Easter: “Trust in the resurrection of Christ” an anchor “to keep us surely attached to hope”

Weekly meditation by Brother Alois - Saturday 7 April 2012
Tomorrow morning we will be celebrating the Resurrection of Christ. At the end of the Eucharist, and throughout the day, we can exchange the Easter greeting “Christ is risen!” and the reply “He is risen indeed.”

This feast is at the heart of our faith. Brother Roger used to say: “If Christ were not risen, we would not be here.”

Yes, it is Jesus Christ who brings us together: the brothers of the Community, and you who are sharing for a few days our life here on the hill. Throughout this Holy Week, we have been meditating on the passion of Christ. Now we are entering into his joy. But what is this it really about? What does Christ’s Resurrection mean for us? How can we express this mystery today? Many people, especially in our western societies, find it difficult to believe in it.

In the face of suffering and death, we will always be at a loss. Trust in the resurrection of Jesus does not explain away the existence of suffering and death.

Trust in the resurrection of Christ is rather like an anchor that we can let down so as to keep surely attached to hope. In our everyday worries and joys, and even in our trials, we can turn towards Christ. He is alive, even if our eyes do not see him, even if we cannot always feel his presence.

Let us welcome the joy of the resurrection! We are alone no longer; nothing can separate us any more from God’s love. And if we bear within us the joy of God’s presence, we become capable of being close to those who are in distress.

This evening our brother has spoken a “yes” to Christ, to live out his life in our Community. By the life of our little Community, we would like to express that Christ brings us together from all the corners of the earth.

Our Brother Jasper wants, with us his brothers, to express a parable of communion; that is, to give a visible sign that Jesus has laid the beginning of a new humanity, where it is no longer rivalry and violence that are the rule, but the peace of God.

You can well imagine that we live this out very imperfectly, without pretension. Yet there is a joy in giving one’s whole life, in trust in Christ, and in beginning again and again to express between us the new solidarity that Christ has left us as a heritage.

At Taizé we are not isolated, but integrated into the great communion of believers across the earth. That leads us to travel a lot. Just yesterday, I was away: some Christians in Paris asked me to come and meditate with them on the way of the cross.

Before Easter, we have been visiting Church leaders. In Geneva, at the World Council of Churches, we were seeking above all how prayer together among Christians of different denominations could be made more intense, and show that we already belong to each other.

Then it was our annual visit to Rome, with a beautiful private audience with Pope Benedict XVI, as we have had the last few years. I was moved that this elderly man, who faces so many apparently insoluble questions and situations, welcomed me with such great human warmth.

The Pope made clear he was very interested by the international meeting of young people that we will be organizing in Rwanda in November. And he rejoices to welcome us to Rome at the end of the year for the European Meeting. We will have a common prayer together with him in the Church of St Peter.

We would all like our Churches to live more and more from the joy and the simplicity of the Gospel so that Christ’s compassion may shine out in the world. The Church herself is not the light, but if the communion between Christians was more visible, the Church would be like a beautiful full moon reflecting the light of the sun, and so would give more light to the nights of humanity.

In the world, we see so much suffering and so many injustices. But we can also see reasons to hope. This week, we have with us twelve young people from Myanmar. Their country is going through profound changes which are moving in a direction that is positive and even un-hoped-for.

So we would like to express our support to the young people of Myanmar as they advance courageously on the way of justice and of peace. As a sign of our support, we will give you these branches from some of our trees with spring flowers. You will not be able to take them all the way home with you, but the image of them can stay in your hearts.