Theology, Disability, and Spiritual Transformation: Learning from ...

influences have combined in my efforts to clarify the nature of spiritual transformation at three levels. My objective is to describe the transformative process first in phenomenological terms through an account of the experience of long-term assistants in the communities of L’Arche. I then interpret the process psychologically within the framework of contemporary psychological theory. Finally, I approach the question of transformation theologically through the lenses of contemporary Christology and Trinitarian thought. The conviction guiding this multilevel approach is that a more precise understanding of spiritual transformation in one particular context, such as L’Arche, will yield insight into its meaning in other contexts such as the church, religious communities, and other therapeutic settings. My ultimate hope is that greater understanding of the dynamics of transformation will also support the processes and practices of formation in these various contexts.

What, in brief, is spiritual transformation in the context of L’Arche? In his inauguration of the Wit Lectures at Harvard University Divinity School in 1992, Jean Vanier, the founder of the Federation of L’Arche communities for persons with learning disabilities, shared with his audience the story of Armando. Armando is an eight-year-old boy who was welcomed into the L’Arche community in Rome, Italy, who cannot walk or talk or eat by himself. Armando has a severe learning disability, and his body, far too small for his age, is twisted and broken with a neurological disorder. In 1987, during the course of a synod concerned with the vocation and the role of the laity in the Roman Catholic Church, Vanier asked one of the bishops attending the synod if he wanted to hold Armando in his arms. The bishop expressed openness, and Armando settled into his arms and started to quiver and smile in a way that expressed great excitement and joy. Vanier reported that a half an hour later he came back to see if the bishop wanted him to take Armando back. “No, no,” he replied. Vanier's commentary on this encounter is revealing: