FATHER DANIEL MULHAUSER, JESUIT
When I joined the Capuchins in 1981 as a postulant, we were required to get a Spiritual Director.
A Spiritual Director is someone (usually a priest) who helps you recognize the things that God is trying to accomplish in your life. God might be trying to help you learn a certain lesson, develop a virtue or lead you to a new kind of work....and sometimes it's not easy to see this. So a Spiritual Director is there to help you see things a bit clearer.
Typically you meet once a month with your Spiritual Director.
I chose Father Dan Mulhauser for my Spiritual Director. Father Dan was a very approachable, friendly and (as all Jesuits are) intelligent man. I knew he would be able to give me good insights and advice. He seemed to be everywhere, doing so many things, all while being Director of the Saint Ignatius House of Studies in Mangilao where seminarians from the Caroline Islands lived while attending the University of Guam.
Conveniently, Father Dan was Campus Minister for the University of Guam which I was also attending. It all worked out for me because I could easily meet Father Dan for spiritual direction in between classes by walking the short distance from the University to the Campus Ministry center.
ONE DAY
Our monthly meetings were always pleasant and productive, but without anything out of the ordinary.
Except this one day.
Maybe after only fifteen minutes into our discussion, I saw Father Dan lose his focus on me for the first time. The expression on his face told me he was thinking of something else at that moment. Whatever it was, I sensed something was amiss.
Father Dan interrupted me and said, "Don't be alarmed. It will pass. But I do sometimes have these heart palpitations and my doctor says the best thing for me to do is lie flat on the floor till they pass." So Father Dan got off his chair and lay straight on his back on the floor. There was nothing else out of the ordinary. He was not panting or gasping for breath; he was not clutching his chest in pain.
Silently, to myself, I wondered if I should call an ambulance, but he didn't seem to be in distress. As a matter of fact, he quickly returned to spiritual direction, asking me to go on with what I had been saying. So there I was, sitting on a chair going on about things on my mind, and the Jesuit priest sharing his reactions and feedback in as normal a tone of voice as always, but lying flat on his back on the carpeted floor.
After five minutes or so, he got back up and sat in his chair, apologizing for his brief change in posture but assuring me that all was well. I joked with him that I hoped it was nothing about what I was saying about my own life that caused his heart to go into a panic. He laughed and said no; it just sometimes happened. We continued our talk till the hour was up and that was that.
But I'll never forget how I talked to a priest about my spiritual life, while he was lying flat on the floor waiting for heart palpitations to go away.
He must have been a healthy man, despite this, because Father Dan just passed away at the ripe old age of 96. Rest in peace, and thanks for everything!
