Br Matthew, the prior of the ecumenical community at Taizé, spoke about young people in a recent interview.
“It’s something quite amazing, because those who come to Taizé come with a desire for community, even if they’ve never really experienced that before. In that way, we are blessed in many ways. Many come from situations of isolation, and in the first days of their stay, it’s not simple to enter into contact with others. But when they understand it’s a safe environment, something often opens up within them.
The prayer three times a day also carries them. When we ask young people at the end of the week what has touched them most, a large majority speak about the silence during prayer. That’s incredible today, when all the time there’s input—we’re constantly bombarded with notifications and information—yet there’s a desire for silence. I think it’s a deep, innate longing in every person. It’s a thirst. We’re created in the image of God, and there is this deep desire to be in the presence of God. Silence enables that, even if many young people don’t have the vocabulary to express it in words. They sense intuitively that they are in the presence of someone greater than themselves.
Our task is to listen to them and help them put words to what they’re experiencing. Many come from non-Church backgrounds, and there hasn’t been the same transmission of faith that used to happen in families in the past. Yet there is a very authentic longing there.
In Taizé, I often say to myself that we don’t really do a lot. We open the doors, we sing a little, and then the rest doesn’t depend on us. Young people, among themselves, discover that they have common desires and longings, and that they are searching in similar directions. They also discover that they can walk together with others who don’t necessarily hold the same opinions as them, which is a great challenge in today’s world. We offer a space. We’re not there to control what everybody thinks, does, or says. There’s a risk in that, but it’s a risk worth taking.”
(Courtesy of Vatican News)