Katie Novosad graduated from the IMF in May 2024. She was in the Spiritual Direction program with the FOCUS alumni track and is from Houston, Texas. Within the two years it took to complete the program, she married her husband and had her little boy! Katie works for Paradisus Dei, a Catholic ministry dedicated to marriage and family life. She has worked with them for almost ten years. Katie is a spiritual director for her diocese.

Katie practices the art of accompaniment through spiritual direction, where she walks with young adult women. Her formation at the IMF showed her how important accompaniment is for spiritual direction and being there for the “long haul.” She also accompanies through marriage and motherhood, where listening is very important and much needed. Through her time at the IMF, Katie learned the cruciality of simply being with people to show them the love of Christ.

Katie has seen this choice to grow into being someone who listens and accompanies firsthand. “This formation isn’t just for spiritual directors but for friendships and relationships,” Katie said. The courses on accompaniment were her favorite, as they talked about the negative effects of “spiritually bypassing” someone. Spiritual bypassing can occur when we use spiritual topics to avoid talking about uncomfortable topics or unresolved emotional issues (“she’s in a better place now”, etc.). “We need to embrace people’s experiences of joy and suffering!” Katie emphasized.

Katie recommends that the IMF students let the transformative formation sink into their hearts. She is very grateful to have been a part of the IMF, and we are very glad to have had Katie as a student. Thank you, Katie!