Deacon Tony Cardella

I became a certified Spiritual Director in 2005 through the Spiritual Director Institute at the Cenacle in Houston.  During those 3 years, we learned about many types of spirituality but its strength is Ignatian Spirituality.  I finished that training in May of 2005 and began another 6 years of training to become a deacon.  I was ordained in January, 2013.  I’ve been directing people since 2005.  I have been blessed to have some amazing spiritual directors over the last 20-25 years. 
 
My approach to spiritual direction:   
I do my best to accompany people in their walk of faith.  Think about you and your spiritual director walking on your path of faith.  As we walk that path, we see things that we might not quite understand or come to a fork in the road and not be sure which fork to take.  My approach to spiritual direction is to help people figure out what they are experiencing or which fork to take.  I do my best to listen to the person in front of me while listening to the Holy Spirit.  I try not to tell the people I direct what to do.  I try to use a Socratic approach by using good open-ended questions and give suggestions for people to consider.
  
Special interests:  
I have a passion for helping people to live the life Jesus calls us to live in the real world.  Our faith journeys are all personal and what works for one person may not be helpful to another.  Over the years, my interest has changed or evolved to where I am today.  My hope and prayer is that we find God everywhere we look – in church, in our neighbor and in nature.  I see God most clearly in relationships of all kinds – the love between a mother and baby, between newlyweds, between married couples celebrating their 50th anniversaries, between people gathering in retreats, between me and his creation.  I pray that God gives me the grace to see Christ hiding in plain sight – in the people at church, the grocery, the prisoners, the sick, in old people, in babies….
 
  On a personal note...  
I am a recovering engineer (many would say that I not very far in my recovery ).  I love technology and trying to make things better.  My favorite quote today comes from St. Ignatius’ first principle and foundation.
 
The First Principle and Foundation – St. Ignatius
 The goal of our life is to be with God forever.
 God who loves us, gave us life.
 Our own response of love allows God's life to flow into us without limit.
 All the things in this world are gifts from God,
 presented to us so that we can know God more easily
 and make a return of love more readily.
 As a result, we appreciate and use all these gifts of God
 insofar as they help us develop as loving persons.
 But if any of these gifts become the center of our lives,
 they displace God and so hinder our growth toward our goal.
 In everyday life, then, we must hold ourselves in balance
 before all of these created gifts insofar as we have a choice
 and are not bound by some obligation.
 We should not fix our desires on health or sickness,
 wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or short one.
 For everything has the potential of calling forth in us
 a deeper response to our life in God.
 Our only desire and our one choice should be this:
 I want and I choose what better leads to the
 deepening of God's life in me.