Spiritual direction is something so special to Cathedral Catholic High School. It sets us apart from other schools because it is a way for our students to find mentorship and guidance on their faith journeys. 

Fr. Paul was kind enough to speak with El Cid Online and discuss what spiritual direction really is. 

Spiritual direction “gives us the guidelines” he said, “so that our faith is something awesome in our lives.”

CCHS students from “freshmen to seniors” are able to take advantage of this opportunity in order to “have a closer, more deeper relationship with the Lord, with Jesus.”

Students can sign up and meet with one of the priests during their religion class. 

Fr. Paul highlighted the opportunity for open and meaningful conversations and said that “it’s not that they have to be super profound” and strictly faith-based, “we also talk about anything that is going on in your life, anything that is going on in your heart, anything you want to talk about.” 

He spoke about what it is specifically that students learn about during meetings. 

“We learn a lot about our faith here at school” and “we want to bring that from our minds, if you want, into our hearts.”

Fr. Paul hopes to encourage all students interested to get involved in spiritual direction. 

“We all have gifts and talents,” so give it a try and “discover those gifts, those talents that many times we are not aware of.”

He really wants to “encourage everyone to have that friendship and that closeness with the priests, the chaplins that are here” because they are “always so excited to work with you, to talk to you.”

Spiritual direction is such a special opportunity that “helps us to find the right motivation of our faith” and that is something so important for us to discover as Catholics. 

Senior, Nadia Lobo has been going to spiritual direction for a while now and she said that she meets with Fr. Paul and he “pulls me out of class, out of Campus Ministry class” to “talk about my faith journey.” Nadia spoke about what that experience is like. 

“It has definitely helped me improve my relationship with God.”

“I feel comfortable talking about my faith journey with him because he’s a really good listener and he basically gives me advice on how to deepen my relationship with God.” She further described Fr. Paul as “approachable and warm.”

She said that it is such a special opportunity for her because she gets to have an “open conversation that I normally would not have.”

Nadia feels that spiritual direction is really important for all students to consider participating in.

“It’s a really good way to explore your faith” and to “learn ways in which you can deepen your own relationship with the Lord.”

“Sometimes we feel like we kind of have it all figured out” but in reality, it can be really nice “getting an outside perspective.”

As far as how Fr. Paul or one of our other amazing priests can direct students, Nadia said they can, “guide you as far as maybe prayer or acts of service” or even just “give you that advice.”

Her advice to CCHS students is to, “start spiritual direction, especially here at Cathedral with one of the priests, all of them are super nice, and they are really just there to help you and listen.”