Accompanying—Three Understandings

Whoever thought of the theme of “accompanying” for the Colleagues in Jesuit Business Education (CJBE) conference in San Francisco (July 2014) should be congratulated. It is pregnant with possibilities. I would like to look at the theme of accompanying in ways that are theological, concrete and practical. Not only are the alone unaccompanied, a condition that disserves them, but society is also impoverished insofar as they are. In this piece I would like to propose a few ideas about our accompanying of one another, because au fond being accompanied does not have its deepest explanation in companionship or leadership or charisma. Accompanying and being accompanied is an activity that re ects who the Triune God is. The Father, the Son and the Spirit were not content to keep their in nite enjoyment of One Another to themselves but as Creator, Redeemer and Sancti er they chose to make their Trinitarian Accompa- niment of One another, available to us.