To Listen Well and In-depth -- an Art and a Learning

Sr. Ninfa Becker, fsp, treated the theme:
Accompaniment and Vocational Discernment.

The objective of accompaniment is to help the young woman and to journey with her in this search of the project of God in her life, to accompany her till she makes her choice as a believer. John the Baptist is a model of vocational accompaniment; not attracting the people to himself, but leaving them free, showing them the way towards Jesus.

Sr. Ninfa presented the figure of the Samaritan woman and her meeting with Jesus, an unedited and authentic vocational dialogue which leads the woman to live through three movements:
- towards herself, to come to discover the truth about herself,
- towards Jesus, to welcome Him as the centre of her life, that quenches her deep thirst for truth and true Love,
- towards others, becoming a communicator and testimony of Love that she has experienced in her encounter with Jesus.

Speaking of accompaniment and vocational discernment, Sr. Ninfa Becker stressed that dialogue does not exist if there is no listening. When we are self-centred, we are unable to truly listen.

Listening is a true art to learn every day, which requires an attitude of profound empathy. There can be no dialogue if there is no listening that goes beyond words, as Jesus did with the disciples at Emmaus. He first approaches them, walks with them and listens to what disturbed them, their reality, their difficulties, etc. After that, he addresses their questions, helps them to enter into themselves and to re-read their personal histories and the events in the light of Scripture. With new vision, they discover the plan of God, their hearts on fire, they feel understood, helped, they open their hearts and receive Jesus into their house, and they recognize him in the breaking of the bread and leave immediately towards the community, to announce to the others the presence of the resurrected Jesus.

Workshop: two situations of vocational accompaniment