Like every year, the beginning of September has seen a marked reduction in the number of visitors in Taizé, since the vacations are over in most European countries. The weekly meetings however continue throughout the autumn. An important event during the final days of the summer was the presence of a group of 24 young adults from Haiti. They led a theme workshop on their country, as do the volunteers from countries around the world, every Saturday. A song in Tagalog, one of the languages of the Philippines, was taken up frequently during the prayers. The solo verses were sung by a young Filipina.
At the end of August, the President of the German Bishops Conference, Mgr Zollitsch, Archbishop of Freiburg, came for several days. He spent time with the community and with the many young Catholics and Protestants from Germany who were in Taizé at the time.
Likewise at the end of August, leaders of the youth ministry in the different dioceses and movements in France gathered in Taizé to prepare the World Youth Days in Madrid. The bishops of Autun and Carcassonne and Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe were present.
In July 2010, a brother made visits in Timor Leste. He writes: “As you arrive in East Timor, the plane comes in over the sea. The road into the city goes along the bay. Each time I have come, I have had the same reaction: ‘What a beautiful country’. But as you entered the city, there were always remains of the war: houses abandoned, and windows without glass… This time there is a change for the better. There are new buildings, some streets have lighting, there are no more tents with refugees, the people who had been displaced have gone back to their homes. …”
Over 150 young people from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo took part in two meetings organised by the Taizé Brothers at Mji wa furaha – Nairobi, during the second and third weeks of August. At the heart of the meetings were three times of prayer each day. The morning program consisted of Bible reflection led by one of the brothers, personal reflection in silence, and sharing in small groups. In the afternoons, workshops and visits to places of hope in the vicinity offered possibilities to deepen the relationship between faith and life. …
In June, one of the brothers made a series of visits in Germany->http://www.taize.fr/en_article9631.html]. He writes, “Berlin is sparkling with life, one meets people there with the most diverse origins. Some have lived there for a long time, others have just arrived. This multiplicity was also reflected in the meeting that the young people had prepared for Sunday afternoon. For some years, a regular prayer has been held on Friday evenings in the Prenzlauer Berg district. Young and less young from all the town meet there. For some this has been a real reference point for many years. There it is “like being at home”, a place where they can talk to others about their experiences. …”
The visit by one of the Taizé brothers took place in two stages that were quite different but had the same source: prayer.Like every year since 1991, in Sydney it was the NSW Ecumenical Council that prepared the program for the visit. Among the items, there was a retreat at the Merroo Christian Centre at Kurrajong, a prayer at St Mark’s Anglican Church, South Hurstfield and another at St Patrick’s Church Hill in the city. During these visits, there is always a kind of small “miracle” that occurs. For, during the retreat at Kurrajong and during the prayers in the churches, these meetings bring together people who are so different to one another: in age, in Christian tradition, in culture, in commitment. …
… After a long detour, the human desire for unity will be achieved
unexpectedly, in a way that is a thousand times better. The miracle of Pentecost
(see Acts 2) displays a unity which, far from being a forced uniformity, is a
communion in diversity, retaining all that is valid in every nation and in every
person. Such unity without violence is cannot be the result of human activity.
It can only be received as a gift, one brought by the Spirit of God arising from
the depths of the human being. The project of Babel (or Babylon, see Apocalypse
17-18) becomes the symbol of all human totalitarianism; it represents a pursuit
of efficiency which skips steps and neglects the necessary times of ripening.
Bible texts with
commentary
God of love, you welcome us just as we are. And we want to welcome in the same way those you place on our path. Enable us to understand that you are present in the very poor, and even in those who feel they are far from you. Your Gospel fills us with the hope that we shall all be gathered at the table of your Kingdom.