Glossary Accompaniment - Accompaniment is a relationship in which a person assists and supports another in making a passage through a life experience or transition. In the context of youth ministry within the church, it is a mutually transforming relationship between an elder and a younger person who is helped to make the passage through adolescence into spiritual maturity, "to the measure of the full stature of Christ." (Ephesian 4:13). In this passage, the accompanier seeks to reveal to them their deepest beauty and identity in Christ and assists them in discerning their unique gifts and vocation in the service of God's reign. Awareness Examen - This practice derives from the Ignatian tradition and refers to a brief review and examination of the day's thoughts, feelings, and actions in terms of how God seemed to be present and how we responded to that presence. It has different elements to it but usually includes a time of reviewing moments where we are most grateful or least grateful, moments where God seemed to be addressing us through persons and events, and moments where we fell short and are need of God's forgiveness and healing. Centering Prayer - a contemporary form of contemplative prayer that involves the repetition of a single sacred word or phrase. This "prayer of the heart" gradually leads the mind to silence and stillness, disposing the person to contemplation and the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit. (cf Galatians 5:22; 1Cor 12:4-11) Christian Spirituality - Christian spirituality is "life in the Spirit." (Romans 8:5ff) Authentic Christian spirituality is always fully Trinitarian. It involves one's whole way of life in response to God in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. The term also refers specifically to the practices that Christians engage in to experience and respond to the Holy Spirit leading to sanctification and communion with the Triune God (It is what Brother Lawrence refers to as "the practice of the presence of God.") Contemplation - The opening of the mind, heart, soul and body to a deepening awareness of God's presence and God's love. This opening can occur spontaneously at any moment as a free gift of the Spirit or it can occur as an infused grace through the practice of prayerful attentiveness to God beyond thoughts, words, and feelings--through a "long, loving look at the real." Contemplative prayer thus refers to a particular form of prayer in which we empty ourselves and simply rest in God's presence in solitude, silence, and stillness. To "be still and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10) creates a space within us and around us that frees us for a more active awareness of God's presence at all times. OR: Attending, discerning, and responding to God's presence and power within and around us. Contemplative Approach to Youth Ministry -Ministry with youth in which attentiveness to God is cultivated as the grounding attitude among ministers, volunteers, and youth. In this approach to youth discipleship, programs, activities, curricula and relationships are sourced in and formed by a Christian community's practice of contemplative prayer, discernment, and spiritual companionship between youth and adults. Contemplative Attitude - An attitude of continual presence and attentiveness to God in the midst of our relationships, activities, environments, and interior life. This attitude of attentiveness frees us to perceive and respond to God at every moment, to live with the "mind of Christ" ((1 Cor 2:16; Philippians 2:5) In the Christian mystical tradition, it is described as living with the "mind in the heart." Discernment - In the context of Christian spirituality, discernment refers to the act of "testing the spirits"--the process of sifting, weighing, and discriminating what is of God and what is not.(cf. 1 John 4:1ff) It is the practice of making choices that bring Christians into greater obedience to and synergy with the life of the Spirit. Discernment is an art, a skill and a gift. It usually entails four movements: 1)Cultivating an inner disposition of openness, desire, and intention to live in the Spirit of Jesus, 2) Deepening attentiveness to what is happening within and around me/us, 3) Refining discrimination as to what is of God and what is not, 4) Making a decision, a judgment, or response in obedience to what is revealed. Lectio Divina - Divine reading or "listening" to the words of Holy Scripture. This form of spiritual reading originated in the Benedictine tradition and involves four basic movements: lectio, meditatio, oratio, and contemplatio. Lectio refers to a slow, reflective reading of the Word that allows the meaning to sink in and nourish the heart. Meditatio is a simple repetition of the 'word' received in lectio, a rumination on this word through the time of prayer and the day's activities. Oratio refers to the prayer that flows naturally out of meditatio as the direct cry of the heart to God that arises though an encounter with the Word. Contemplatio is a simple resting in God's presence - quiet, empty, and receptive to God's transforming love. Spiritual Discipline -Spiritual disciplines are those habits of faith that make us open and available to the Spirit of God so that we might be transformed into the image of Christ. Silence, solitude, prayer, Bible study, simplicity, service, and confession are examples of Christian spiritual disciplines. Spiritual Formation - Those disciplines, behaviors, processes and activities which nurture, deepen, and support life in God in conformity with the image of Christ, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual Transformation -In the Christian tradition, a process defined as "metanoia" or "repentance" (turning from sin) which involves a complete change in consciousness, identity, attitude, and behavior in relationship to God through the person of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.(cf Romans 12:2ff).
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