By Kristin Molitor
In 2013, Pope Francis released “Evangelii Gaudium” (The Joy of the Gospel). In this bold and inspiring document, he sent the entire Church on mission, calling her to live out her deepest identity: to evangelize.
The Church exists to be a light to the nations, to draw every person, every soul, into a living relationship with Jesus Christ. Pope Francis reminds us that “All the baptized, whatever their position in the Church or their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of evangelization” (EG, 120). For this reason, he gave us the powerful phrase “missionary disciple,” expressing both our call to follow Jesus as his disciples and to share him with others as missionaries.
Pope Francis emphasizes that an essential way for missionary disciples to live out their call to evangelize is through accompaniment, walking alongside others as they journey toward a deeper relationship with Jesus. He writes: “The Church will have to initiate everyone — priests, religious and laity — into this ‘art of accompaniment’ which teaches us to remove our sandals before the sacred ground of the other” (cf. Ex 3:5; EG, 169).
is a native of Rockville and an occasional writer for The Central Minnesota Catholic.
Although Pope Francis highlights the need for accompaniment with new urgency, accompaniment is not a novelty or a “buzzword” in the Church. From the beginning, the Church has understood accompaniment to be foundational for the authentic reception of the Gospel, genuine spiritual encounter, growth in holiness and the building up of Christian community.
This is because Christianity is, at its core, relational. We come to know Jesus most deeply in and through our relationships with others. Faith grows most powerfully in the context of human relationships.
As St. John Paul II taught in his teaching “Theology of the Body,” “Man becomes the image of God not so much in the moment of solitude as in the moment of communion” (St. John Paul II, General Audience, November 14, 1979). Created in the image of the Triune God, who is himself a communion of persons, we, too, are made for communion. We are made for relationships. We are made for love.
To live in communion is to share our hearts with another. At the core of accompaniment lies the human heart — the sacred space where God dwells, the holy ground of each person. When Pope Francis urges us to “remove our sandals before the sacred ground of the other,” he calls us to reverence, to approach every individual with humility, tenderness and love, recognizing their unique, unrepeatable worth and their singular revelation of God.
Accompaniment moves us from a Church culture of transaction to one of transformation, from resources to relationships and from processes to people. Too often, we rely on websites, pamphlets or programs to answer questions about Jesus and the Church without taking the time to engage the deeper places of someone’s heart. True accompaniment goes beyond sharing knowledge; it is the practice of reverencing and receiving the human heart, fostering genuine growth and transformation.
In his encyclical “Dilexit Nos,” Pope Francis calls us to return to the heart: “Instead of running after superficial satisfactions … we would do better to think about the really important questions in life. Who am I, really? What am I looking for? What direction do I want to give to my life, my decisions and my actions? Why and for what purpose am I in this world? How do I want to look back on my life once it ends? What meaning do I want to give to all my experiences? Who do I want to be for others? Who am I for God? All these questions lead us back to the heart” (Dilexit Nos, 8).
These questions of the heart can be shared in accompaniment, where they can be asked and received. When missionary disciples walk with others in love, reverence and understanding, they help those they accompany become all that God has created them to be.
Accompaniment is especially urgent today. We live in a world starved for authentic relationships. Our digital culture gives the illusion of connection, while often fostering disconnection. We can send snaps, texts and post stories without ever revealing our true selves, without revealing our hearts. We are tethered together, yet without the demands of relationship, without the demands of love.
Meanwhile, the New Evangelization has gifted us with an abundance of catechetical resources — from podcasts to programs to YouTube videos — but these resources are not enough. Faith is not meant to be lived in isolation, earbuds in, consuming Catholic content alone. The Gospel is meant to be shared, our faith lived in communion, our hearts given and received in love.
This is the heart of missionary discipleship: the heart itself. Through accompaniment, Christ continues his mission through us. When we revere and receive the hearts entrusted to us, people encounter Jesus in a real and tangible way — through the love of Christ dwelling within our own hearts. Here, missionary discipleship finds its fullest expression: making Christ present through the gift of ourselves, creating bonds of love, holy communion with Christ and with one another.
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SUPPORTING IDEA:
Accompaniment is at the heart of the Church’s mission. It is the act of walking alongside others with love, patience and understanding. Just as Christ journeyed with his disciples, Catholics are called to be present in the lives of others, offering hope and solidarity. Through accompaniment, the Church fosters a community where no one walks alone.
To learn more about the All Things New pastoral plan, visit stcdio.org/all-things-new/.