A Lay Woman’s Reflection on Marist Spirituality and the interface with Spiritual Direction by Bev McDonald, B.Theol.
Marist spirituality is founded in Mary’s discipleship of Jesus (Larkin, p.53). Luke has Mary call herself ‘handmaid’ (Lk 1:38, cf. Ps. 123:2). This highlights for me another way in which Marists seek to focus upon God alone, while being ready to reach out to others with the grace of God. We are called to be instruments of mercy and bearers of hope (Coste, p.258). Colin adopted the approach of ‘call’ which offers the opportunity to hope in others and draw out the best in them; another integral part of spiritual direction.
“Only call conveys the feeling of being desired and useful …gives a life meaning and restores the person to the fullness of dignity. Only call goes to the limits of mercy” (Coste, p. 260, using Colin’s example: A Founder Acts 331:4, p. 308). Calling Marists to compassion and hope for others in 1846 Colin said;
“show great kindness to sinners …Do not rebuff them, or appear surprised by their crimes, however great they are; … Instead remember you hold the place of Jesus Christ …Jesus knew the profound depths of the human heart [and] welcomed sinners with gentleness. Listen …quietly and with kindness.” (A Founder Speaks, 116:11, p. 337)
This attitude typifies the Marist charism and while spoken to priests, his words apply equally to spiritual direction today.
To imitate Mary means considering her as mother and this can be contentious. All Christians can relate to her as the mother of Jesus, but Marists specifically seek to imitate her in the way she herself related to God and others. Coste explains: “We imitate the mother, not the child. … Like the mother who increases her efforts when her child is sick, so …also should we increase our efforts to take care of this world which is increasingly pagan, increasingly estranged from Christ, and try to bring it back; we should be instruments of mercy.” (Coste, p. 336)
Spiritual Direction today often reaches far beyond the boundaries of established church, and quietly embodies this principle of Marist spirituality.
Colin saw the laity as being best equipped to be instruments of God’s mercy in every corner of secular life because that ordinary world is our Nazareth, our Turangawaewae, (literally our ‘rightful place to stand’) (Larkin, p. 86). He spoke of the laity as a “bridge to souls” (Girard, 310:6, p. 529 & 313:10, p.533). In today’s secularised society, as traditional churches struggle to be effective instruments of Good News, Colin’s insight is perhaps even more compelling. The church is no longer in a position of authority in the world but must learn to operate more as ‘yeast in the dough’ or the ‘small seed that is sown’ (Coste, p. 460). Spiritual direction has a role to play here. 
