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I was to witness again the dimensions of this Body of Christ when I went on to Taize in Eastern France near the Swiss Border. There were 6000 people there from Romania, Poland, Lithuania, Ireland, Holland, England, Peru, Russia, Germany, Italy and other countries, from Protestant, Orthodox and Catholic religions. But in Taize your religious background is not as important as the one thing that unites us all and that is Jesus Christ. We came together three times a day in a huge church to sing praises and prayers and to allow God to speak in the silence. We met each day, in small groups, to discuss the Gospel and how its is alive personally and in our churches and communities. And because every religion represented there could trace their roots to Peter the Rock and to Jesus the Lord, I felt I had come full circle from Rome. This is the Church as God intended it, not perfect yet, but on its way. It reminds me of the way a priest
at home used to end the Mass. He said: The Mass never ends! It
must be lived! So lets go forth to love and serve the Lord in
each other! I guess that is what will make us perfect.
This is the pilgrimage of a lifetime! Truly amazing! Fr. Vincent has really motivated us to an experience we have yet to comprehend. We have seen and done so much, it's hard to absorb the full impact of all our experiences. As I reflect on the past week, I get a sense of awe and tremendous inspiration. To experience the origins of our faith, brings the scriptures to life. Everyday we have had Mass in different
locations/churches-many where saints have been canonized. In
Rome we have visited: St. Peters Square/Basilica, Forum, Coliseum,
Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, a chorale concert in an ancient
church, crawled the steps that Jesus walked when Pontius Pilate
"washed his hands of this", visited St. Monica's-the
patron saint of children (for those of us who have children,
we said a Rosary for them), Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain,
and of utmost importance saw Pope Paul II. |