The One Accompanied 63
be built up in accompaniment, strengths that may indicate their vocation,
relationships in which Christ seeks to speak, and decisions to be discerned
with the assistance of a mentor.
Functions of the One Accompanied
Protagonist
The one who is accompanied is firstly one who seeks to draw closer into
relationship with Christ. The one accompanied also seeks integration of
their life, transformation, and holistic growth in holiness especially in the
guidance and wisdom of others and the Church. With a spirit of prayer and
the support of the mentor and Christian community, the one accompanied
takes an active role in the Kingdom of God on earth by living out their
universal call to holiness and particular vocation; the one accompanied is
also an active participant in their own faith journey and a protagonist in
their individual spiritual narrative. In the apostolate of accompaniment, the
one accompanied cultivates a readiness to respond to the promptings of the
Holy Spirit. By approaching their role in the relationship of accompani-
ment as a seeker and protagonist, they acknowledge the sense of urgency
and action to which the Christian is called. In accompaniment, the one
accompanied, through taking an active role in their own relationship with
Christ and the Church, is called to “demonstrate the same eagerness for
the fulfillment of hope until the end, so that you may not become sluggish,
but imitators of those who, through faith and patience, are inheriting the
promises” (Hebrews 6:11-12).
Disciple
As the tradition of the word “disciple” suggests, those accompanied
imitate the lived witness of the Person of Christ. By the inspiration of the
life of the mentor and witness of the Christian community, the one accom-
panied learns through a methodology of life. The apostolate of accompani-
ment affirms the formative role of a living witness:
Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers,
and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.
(Pope Paul VI, Address to the Members of the Consilium de Laicis)