Tomorrow evening, eight high school youth, nine young adults, James Kealey, Kathy La, and I will fly to Paris for the first leg of a pilgrimage. On Saturday, we will see some of the sights of Paris, and then on Sunday, we’ll get on a train, then a bus, and then we’ll take a short walk, all of which will eventually lead us to the community at Taizé.
For most of this century, Taizé has been shorthand for a particular kind of music – repetitive chants, easy to sing, in different languages, that end when the Spirit says so. But since the 1940s, Taizé, the place, the village in rural France, the ecumenical abbey, has been a place of pilgrimage for generations of young people. Since Brother Roger founded the abbey after World War II, young people have flocked from all over the world to find experiences of peace, silence, joy, and companionship in worship and among the community of pilgrims that gathers there. Brother Roger died in 2005, but the community has only grown.
The group met last night over Zoom to do final preparations. Some words about how we’re feeling were excited, nervous, ecstatic, curious, and looking forward to the stories. Keep us in your prayers as we travel and as these young people encounter God in new ways, as they make new friends, as they are challenged by stillness and quiet, and as they reflect on their own vocations and where God is calling them to next.
Watch this space next week for a dispatch from the pilgrims on the trip. I will also bring stories back on July 26 in worship. Thank you for accompanying us with your prayers as we go!