On 27 September, the General Prefecture of Spirituality and Community Life organised a webinar on discernment and accompaniment that brought together more than 160 participants from the Claretian Family. The event was based on a document prepared by Fr. Antonio Sánchez Orantos, from the Claretian Province of Santiago, entitled ‘Seeking what pleases God.’
In addition to Fr. Antonio Orantos, two other panellists participated in the webinar: Bro. Fernando Kuhn from the Claretian Province of San José del Sur and Fr. Paulson Veliyannoor from the Claretian Province of North East India. The webinar was moderated by Fr. Anthony Igbokwe, from the Province of Santiago. To facilitate participation, there was simultaneous translation into three languages: French, English, and Spanish.
In presenting the document, the author explained the logic behind its development in three steps:
– The Word of God, which requires us to discern in order to renew and maintain fidelity to our Christian vocation.
– Discernment with its four rules (theological, Christological, pneumatological, and anthropological) and daily examination of life as the fundamental means to achieve it.
– And personal and community accompaniment, which must always seek and show ways to shape our lives according to what pleases God.
Each of the other two panellists posed two questions, four in total, with brief reflections to contextualise them, and the author of the document responded to them. Between questions and answers, the moderator highlighted some fundamental ideas from the panellists’ reflections.
The two panellists highlighted, among other things, the author’s original idea of understanding discernment from the biblical image of walking. They seconded the document’s assertion that the purpose of all discernment is to set out on a journey – breaking with all comforts and fighting against all signs of death (sin) – in search of what pleases God.
Understanding accompaniment from this understanding of discernment as the search for what pleases God, the author of the document emphasised that the Holy Spirit is the divine protagonist of every process of accompaniment, while the person being accompanied is the human protagonist who must discern for himself, albeit with the help of a companion, God’s action in his life so that orthodoxy (right thinking of the faith), orthopraxis (right acting of the faith) and orthopathy (right feeling of the faith) may be harmonised.
After the round of interaction between the panellists, the moderator opened a round of questions to all participants. In order to respect the webinar schedule, after the two hours allotted, the moderator concluded the event, but not before giving the floor to the General Prefect of Spirituality, Fr. Carlos Sánchez Miranda, who expressed his gratitude to all the participants, with special mention to the three panellists, the moderator and the technical team
The enormous reception this initiative has received, demonstrated by the high number of participants, speaks to the importance of discernment and spiritual accompaniment for the members of the Claretian Family. At the last General Chapter, the Claretian Missionaries received, on the one hand, an invitation to continue growing in the practice of discernment, and on the other hand, we committed ourselves to promoting pastoral and accompaniment initiatives in the congregational and Claretian Family spheres (Cf. Querida Congregación).
This webinar is one of the initiatives of the General Government to fulfil this commitment of the last General Chapter, so it is not a one-off or anecdotal activity. Nor is it an end, but rather the beginning of a project conceived by the General Government from the General Prefecture of Spirituality and Community Life to respond to the need we have in the Claretian Family to form ourselves in the practice of discernment and spiritual accompaniment in its two aspects: being accompanied and accompanying others.
Download the Webinar Video here
Download the Document In Search Seeking what pleases God
