Human Development and Prayer

While there are some elements common to all our lives, we know that each person has individual characteristics too, and a unique story. As human beings, we are gifted, though limited, creatures. Our particular characteristics, our backgrounds and how we were nurtured and formed exert their influence on us. Our formation in faith has an important role in providing direction and in setting goals in life. There are challenges to all of this from various sources, inside and outside ourselves. It is good to remember that in his ministry Jesus met, not only openness and receptivity, but also blindness and resistance. The response to his call was not always immediate and generous.

Excerpted from See God Act: The Ministry of Spiritual Direction by Michael Drennan SJ (p: 33 )