A “parable of community”, the ecumenical community of Taize brothers located in France has long been a site of pilgrimage for young people from all parts of the world. Taize shares the values of social justice and the prayer of the heart, and is perhaps most famous for its music – meditative chants and can be sung in any language.
Over several years the NSW Ecumenical Council has hosted visits from a Brother from the Taize Community in France, as part of our churches’ common commitment to a spirituality of peace and reconciliation.
This relationship takes different forms from year to year: including special events in schools, churches, quiet days and retreats, and conversations with people of all kinds of different backgrounds. Always the intention is not to create a Taize movement here but to enable seeds of hope to be planted which may encourage Australians to share the kind of ‘pilgrimage of trust’ in Christ for which the Taize community prays and lives out daily. The gifts which this continuing relationship has given to many include:
- the beautiful music of Taize, which touches us deep within, and draws us to closer comm_UNION_ with God and each other;
- the living example of prayer and service, which encourages us to run, embracingly towards the Lord;
- the words from Taize: the letters, the prayers, the stories, which stir us to contemplate the richness of faith, and to convert these contemplations into action;
- the space of Taize, that special refuge in the French countryside, where so many are welcomed with warmth, openness and love;
- the essence of Taize, which unites us, which draws us into comm_UNION_, which lights our lives and which touches our hearts. We pray for the Taize community as it continues this beautiful and sacred mission. We rejoice in the ministry of the Taize community, which encourages us to embody Christ”s example. May the spirit of Taize continue to enrich us and this world. May hope, love and peace burst forth. Amen