A Guide To Faithfulness Groups

This book provides guidelines for participation in faithfulness groups, in which each person in turn has the focus of the group's attention. Faithfulness groups provide long-term accompaniment to members on their spiritual journeys, helping them with ongoing discernment and providing encouragement for faithfulness in all arenas of life. The book also describes practices for helping one another become increasingly aware of one's inner life and of the presence of God. Practices include deep listening, asking evoking questions, opening to the Light, and appreciating inner images. The power of the Spirit that often is at work in these groups is enabled by the love that grows as participants gain trust and reveal to each other the often tender and subtle ways they experience the presence and activity of God within them and in their lives. Over time, this kind of mutual accompaniment helps each person to grow in discernment about inner guidance and become more courageously responsive to the leadings of the Spirit. Small groups such as these provide a powerful source of support for lives of faith and faithfulness, and are a key for communities that are called to help humanity move in the direction of the new and renewed ways of living to which we are being called.