping to nurture those who nurture the future