Translated into 58 languages (including 23 Asian and 7 African ones), this letter was written by Brother Roger for the eighteenth European meeting of young adults, held this year in Wroclaw, Poland. It will be reflected on during the INTERCONTINENTAL MEETINGS OF YOUNG ADULTS that will take place each week in Taizé throughout 1996, bringing together young people from the East and West of Europe as well as from other continents. This letter was partly inspired by a time spent by Brother Roger and several other brothers in SOUTH AFRICA in May 1995.

Borne forward by this breeze, 2 who would not wish to alleviate human suffering and trials?

Even when our feet stumble along a stony path, who would not wish to put these Gospel words into practice in their life: "Whatever you do for the least, the most destitute, you are doing for me, Christ"? 3

A century after Christ, a believer wrote: "Clothe yourself in cheerfulness... Cleanse your heart of harmful sadness and you will live for God." 4

Whoever lives for God chooses to love. Making such a choice one's own calls for unfailing vigilance.

A heart determined to love can radiate goodness without end. Its great concern is to relieve the torments of others nearby and far away.

Whoever lives for God glimpses this extraordinary reality: all of us are inhabited by a presence, that presence with which Christ comes to suffuse our lives. Before his resurrection he assured us of this: "I will send you the Holy Spirit, who will remain with you always." 5 Not just for a few fleeting moments, but for ever.

For us today, Christ Jesus is still what he was for his disciples when he lived on earth. 6 Christ becomes our life. 7 It is up to us to open our hearts to him just as they are.

And then one of the secrets of the Gospel is revealed: everything in our present and future existence depends upon the trust we place in Christ and in the Holy Spirit.

If an inner fog were to make us drift far away from the humble trust of faith, 8 Christ does not abandon us for all that. No one is excluded from his love... nor from his forgiveness, nor from his presence.

And if discouragement and even doubts arise within us, 9 Christ does not love us any the less. He is there, lighting up the way... And his call rings out ceaselessly: "Come, follow me!" 10

Following him with a steadfast heart does not mean lighting fireworks that flare up brightly and then go out just as quickly.

The trusting of faith requires clear-sightedness. How could we ever cast another person into confusion by exalting our own faith? If faith became a spiritual pretension it would lead us nowhere; it would ultimately extinguish the mystical longing of our soul.

Torments brought on by memories of a recent or distant past can hold back the gentle breeze of a trust. The Gospel suggests that we not look back, 11 that we not linger over our failures, over what has wounded the depths of our being.

Endless discussions with ourselves can clutter our being and keep peace of heart far away. When we are beset by conflicting impressions, in order to safeguard an inner joy, it can happen that we find the boldness to repeat to ourselves: "Do not let my darkness speak to me!"

Daring to pray, daring to sing to Christ until we are joyful and serene... 12 Not with just any kind of joy, but with that joy which comes straight from the wellsprings of the Gospel.

So often we do not know how to pray! 13 But "the Holy Spirit comes to help us in our weakness." 14 The Spirit inspires and sustains our prayer more than we realize, re-creating an inner unity when we are scattered or fragmented within. And we come to understand that there is no inner unity without peace of heart.

During his earthly life, Jesus prayed and his face was transfigured by light. 15 Imploring, he also prayed with tears. 16

In all of us God accomplishes miracles, a healing of the soul. With wonder, we respond in the spirit of praise. It is up to us, then, to leave a "harmful sadness" behind by casting worry, anguish and fear into the crucible of prayer. 17 And the Gospel's joy, the spirit of praise, will always require an inner decision on our part, one that is renewed at every moment.

In the presence of God's infinite compassion, our innermost being is seized and becomes able to glimpse a road that leads to the holiness of Christ. 18

To live as people who are reconciled ! Discovering a communion of love with Christ leads us not to remain isolated. 19

In that communion which is the Body of Christ, his Church, God will never impose impossible conditions on us. Where then would his love be? As soon as there is the simple desire for God, for Christ and for the Gospel, even if we do not understand very much, faith has already begun its work in us. 20

When the Church welcomes with great simplicity, 21 when it is concerned to love and understand the mystery of every human being, it becomes what it is at its most transparent, the light of a love. 22

Today, more than we realize, a great many young people aspire to a communion in God. 23 The lives of many of them are rooted in a clear trust in Christ. But a question remains: "Why are multitudes of young people in vast regions of the world still indifferent to the trust of faith and absent from worship in the churches?" 24

In all of us there arise these pressing questions: is it possible to let a single day go by without searching with all our soul for the reason why so many young people are absent? And in the face of this situation, attentive to simplicity, what can we undertake without a moment's delay, sustained by that communion of love which is the Body of Christ, his Church?

Are we sufficiently aware that it is our vocation to live as people who are reconciled? Today this is becoming an urgent necessity. It makes it possible for the Gospel to be lived out in its first freshness. 25 On the one hand, to live as people who are reconciled always gives renewed meaning to the communion between Christians. And on the other, Christians can be made more aware of the fact that, in secularized societies, reconciliation is just as vital as daily bread.

Whoever consents to such a vocation radiates the Gospel in peace of heart, not only among believers but towards non-believers as well. 26

In the face of the void left by the departure of so many Christians, the Holy Spirit causes a tiny flame to flare up. It is the wonder of a love. Such a love frees us from our fears. It alone draws us out, leading us far, as far as reconciliation.

This flame can be very faint at times, but faith sheds its light even in the dark corners of our being. And the fire of the Holy Spirit comes rushing in. This fire is mercy.

A ministry in the Church has no other aim than to try and open gates of mercy.

The human family will know a future of peaceful trust as long as there are men, women and children on earth who love, pray and dare to take risks by giving their lives for Christ and the Gospel. 27

But there are people whose failures and disappointments lead them to believe that it is not possible to change society. Their main concern is their own immediate future. And so this grave question arises: how can we go forward when our own future is blocked? 28

It is easy to understand that choosing to love means also paying attention to one of the trials of our day, unemployment. How, then, can we strive to create viable living conditions for the excluded and for the most destitute? 29

And if struggle and contemplation are both Gospel realities, are we not called to give our lives to alleviate human suffering ?

So when the life of a child is undermined by broken relationships, who will know how to remain alongside him or her with infinite discretion and kindness ? Who will help such children find their way through the anguish of abandonment, and the anxiety of not knowing that they are loved for what they are ?

If our steps were to become heavy and sluggish, would we still be able to discern the desert flower? It blossoms at sunrise, in the hours of constant new beginnings, when a gentle breeze of trusting enables us to go forward and to go a long way on the road of an inexhaustible goodness. 30

One of the ultimate meanings of our existence is to love life on earth and at the same time to long for a beyond, for a life that will never end. 31

In our societies, which are so complex at times, 32 the Gospel lets light shine through and it tells us, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be as well." 33

Where is our treasure ? It consists in clothing ourselves in joy and in peace of heart. And all around us, life will become beautiful.

1 In May 1995, a meeting of young adults in South Africa made it possible to understand better the beautiful hope which is arising in that country. Even with very little, women, men and young people in South Africa can already accomplish more than they ever thought they could for justice and equality.

2 Beginning in about the 1970s, a breakdown of spiritual values began to occur in the Western world and a void was created. A void can be filled up with many different things, even the strangest ideas. In those years, social upheavals were sometimes so violent that they wounded the consciousness of some Christians. So many final judgements were passed, so much harshness expressed. This pressure even caused some people to stop believing in the worth of the life they had been living up to that point. At that time we said in Taizé: it is not for Christians to be "masters of worry"; they are "servants of trust." And so the idea of undertaking a "pilgrimage of trust on earth" was born.

3 See Matthew 25,40.

4 Hermas, second century.

5 See John 14,16 and 16,7.

6 See Hebrews 13,8 and Matthew 28,20.

7 See Galatians 2,20 and Colossians 3,3-4.

8 For a person devoid of instruction as well as for the most cultivated one, faith remains a humble trust in Christ, in the Holy Spirit. The call of the Gospel is received first and foremost in the heart, in other words in the deepest part of our being.

9 Doubt can arise in anybody's life. But there is nothing alarming about doubt. Even when Jesus was on earth, some of those closest to him doubted. A believer said to him, "I believe...," in other words "I trust you," but then immediately added these words: "Come and help my unbelief" (Mark 9,24).

10 Mark 10,21.

11 See Luke 9,62.

12 See Ephesians 5,19-20.

13 In order to pray, sometimes just a single word or a few words are enough. Some Eastern Christians are very attached to the prayer of the Name of Jesus; there are people who express the fullness of a communion simply by repeating the name Jesus again and again. There are short prayers, sung many times over, which are able to dispel dark clouds: "Jesus your light is shining within us; let not my doubts and my darkness speak to me; let my heart always welcome your love" (adapted from a prayer written by Saint Augustine in about the year 400). Some people constantly repeat this age-old prayer: "Let nothing trouble you; God alone suffices." Or they pray to Christ: "In you peace of heart!" Some pray on their knees, others fold their hands or lift them up, or pray with their foreheads to the ground, like the disciples at the end of Luke's Gospel (see Luke 24,52).

14 Romans 8,26

15 See Luke 9,29

16 See Hebrews 5,7. At the end of his life, Jesus let a prayer of confident trust rise to his lips, a prayer that we too can repeat: "Into your hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23,46), in other words: "Into your hands I entrust my entire life."

17 See Philippians 4,6-7 and 1 Peter 5,7.

18 So many people on earth radiate the holiness of Christ without realizing it and perhaps without even daring to believe it.

19 When the young are able to join in the celebrations of a local Christian community, a parish, they renew hope in the older generations. Many people are looking for parish communities to be places of prayer where the mystery of God is immediately perceptible and not smothered by too many words. Would it be possible to prepare a prayer in a church, for example on at least two Friday evenings a month, a prayer that is simple but characterized by the beauty of singing ? A space of silence in the middle of the prayer opens the way to a communion with Christ and the Holy Spirit (one period of silence is enough; too many become tedious). In secularized societies, it is good too for our homes to give people a glimpse of an invisible presence by a few symbols of Christ. In one room we can set up a corner for prayer, however small it may be, with an icon, a candle...

20 A seventeen-year-old boy wrote to Taizé one day : "Before the age of 13 or 14, I never had the opportunity to ask myself questions about faith. Today, I am searching. I tried to read the Bible, but I found it hard to understand. Two or three times I took part in a Eucharist and I was more moved than I had ever been in my entire life. I felt I had been touched by God's grace. I started to believe from that moment on and, one day, I felt the need to speak with someone who could help me to understand the faith."

21 Simplicity, whether in the life of the Church or in our personal lives, is never an ice-cold austerity; it never entails glumness. The spirit of simplicity shines out in serene joy, in cheerfulness of heart. Simplifying invites us to arrange what little we have with harmony.

22 If those called to speak about the Gospel or to pray aloud in front of others could say to themselves: "May your prayer and your words never contain a threat in the name of God!" God is love. He does not make use of fear to impose himself upon human beings. Even when Christ was mistreated, he did not threaten anyone (see 1 Peter 2,23).

23 Some of the young are increasingly attentive to prayer and to the wellsprings of the faith. Many aspire to an inner unity and to peace of heart. They are eager to participate with others in a prayer where a contemplative dimension is not lacking.

24 For some young people, the choice to take part in the life of a parish or congregation is not self-evident. That is why it is essential for them to be given challenging responsibilities to communicate Christ to others, and for their elders to take this collaboration seriously.

25 A Gospel freshness is incompatible with polemics that leave behind a taste of bitterness and self-righteousness.

26 Experiencing an inner emptiness, some people wonder: "But where is God?" (Psalm 42,3). And yet, does not the Risen Christ remain alongside every person, even those who are unaware of him (see 1 Peter 3,18-20)? Is not every human being visited by the Spirit of God (see Joel 3,1)?

27 Many would like to prepare themselves to assume responsibilities with a view to taking part in the building up of a Europe which is peaceful and reconciled, where tolerance is held in high esteem. Those who commit all their energies to fostering reconciliation are opening up incalculable perspectives for the future of the European family. And since young people from other continents come to Taizé, too, they ask the same question regarding the places where they live.

28 They are not necessarily indifferent to the future of the human family. Many of them are affected by the suffering of people nearby or far away. But in their eyes, to try and make society better would mean risking disillusionment right from the start, so they feel that it is better not to try, and prefer instead to remain uninvolved.

29 At this period in history, many young believers are aware that faith does not turn them into people who are irresponsible. They are trying to make the earth a better place, among other things through humanitarian initiatives, by taking on responsibilities that may be very simple but are quite down-to-earth. There is an unprecedented awakening of the Christian conscience with regard to suffering across the world. Close to the forgotten of the earth - the excluded, the destitute, the persecuted - more and more people are looking for solutions.

30 Happy those who live in the trusting of faith; they will see God! How will they see him? Like Mary who, attentive, "kept everything in her heart" (Luke 2,19.51) and saw God with her inward eye.

31 See Philippians 1,21-25.

32 Wherever we are on this earth, we belong to societies which are complex and sometimes in turmoil. The Church has taken its place in these societies, and so it too can be shaken. So we remember that, in the Gospel, Christ tells us, "Don't worry!" (see Matthew 6,25-34). It is not an easy matter to put these words into practice in our lives! Not worrying never means being naive. Christ did not say, "Don't be clear-sighted!" The Gospel invites us to use good judgement (see Matthew 10,16).

33 Matthew 6,21.