A Gift of Looking Back: Reviewing the Experience of Spiritual Direction
From time to time, it can be deeply fruitful to pause and look back. In spiritual direction, this kind of review is not about assessment or performance, but about attention: noticing where life, faith, and God have been present, and how the relationship of spiritual direction has supported that journey.
A review can be a real gift to both directee and director. It offers space to relish the journey, to reflect on the role spiritual direction has played, and to discern the challenges and invitations that lie ahead. Whether undertaken annually or at another natural turning point, a review invites honesty, gratitude, and renewed intentionality.
What follows is a gentle guide that directees and directors can work through together.
Your Journey
The review begins with your life as it has been lived.
You might start by asking:
1.What have been the main events of the last year for you?
These could be outer events—changes, losses, transitions—or quieter moments that nonetheless shaped you.
2. What has been happening inside you? What have been the main movements in your spiritual journey?
Often patterns emerge here: seasons of consolation or dryness, longing or resistance, courage or fatigue. Simply naming these can bring clarity and compassion.
Prayer and relationship with God are central:
3.How do you find yourself relating to God at present? What is prayer for you right now?
For some, prayer may feel alive and nourishing; for others, confusing or absent. All of this belongs in the review.
A particularly powerful question comes from the Gospel:
4. If Jesus were to ask you now, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51), how would you answer?
Sitting with this can reveal desire, fear, hope, or invitation. It often points toward what matters most in this moment of your life with God.
Reflecting on the Relationship
The review then turns toward the practice of spiritual direction itself.
1.To what extent has spiritual direction played a role in your journey over the last year?
You might notice moments where direction felt especially helpful—or times when it felt less connected to what you needed.
2.Are there particular things that have helped or hindered the process?
This is not about blame, but about awareness. Spiritual direction is a shared practice, shaped by both people and by the Spirit moving between them.
Looking ahead:
3. If we continue spiritual direction, are there ways we might use the time differently?
Perhaps there’s an invitation to linger more in prayer, to bring more of everyday life, to slow down, or to take greater risks in what is shared.
Feedback from the Director
For the director, the review is also a moment of gift-giving.
It can be an opportunity to share:
What you have noticed about the directee’s faith journey, charism, and commitment
Ways in which you see God at work that the directee may not easily see themselves
This can include gently naming:
Recurring themes
Persistent difficulties
Strengths that have become clear over time
The questions for the director might include:
What would you most like to affirm in this person?
What do you sense is the invitation for them at this time?
Offered with humility and care, such reflections can be deeply encouraging and clarifying.