Meditations

Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be grieved and agitated. Then he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.” And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not what I want but what you want.” Then he came to

The rain has come to wash away the summer dust and quench the parched land around us. We too are thirsting for what was tired and discouraged in us to be washed away, so that renewal and meaning in our own lives, as we seek to deepen our commitments in faith and also in society, can become reality I would like to say a heartfelt welcome to all of you who have come to share in this week of reflection on the theme of “Justice and Peace”​. I would like to say a big thank you to all who have spoken

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord rescues them from them all. He keeps all their bones; not one of them will be broken. Evil brings death to the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. (Psalm 33/34:

Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way

When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door, and he was speaking the word to them. Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. When Jesus saw the

God said to Abraham, “As regards your wife Sarai, you must not call her Sarai, but Sarah. I shall bless her and moreover give you a son by her. I shall bless her and she will become nations: kings of peoples will issue from her.” Abraham bowed to the ground, and he laughed, thinking to himself, “Is a child to be born to a man one hundred years old, and will Sarah have a child at the age of ninety?” Abraham said to God, “May Ishmael live in your presence! That will be enough!” But God replied, “Y

This week, it is a special joy to welcome several groups of Orthodox Christians from different countries among us for this week of witness and sharing of Orthodox faith. Historically and still today, many Orthodox Christians live in the eastern half of our European continent. Tomorrow, instead of our usual evening prayer, there will be the celebration of the Orthodox Divine Liturgy at which we can all assist. The blessed bread will be distributed by Taizé brothers to those of us from the Western

During this week when the temperatures have been so high, I wanted to say a big thank you to all of you for persevering with the meetings and times of prayer. You have been very patient with the simple conditions that we can offer and we need to think about how to improve things to take into account the changing weather. In a few moments, I would like Leon from Zimbabwe, who is volunteering in Taizé at the moment to share some thoughts with you. But before that, I would like to speak about two d

I returned on Monday to Taizé after spending the last week with five of my brothers in Rome where we were among the hundreds of thousands of young people from all over the world who were taking part in the Catholic Jubilee of Youth. We had been asked to lead prayers during the week in a city centre church and also participate in an ecumenical prayer with two other communities on Friday evening. It was a festival of faith in Christ which showed us that Christianity is never a kind of monoculture.

This week, there are over 50 different countries represented in Taizé for our weekly meetings, from every part of the world except Antarctica. A very warm welcome to you all! Our diversity of backgrounds, languages, cultures and traditions brings challenges, but is it not also a wonderful sign in our world today? It is possible to live a visible sign of unity in our human family, what our community calls a “parable of communion” as we pray together, listen to the Word of God and build a common l

A warm welcome to all of you who have come to spend this week with us in Taizé! Many of you come from Germany, but among us are also groups coming from Austria, France, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and other countries as well. But I would especially like to express my joy for the presence of young Muslim believers together with three imams and also young Christians with priests and pastors who are taking part in our Muslim-Christian friendship meeting during these days. W

Thank you for being with us during this week of meetings in Taizé. Many of you are from Germany, but there are also groups here from Sweden, Ireland and the Netherlands, not forgetting the team of young volunteers who are with us from further afield. This past week, new volunteers arrived from Chile, Mexico, Chad, Indonesia and Vietnam. But a special welcome for the group from China that has been with us this week. It is for you that we have been singing “Bless the Lord” in Mandarin! In a few mo