Some notes on spiritual accompaniment

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

FOR those giving spiritual accompaniment to others—most especially priests and even lay persons who are dedicating themselves to this delicate and important task—it may be good to take note of the following observations.

It’s good to remember that this business of spiritual accompaniment is an occasion for both the one accompanying and the one accompanied to grow in their own respective spiritual life. Spiritual accompaniment is a very important occasion for both to grow in intimacy in their relationship with God who should be “all in all.” (1 Cor 15,28)

First of all, spiritual accompaniment is a type of mediation between God and man. God makes use of it in some way so that the Holy Spirit may awaken in the person accompanied lights, inspirations, resolutions, etc. to keep him growing in his spiritual life and approach the ideal of a shared life with God as we are meant to have.

The person giving spiritual accompaniment needs to cultivate in his prayer the habit of seeking what the Holy Spirit wants for the person he is trying to help. If that person already has years of dedication and experience in interior life, it is especially important to evaluate how to help keep alive that desire to identify himself with Christ and the desire for holiness. It’s not easy to do, but we can always try.

It’s definitely helpful to encourage the person accompanied to develop a deeper understanding of the meaning and value of daily life and of listening to the Holy Spirit on basic issues.

Obviously, the one accompanying needs to pray about what is the most appropriate approach for the one accompanied to know the meaning and value of his daily affairs. Let’s remember that God is always intervening in our lives, and we should be as quick as possible to know what he wants us to know.

It’s in this way that the one accompanying can avoid improvisations and generic recipes. It will also make it easier to go beyond one’s own experience, useful though that experience may sometimes be. But he should not just rely on his own experience. During the chats, the one accompanying should listen attentively, with genuine interest and empathy, asking questions from time to time.

Since the depths of a person’s soul cannot be fully knowable to both the one accompanying and the one accompanied, both should be reminded that God is always present in both of them. Thus, it’s good for the one accompanied to be encouraged to learn how the Holy Spirit speaks deep inside him through the events, memories, and thoughts, etc., that come his way.

Even if we cannot fully know everything, we can still make progress in this direction if would just persevere in trying to find out what the Holy Spirit would be telling or prompting us.

The one accompanying should always be in the process of learning more and more about the art of spiritual accompaniment. He can never say that he already knows everything about it.

That’s especially because God, who is the ultimate end of our life, can never be fully known by us. But we should try to know him more and more through the different means available. It’s in this way that we can also make progress in accompanying the others spiritually.

In the end, spiritual accompaniment is a type of help that we can offer to others. It requires a spiritual and human base of sincere affection and attention. And this affection should be manifested in the way we relate to others by listening with interest, sympathy and benevolence.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com