Just as St. Ambrose played a pivotal role in St. Augustine’s life as his mentor, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said having somebody older and more experienced show someone younger the “spiritual ropes” is a blessing.
Archbishop Hebda told “Practicing Catholic” radio show producer Tom Halden during an interview airing at 9 p.m. Aug. 30 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM, “I think there’s a real value just finding a spiritual friend as well. Somebody who’s accompanying you on the journey, maybe where you’re discovering things together as well.”
Archbishop Hebda offered examples of Sts. Basil and Gregory and Sts. Philip Neri and Charles Borromeo.
“With the time that he was living in Rome, there were all of these other incredible saints at the same time, and they were able to encourage one another in the faith,” Archbishop Hebda said. “You can look at the relationship between St. Philip Neri and St. Charles Borromeo, for example. It’s a beautiful spiritual friendship, even though there were times when they didn’t agree on things. They helped each other. There are beautiful stories about Phillip Neri with St. Felix of Cantalice. They both would have been roaming the streets at the same time. Or St. Ignatius of Loyola, who by that point was in Rome and really helped Philip, I think, with his own discernment.”
Archbishop Hebda said as we look for these kinds of friendships in our own lives, we can also see them modeled in the lives of the saints. Archbishop Hebda said it’s not always a friendship between two men or two women. Sometimes there are friendships such as Sts. Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal.
“You see the way in which holy people who are focused on Christ are able to help one another to grow in the faith,” Archbishop Hebda said.
Archbishop Hebda said he feels blessed to have experienced holy friendship.
“When I was at the North American College I was really blessed with a superb spiritual director, Father George Aschenbrenner, who’s gone to God. He was a Jesuit. He really had a great gift for listening but then also for clarifying, helping the spiritual directee to find where the Lord was leading.”
To hear more from Archbishop Bernard Hebda about the importance of spiritual friendship, tune into “Practicing Catholic,” which repeats at 1 p.m. Aug. 30 and 2 p.m. Aug. 31.
The program also includes an interview with Father Patrick Kennedy, the interim administrator at the Byrne Residence for retired priests in St. Paul. Also, Rachael McCallum joins “Practicing Catholic” as the show’s new producer.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the program can also be heard after it has aired at archspm.org/faith-and-discipleship/practicing-catholic or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.
