Peace be with you

Last weekend I was leading a retreat, and during the meal on Saturday evening we had some Taizé songs playing in the background. Suddenly I got very emotional. I remembered the many good friends that I had made in Taizé and that somehow indescribable peace of mind you can find there. I longed to be back there and missed my friends. I felt a fist-size weight behind my sternum which made swallowing difficult. This feeling of longing was both sad and joyful at the same time, and also somehow peaceful.

One particular memory came to me vividly. Last May we were visiting Taizé as a family - myself, my wife and our two children. I remembered one morning eucharist when all of us happened to be in the church to receive communion - we usually had to take turns to watch over our children in the playroom. We were with two friends, a Roman Catholic couple from Germany. During communion, as we were singing a song of thanksgiving to Christ and standing there side by side with thousands of other Christians, I could feel the reality of the communion within us. I’ve never felt the body of Christ in such a concrete way. I was filled with joy and peace because we were able to receive communion together. In that moment the Church of Christ was present despite our churches' failure as human institutions in their division to represent the church instituted by Christ. Now don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying that Taizé is the Church of Christ. Taizé is not a church, it’s a place and a community. But Taizé in that moment made it possible for the Church to break through the sinful situation that is our division.

As Christians we search for peace, peace in ourselves and peace in the world. This peace is a gift of God given to us through the Holy Spirit in Christ. Our longing is a longing towards God. I’m convinced that the church cannot find that gift of peace before we find peace between ourselves. Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste (Matt. 12:25). The communion of the church exists already. It is the body of Christ. It is for us to find. This is not possible if we stand against each other. We need to turn towards God, stand side by side, in order to realise that we are worshipping the same Christ. Together we need to pray ”Kyrie Eleison”, Lord have mercy on us, and cry out for Him to give us wisdom and love to overcome our divisions and to make us the communion we already are.

God has only one answer.