In the course of a visit to France for cultural, academic and inter-religious exchanges, the Very Venerable Jaseung, president of the largest Buddhist monastic order in Korea – the Jogye Order (seven thousand monks, six thousand nuns) – expressed the wish to spend the day of 29 September in Taizé. Accompanied by ten other monks, he attended the Community midday prayer and shared the brothers’ meal. Discussions with Brother Alois, the Prior of Taizé, centred on the theme: how is it that the monastic life makes it possible for men of very different traditions nevertheless to be so close? Possibilities of collaboration were envisaged for the future. The next inter-religious meeting in Assisi, in which the Venerable Jaseung and Brother Alois will take part, was evoked as a sign of hope.
Brothers were in Finland in September ; one of them writes: With 73.9 % of Finland covered by forest, it is not hard to imagine that the people also have a saying similar to the one in English: “You can’t see the wood for the trees.” In Finnish it goes “Ei näe metsää puilta” and means being able to see only the parts and not the whole. At first you notice most of all the “exotic trees”; those which stand out from the other trees in the forest. For example, the immigrants in Helsinki and in the other large cities with their brightly coloured clothes, the women often veiled and sometimes mistaken for Muslims, but who actually more often than not are Christians from Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Pakistan. As of 2011, there are 140 000 foreign born people residing in Finland, which corresponds to 2.7% of the population.
One of the brothers writes: That afternoon, we set off for Soweto with Father Ben, the parish priest of the famous Church of Regina Mundi. Regina Mundi played a historic role in the struggle against apartheid. Over the years, many young people from this parish have been to Taizé. The afternoon was announced as a time of reflection and prayer. We intend to speak about the meeting in Kigali as well and we finish around 8.00 pm. Only two people show up at 3.00 pm, the scheduled time for the beginning of our meeting: Benedict and Thabo. Slowly others arrived from Soweto and neighbouring townships, including Orange Farm. At 5.00 pm, thirty people have gathered, mostly young. Father Ben seems delighted to see the faces of these joyful young people. Clifford, now a Franciscan, proposes that someone write about our gathering in the diocesan newspaper and he suggests that a date be set immediately for the next meeting, which will also be a preparation meeting for Kigali. All are in favour of meeting again on October 23rd.
One of the brothers was in Ireland in September-October. He shares some of his impressions: “The hospitality and generosity of the Irish are well-known but they astounded me nonetheless at each step of my journey. Again and again I met people who were happy to be giving their time and whatever they have for others, whether it was the students of a school in East Belfast raising money to support famine victims in east Africa, pastoral workers in county Clare who accompany the young, university students in Galway working on a telephone hot-line for children at risk, or people in the ministry for the deaf in Dublin….”
“Hello! I’m Inga Kreusch. I am very happy to be able to help with the preparations for the 34th European Meeting at the end of this year in Berlin. This blog will hopefully be a good possibility to share with you what is going on in the preparation centre, in the parishes and churches here in Berlin. Nearly a month has passed since the first members of the preparation team arrived in Berlin and a lot of things have already started. … After the midday prayer, I visited the preparation centre – which is in a building that used to be some kind of a prison and which will be pulled down next year. There have been so many helping hands over the last weeks that the place is now very nice. For lunch there were also some other guests, among them two Little Sisters of Jesus. After the meal they told us about their life here in Berlin, which they dedicate to people living on the street. There are many homeless people in this big city and the sisters are searching for ways of sharing their life. … ”
The European meeting in Berlin will take place from 28th December 2011 to 1st January 2012.
Since 1998, Taizé has sent humanitarian aid to North Korea several times when the country was severely afflicted by food shortages. This year 2011, three times, Taizé sent 260 tons of wheat flour and 120 tons of pasta through Operation Hope. These items were distributed among the very poor in the region of Siniju, Ryongchon, Yomju and Gesong. At the beginning of next year we would like to send a shipment of essential medical supplies and drugs. Could those who go to the European meeting in Berlin find these at home, bring them with them and deposit them at the welcome when they arrive? The community will take care of shipping them to North Korea and distributing them to hospitals and clinics in rural areas. The material must naturally be in good condition.
Holy Spirit, you enable us to cross the deserts of our heart. By your forgiveness “you disperse our faults like the morning mist.” There we find Christian freedom, there is the wonder of a love.