Meditations

During this week, wherever you are from, you have all come with your own challenges. I hope that the times of sharing and common prayer have helped you discover a deeper unity in the midst of your diversity. Listening to people who are different from us can be a real gift. It helps us overcome the barriers behind which we so easily hide and resist the traps of polarisation and prejudice, which promise security but ultimately bring only sadness and isolation. Are we ready for that challenge? Para

When I look at the dry meadows around us, this naturally raises questions about our concern for the care of God's creation, our common home. What steps can each one of us take in order to contribute to safeguarding the beauty of creation so that everyone can continue to enjoy it? At the same time, I wonder: are we beings of thirst? And if so, what is it that we are thirsting for? Like the earth, we too sometimes have to live in the waiting for rain. But do we dare to follow our deepest thirst? I

During these weeks, we are listening to the Gospel of Matthew, and what we have just heard (Matthew 16:5–12) is not easy to grasp. Jesus asks those who are following him to be on their guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Who were they? They represented different ways of seeking security: some through renewal involving strict religious observance, others through political or institutional power. Jesus' approach was different. Notice that Jesus' followers have not understo

Last Sunday was the feast of Pentecost, the end of the Easter season. It is the time when we celebrate the fulfilment of God’s promise to send the Holy Spirit to be present among us, so that we may be witnesses to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We speak often of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but is not one of the greatest gifts that the Holy Spirit comes to remind us of all that Jesus said to us? That was the promise Jesus made to his friends in John 14. He also calls the Holy Spiri

Many of you have come this week, from different parts of Germany but also from several dioceses of France, as well as from Sweden and Lithuania. Other countries are also represented at Taizé, and let us not forget those who come from Africa, Asia and the Americas, particularly among the volunteers who live here for longer periods and who support the weekly meetings. Welcome to you all! In a moment, two of you will ask me a question and I will try to answer, but before that I would like to share

Welcome to all of you who have come from the four corners of Europe and beyond to share Holy Week with us here at Taizé. I extend a special greeting to the young people who have come from countries currently marked by war. Lebanese and Ukrainian young people are among us and have carried, together with young people from different continents, the icons these past days at the beginning of evening prayer. I would like to thank all our volunteers — young adults from all over — who give between one m

Thank you for being with us this week as we enter the season of Lent ! You come as the sun pierces the clouds bringing with it the hope of the beauty of springtime which is gently emerging from the long winter. This week is almost an Atlantic meeting ! Many of you come from Portugal and others have joined us from New York. A special welcome to you all. I would like to express my gratitude to all the teachers and other group leaders who have accompanied all you young Portuguese this week, and als

On this night, which for many of us is an opportunity to gather with family, community, and friends in joy and sharing – even if for some of us it is the first time we are spending this night away from our families – we celebrate the memory of the birth of Jesus. The reading from the prophet Isaiah reminds us of the promise that it is in the middle of the night, in the darkness, that God’s definitive intervention in the history of his people will be revealed. The sign of God’s intervention annou

Today, on this fourth Sunday of Advent, the reading presents us with the figure of Joseph. In the Gospels, we do not hear much about Joseph, and the text we have just heard is one of the exceptions. We can easily imagine his confusion, even his despair, when he learned that Mary, his fiancée, was pregnant. All his plans for the future were thwarted. There was not only the personal desappointment, but also the public shame that accompanied such a situation. But the Gospel presents him to us as a

John’s question is surprising: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we wait for another?” Is this really the same John? The one who leapt for joy in Elizabeth’s womb? The one who pointed to Jesus and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The one who claimed he was not worthy to untie the straps of his sandals? So… why the doubt? Why this anxiety, this fragility that comes up all of a sudden? This question is not just a weakness on John’s part: it makes sense. It touches on identity – that of Je

In the texts we have just read, we heard about two people who were aware that they were living through a moment in history that dramatically engaged the responsibility of their people. In relation to God, this awareness fully engaged them both in their own time and in the future. And even though the world seemed to be collapsing before them and beneath their feet, they remained grounded in the hope of what the Spirit of God is capable of doing among human beings. John the Baptist was waiting for

This first Sunday of Advent is also the day on which we commemorate the Apostle Andrew. I would therefore like to say ‘Happy Feast Day’ especially to the Sisters of St. Andrew, whose presence in Ameugny for almost 60 years is a gift from God, and also to all the Andrews among us, known or hidden! At the beginning of this new liturgical year, what do the Scriptures we have just heard tell us? The reading from the book of Isaiah announces peace. Isaiah's time was no easier than ours. In the 8th ce