Fr German’s message Retreat in Taizé # 2
In last week’s message I spoke to you about the beginning of my spiritual retreat. Today I would like to share with you the first day of this spiritual experience. During the first biblical introduction done by one of the Taizé monks, three beautiful young Spaniards asked me to help them with the translation in Spanish. The monk spoke to us about the story of the Annunciation (Lk 1:26-38). He analyzed it by comparing it with the words of the Old Testament that speaks about the Annunciation to Abraham and Sarah on the birth of John the Baptist (Gn 18,1-15). It was a lovely meditation on these two very similar texts. At the end of the lecture, I discovered that these young women (25, 30 and 40 years old) were contemplative nuns (of closure). What a surprise and what a joy to find three sisters with whom I shared many things with during my stay at Taizé. While we introduced ourselves to one another, a young priest from Iraq, whose mother tongue is Aramaic (the same native language of Jesus) and an American lady, a pastor in the Baptist church (from New York), joined us. She told us that she was very fond of the Catholic Church and that she “dreams of having a Catholic and Baptist passport both at the same time.” She also explained that she was very sorry that many Catholics were leaving the church to join other Christian venerations. We reflected together on the reasons that motivated these people to change their profession of faith. Frequently, those who abandon the church complain about the lack of unity within the community. Even though these people claim they are happy in their new community, they are in so much need of the sacraments and above all the Eucharist. These reflections fueled my retreat. I had thought much about an intuition that lived in me since the beginning of my priesthood 23 years ago: “a priest’s principle mission is to build communities…families among Christ.” All those baptized must work to ensure that our community is an open, happy and living one. I dream of a community in which all the members know, respect and help each other -- a community in which we share our joys and sorrows -- a family in which we pray for one another and in which we discover the bonds of friendship and communion. At St. Sebastian we are on the right track. We have made great progress but we still have much to do. We must multiply our encounters with one another and the moments in our lives where we share with each other “the communion” that we receive in the form of the Eucharist every day. “In this world marked more each day by the search for profit, production and consumption, friendship is for many the place in which we can affirm our humanity. Christ said: ‘You are my friends’” (Une multitude d’amis,” by Brother John of Taizé. Réimaginer l’Église Chrétienne à l’heure de la mondialisation, Les Presses de Taizé.) Christians must work so that the friendship that Christ shares with us is the basis of our relationships with others. Have a wonderful week Happy Year of Faith. Fr Germán May 12th 2013 | Retiro en Taizé # 2
En el mensaje de la semana pasada, les hablé del principio de mi retiro espiritual. Hoy quisiera compartir con ustedes el primer día de esta experiencia espiritual. En la primera introducción bíblica de uno de
los monjes de Taizé, tres jóvenes españolas, muy bonitas me pidieron que les
ayudara con la traducción en español. El monje nos habló del texto de la
Anunciación (Lc 1, 26-38). Lo analizó comparándolo con
el texto del antiguo testamento que habla de la Anunciación a Abraham y Sara
sobre el nacimiento de Juan el Bautista. (Gn 18,1-15) Estábamos presentándonos cuando se unieron a nosotros un sacerdote de Irak cuya lengua materna es el Arameo (la misma lengua materna de Jesús) y una señora americana (de Nueva York) quien es pastor de la Iglesia Bautista. Esta señora nos dijo que le gustaba mucho la Iglesia Católica y que
"soñaba tener un pasaporte católico y otro Bautista al mismo tiempo".
También nos dijo que lamentaba que muchos católicos estaban abandonando la
Iglesia Católica para irse a otras Reflexionamos juntos sobre las razones que motivan a esas personas a cambiar de confesión. Feliz año de la Fe. P. Germán 12 de mayo 2013 |
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