In August and September 2008 I directed two eight day retreats. The August retreat was a retreat I had agreed to direct a year ago for the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus in Abeokuta. I directed six Holy Child sisters on that retreat. The September retreat came as a result of a shortage of staff for an eight day retreat at the Centre in Benin Centre in September. When the new Director, Sam Okwuidegbe informed me that the Centre was in need of a director, I readily agreed to volunteer to help him and the other Jesuits who would be guiding retreatants for eight days. The Retreat Centre was full for that retreat, with some of the retreatants concluding a thirty day retreat.
Since I became major superior in July 2004, I have usually accepted offers to direct retreatants in the Spiritual Exercises. Sometimes I have directed individual retreatants, but most often I have directed groups of sisters. In the past I have directed the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus, the Religious Sisters of Charity and the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I always accept retreats during the month of August which is generally a time less busy for me. The experience is always enriching to my vocation as a Jesuit.
There is a story about a shepherd who had many sheep in his fold. Every night, after walking with his flock through the hills and mountains, the shepherd guided his sheep along the path to the corral where they were safely protected from the dangers of night. The corral, which had been constructed many years earlier, had a small opening—just the size through which each sheep could pass. One evening, unbeknown to the shepherd, one of the sheep decided to flee the enclosure by setting off along the same path in the darkening night. The sheep enjoyed the evening landscape and the calm breeze that blew through the fields surrounded by silence and solitude. But this happiness was short-lived. Little by little the sheep began to realize that he was unable to return unaided to the fold. He knew that he was lost and began to search for a way back amidst the ever growing darkness. Distressed and anxious, the sheep bleated loudly, only to result in calling attention to the wolves that were hunting in search of any easy prey. The wolves’ howling grew nearer and panic began to overtake the hopelessly lost sheep. Just when tragedy seemed imminent the shepherd appeared, gathered the sheep and carried him back to the fold. Even though everyone urged the shepherd to fix the opening in the fence, he did nothing.
For me this story emphasizes the kind of relationship between those who make the Spiritual Exercises and the person who directs them. A good director of the Spiritual Exercises sometimes must warn those making the Exercises of possible dangers and pitfalls, cautioning the retreatant to avoid the hungry wolves that linger about during the dark nights of desolation along the spiritual path. But this experience of the retreatant must always be defined by freedom.
As Jesuits and sons of St. Ignatius, we are privileged through the Spiritual Exercise to help others have an authentic experience of God. In every retreat I have ever directed, I have discovered that it is not only the retreatant who receives graces, but I am graced as well.
I never had the privilege of directing anyone in the Spiritual Exercises until I had been ordained a priest for nearly fourteen years. If there is one advice I would offer a young Jesuit it would be to never wait as long as I did to direct someone in the Spiritual Exercises. As major superior, I have encouraged our young scholastics who are about to enter their second year of theology, to take the opportunity offered by the Jesuit Centre in May, June, July and August, to undergo an intense course in the Spiritual Exercises and Spiritual Direction. I have also encouraged those doing Regency to consider taking this program as well. The response has always been positive for those who have undergone the program.
The Centre in Benin City and our house in Cape Coast are frequently in need of guest directors. The number of people requesting to make the Spiritual Exercises is constantly growing and Benin City and Cape Coast are often looking for guest directors to augment the staff. There is a growing hunger in Nigeria and Ghana (and I might add Liberia) among religious, priests and laity to make the Spiritual Exercises.
Fr. Alberto Hurtado, S.J., the newest of our Jesuit saints and a great promoter of the Spiritual Exercises, once described the Spiritual Exercises as “the most powerful stimulus for detaching oneself from the visible and joining oneself with spirit of faith to invisible realties.” I pray that more of the men of our Province will be felt drawn to share with others this powerful experience we as Jesuits have been gifted with and be willing to volunteer as “Guest Directors.”