DECEMBER CLASS — We continued with Part II of Pastoral Counseling. Our instructor started the class by checking in with us to see how life is going. We all took a few minutes to share with the class any ups and/or downs in life at the moment. This type of personal sharing is a simple way to increase awareness that life is a roller coaster and the people around us may be experiencing a variety of emotions. We continued to work in small groups and roll play scenarios, that we might experience in a real counseling session. There was a continued focus on listening and being able to create a sacred space for mutual trust to develop. Also, we completed a Meyers-Briggs personality test that helped us better understand the diversity of personality development. Our instructor joked that these assessments help married couples see that their spouse is not designed to be an identical clone. Overall, the coursework and assessments made us more aware of how personality traits can be easily overlooked and lead to misunderstanding in relationships.
GOD’S DESIGN — Since we spent a lot of time in class discussing relationships and marriage. I found this quote on marriage helpful to ponder. Originally, the quote was directed toward husbands in general. But I thought the quote was especially fitting for just how essential our spouses are to all the men in Deacon formation.
“Part of Gods design for the purification of your soul is the influence which your wife is going to have on you” — Father Ronald Knox
CLASS PROGRESS — To see a complete class list and progress toward completion of the program click Here. Also, check out the Home page for more details about this journey and contact information.
NEXT POST — For January, we will start a new class called American Church. The class will focus on the history of the American Catholic Church from colonial times to the present. I look forward to sharing more about this journey and discoveries along the way. Thanks for checking out my post!