| 29 September 2013 |
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http://www.taize.fr/en_article681.html
LETTER FROM TAIZE:
LEAPING OVER WALLS OF SEPERATION
http://www.taize.fr/IMG/pdf/121-en.pdf
(http://www.taize.fr/IMG/pdf/120enletter.pdf)
Short Writings from Taize:
ICONS
http://www.taize.fr/IMG/pdf/cahiers16en_web.pdf
Bible texts with commentary
These Bible meditations are meant as a way of seeking God in silence and prayer in the midst of our daily life. During the course of a day, take a moment to read the Bible passage with the short commentary and to reflect on the questions which follow. Afterwards, a small group of 3 to 10 people can meet to share what they have discovered and perhaps for a time of prayer.
October 2013
Matthew 5:17-20: God’s Great Justice and the Least Commandments
Psalm 119:25-32: The Law that Gives Freedom1 Blessed….25 I am laid low in the dust;preserve my life according to your word.26 I gave an account of my ways and you answered me;teach me your decrees.27 Cause me to understand the way of your precepts,that I may meditate on your wonderful deeds.28 My soul is weary with sorrow;strengthen me according to your word.29 Keep me from deceitful ways;be gracious to me and teach me your law.30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness;I have set my heart on your laws.31 I hold fast to your statutes, Lord;do not let me be put to shame.32 I run in the path of your commands,for you have set my heart free.(Psalm 119:25-32)Psalm 119 is the longest of all the psalms, and with its constant evocations of “laws”, “statutes”, “decrees” and “precepts”, it can seem forbidding. But it is full of hidden treasures.A key to opening them up is the very first word: “blessed”. If someone is “blessed”, it means their life has something that gives it meaning – a direction, a taste, a zest, a joy, a security, a freedom. This “blessing”, of course, cannot come just by following whatever desires or impulses we happen to have, nor from simply doing what other people expect of us. Those are “deceitful ways” (v. 29) – they can seem attractive, but in the end they only lead to dead-end situations. The way to a life that is “blessed” requires us to choose something else. Every religious tradition and serious philosophy of life recognizes this, pointing to principles or attitudes which help people to live authentically and fully.The Bible takes us further. For it such life-giving principles are not just an impersonal wisdom: they express what God wants of us; they are his “commands”. This means first of all that they are addressed to us as persons by a Person. Paying attention to these laws means being in a relationship with God.Every relationship is called to develop and grow, as the people concerned get to know each other better, and as each finds out what is important to the other. So God’s “law” has a double role: as well as showing the way to an authentic and meaningful existence, it also reveals what God’s priorities are, and so shows what he is like. If we enter the way of God’s “commands”, a realization gradually dawns: what is important for God is precisely that our lives should be set free from meaninglessness and be filled with the “blessing” of verse 1. God’s first priority is our own true happiness!This truth cannot be grasped all at once. Psalm 119, through all its 176 verses, is a slow prayer that takes plenty of time to dwell on these realities and let them take root in us.In verses 25-32, the psalmist is led from being “laid low” or “stuck” in the dust (v. 25), by means of “holding fast” (v. 31) or “sticking” to God’s law – the Hebrew verb in these two verses is the same –, out into the freedom of “running” as in a wide open space (v. 32). The movement is from the weariness and sad boredom of a life without a decision for what is good, towards God’s way of freedom.The psalmist’s attitude before God’s law is not one of wallowing in guilt for his or her failings; nor is it complacency, nor a mechanical obedience: it is the attitude of seeking, perhaps through struggles, to be led humbly and simply along a way of transformation, of a change of heart.Almost every verse of the psalm contains a word referring to God’s commands. In order to taste the meaning behind this, it can be helpful to choose a single “command” of Jesus to focus on. For example, to take a verse such as “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Mt 5:9), “Do not judge, and you will not be judged” (Lk 6:37), “Do not be anxious about your life” (Mt 6:25), or either of the Great Commandments to love God with all your heart and to love your neighbour as yourself (Mk 12:28-31); then, bearing the chosen command in mind, to pray through the above verses of Psalm 119 very slowly, stopping at every word that refers to God’s “law” and making the link with the particular command of Jesus chosen and with your own life.What experience have I had of “deceitful ways” that lead to dead-end situations?
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law (Rom. 13:8).
Our spiritual lives can take a qualitative leap. All we need do is focus on the core thing required of us: love for one another that fulfils God’s will.In the preceding verses (Rom. 13:1-7) Paul refers to what we owe the civil authorities (obedience, respect, paying taxes etc.). He stresses that this debt should also be paid in a spirit of love. Of course, such a debt is easily understood, all the more so because if we neglect it, we are penalized by law.On this basis, Paul goes on to speak of another debt, one that’s a bit more difficult to understand. It is our debt, following the instructions Jesus left us, towards every neighbour. It is mutual love in its various expressions: generosity, thoughtfulness, trust, mutual esteem, sincerity and so on (see Rom. 12, 9-12).Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.This Word of Life emphasizes two things.In the first place, love is presented as a debt, that is, as something we cannot be indifferent to, something we cannot put off. It is presented as something pressing on us, spurring us on, leaving us no peace until it is satisfied.It’s like saying that mutual love is not an ‘extra’, the result of our largesse, whose strictures we can set aside without incurring any legal penalty. This Word urges us to put mutual love into practice on pain of betraying our dignity as Christians called by Jesus to be instruments of his love in the world.Secondly, this Word of Life tells us that mutual love is the moving force, the soul and the goal of all the commandments.It follows that, if we want do the will of God well, we cannot rest content with a cold and legalistic observance of God’s commandments. We must always keep in mind the goal that God sets before us through the commandments. So, for example, to live well the commandment not to steal, we cannot limit ourselves to not stealing, but we ought to be seriously committed to eliminating social injustice. Only like this will we demonstrate love for our neighbour.Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.How should we live the Word of Life for this month?The subject of love for our neighbour, which it puts before us once again, has infinite shades of meaning. Here we pinpoint one in particular that would seem to be suggested in a special way by the words of the text.If, as Paul says, mutual love is a debt, we need to have a love that is the first to love as Jesus was with us. It will be, therefore, a love that takes the initiative, that does not hold back, that does not delay.Let’s do this in the coming month, then. Let’s try to be the first to love each person we meet, we speak to on the phone, we write to or we live with. And let’s love in a concrete way, knowing how to understand the other, foresee the other’s needs, be patient, trustful, persevering, generous.We will notice that that our spiritual life takes a qualitative leap, to say nothing of the joy that will fill our hearts.Chiara LubichFirst published in September 1990.
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