I invite you to consider the relationships in your life for a moment. It could be members of your family, relatives, neighbours, people in your college or workplace, in your church, other churches or businesses you engage with, people who follow other religions or no religion, people who are suffering in various ways…

 

What would it look like to grow in loving them with your whole heart? If you feel inadequate, take heart – that’s normal. At the same time, that’s the great adventure Jesus calls us on – to go out of ourselves and become the people He’s called us to be – to be bearers of his radical mercy and hope, to become great through servant leadership, to walk with those who are suffering, to love our enemies…it’s anything but a safe or comfortable life. It's a call to a great adventure like that of the Hobbits in the ‘Lord of the Rings’. And it all starts with growing in love with Jesus.

 

Yet we can’t accomplish this journey alone. We need to accompany each other, as we seek to grow in loving God and those whom we encounter in our day-to-day lives. This is what I want ‘Kerygma’ in Australia to empower you to do. If you or your parish, movement, association or organisation wants to grow in accompanying others, I invite you to get in touch with me (link to contact) to explore possibilities. For me, accompaniment is not an idea, but something I have experienced over many years and continue to experience – both being accompanied by others and accompanying others on this journey of following Jesus as his disciple.

 

What do I mean by accompaniment?

The term ‘accompaniment’ has become increasingly popular, since Pope Francis proposed that everyone should be initiated into the ‘art of accompaniment’ in his encyclical ‘Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), 69

The image of accompanying others is a beautiful analogy of how missionaries are called to come alongside others on their journey of faith. It’s reminiscent of how Jesus comes alongside the disciple on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35), or how Philip comes alongside the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-40).

 

The term accompaniment can describe a wide variety of ministry relationships. It would be fair to say that the Church is called to accompany people in any and all situations, so that they may experience the love, mercy, and joy of the gospel in their lives.