TAIZÉIt was during this week many years ago that I came to Taizé for the first time. I came with friends from university and remember so well entering the church. The prayer was beginning and immediately I was drawn into the singing.
I felt invited and included. No-one told us what to do, there was no-one leading the service. There was the feeling of being alone before God whilst at the same time being part of a praying community of people in all their diversity.
But the other thing that struck me was the beauty of the stars at night. Coming from an industrial town in the north of England, stars were not so easy to see at that time. All of a sudden, a sense of being enfolded by the immensity and wonder of God’s creation filled me.
On a second visit the following year, my question was “Does Jesus still say to us today “Come and follow me?”” I realised that the brothers were from different Christian Churches. I knew that Jesus prayed in John 17 for the unity of his disciples.
Their testimony, though I realised that they were ordinary human beings trying day by day to live their faith, seemed coherent. If we speak of a God of love, we need to love each other. I took a year free from my studies to volunteer in Taizé and understood with time the invitation that Christ was making to me.
Prayer is still at the heart of the life of our community and the stars are still beautiful, but times have changed and there are new challenges before us in today’s world. Jesus though still says “Come and follow me”. How do we hear his words? How do we respond? Even when we think we have found our way, it’s each day that we must step out afresh.
This evening, we heard the story of Jesus walking on the water from Matthew 14. The wind and the waves were symbols of chaos and the Scriptures said it was only God who could walk across the sea. On seeing Jesus, Peter and his friends are at first afraid, but Jesus tells them not to be frightened for it is him – “It is I” reminds us of the name of God revealed to Moses in the Hebrew Scriptures.
With a mixture of questioning and courage, Peter speaks to Jesus. “If it is you, tell me to come to you across the water.” When Jesus says “Come”, Peter walks towards him. Peter has to leave behind the security of the boat and his friends. He has to go beyond his comfort zone to journey across the chaos and respond to Jesus.
But when Peter looks to the wind rather than Jesus, he begins to sink. He is split between the call of Jesus and the dangers around him. He is caught between these two realities and surely within him was the question, “Is it really possible to do what you ask me?”
Then Jesus stretches out his hand to guide Peter back to the boat. He does not abandon him. “Why did you doubt?” Jesus says to Peter. The verb translated as doubt occurs only twice in Matthew’s Gospel: here and when the friends of Jesus meet him after the Resurrection in chapter 28. When the calm returns, Peter and his friends realise that they can truly put their trust in Jesus. They recognise him as the Son of God. There is something of the Resurrection in this story.
How is Jesus calling us out of the boat to walk towards him through the chaos that we often find in our world today? What are the risks that he is asking us to take to respond to his call? He will be there when we falter to help us and through that our trust will grow.
This week, through the Bible reflections, times of sharing and the many different workshops, which have covered a multitude of themes, how have you felt the call to go further in your faith and in your everyday commitment in society and Church? When you leave Taizé, which question will lead you in your journey with Christ and with others?
Our community was born in a time of war. Our founder, Brother Roger, left neutral Switzerland in 1940 to come to France where there was much hardship. He had the conviction that to live the Gospel, we need to be close to those who are suffering and settled in Taizé with the wish to found a community of prayer and solidarity, a sign of peace.
The risk that Brother Roger took in this way should, for me, remain a focal point in our vocation. At the end of September, three brothers will go to live in Ukraine for an initial period of six weeks. They will stay in one place, but visit different parts of the country, to listen, to pray and simply to be with people. Perhaps they will understand that they are not forgotten.
Guillemette. from the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) from Paris is with us this evening. How has your faith led you to commit yourself for others?
"What made me want to commit to what I’m doing was a volunteering experience in India, where I was struck by the extreme precariousness of people I met. The experience of silent prayer transformed me, and I experienced God’s tender and merciful love. It opened my heart to love the Indians as brothers and sisters. After this experience, I had to put myself at the service of those who suffer.
That’s why today I’m committed to serving people in exile at JRS. I was overwhelmed by the radiant smile of an Afghan man, while he regularly laments the situation of his sisters forced into hiding in Afghanistan. At Taizé, I deepen this commitment in friendships: I marvel at the courage, resilience and extraordinary generosity of these young people in supporting each other, like for example this 28-year-old from Kabul who had to leave his country in a hurry. He left his wife and 3 children to come to France, and despite his struggles to integrate, he keeps smiling and brightens our days.
Serving the forcibly displaced means working every day for greater justice for young people my age. I thank God for this commitment, which brings me deep joy."
Tabea from Hamburg would like to invite you to a workshop on Saturday she will lead together with her friends:
"I‘m Tabea and I’m here from Hamburg with my six friends and we just finished school.
Hamburg is one of the biggest harbors in Europe and a very open city.
In our city 120 different faith communities life together and also many people don’t have any faith. This is why Hamburg decided to have the religious classes at school together with everyone.
Not only Protestants and Catholics but also Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Buddists and Alawites. On Saturday afternoon we will speak to you about why this is an important experience for all of us and our faiths."
And I would like to take this opportunity to thank all who have led workshops and Bible reflections during this week for all your hard work in preparing them and for all that we have received from you.
A special thanks also to the group of people who were volunteers in Taizé in the 1970s who are with us this weekend. They helped prepare the Council of Youth which took place here 50 years ago in 1974 and which was the forerunner of the youth meetings led by the community in Taizé and elsewhere. Our meeting this week is part of a much larger story, starting many years ago.
Tomorrow evening, come together at 8pm to pray in silence for peace in our world, where there are so many conflicts as we do every Friday in Taizé. Let us not forget the people of Ukraine and those suffering in the Holy Land, Sudan, Myanmar, Nicaragua and elsewhere.
We have no words faced with these situations of war, but as we remain in silent prayer, we express solidarity with those who suffer and who sometimes also have no words... Thoughts and intuitions may rise in our hearts to help us make the choices that are possible for us, leading us to become pilgrims of peace where God has placed us.
And we can meet again in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, a small country in north-east Europe, from 28 December to 1 January for our next European youth meeting. Singing counts so much in this country. It was through a “singing revolution” that Estonians regained their independence in 1991. Singing helped build peace.
We’ll be there to pray for peace and be a sign of a Europe that is open and welcoming to all. We look forward to seeing you there!