Silence of the Heart: A Taize Week Experience

I have known Taize chants since my High School days, but only now that I appreciate more about them. I often see them typed in most songbooks.

The fast-paced world and a multitude of technology-driven realities make it almost impossible for a person to be silent. From Monday to Friday, I am occupied with many assignments and tasks, and the demand to finish them on time becomes prevalent. However, the “noise” offered to me by this world triggers a cathode of persistence in bringing out the eagerness and the thirst to find inner silence.

Aside from the daily routine as a working citizen; there are also "other" things in my life which control me because of my existing status. I use Facebook (as I type this reflection). I utilize Multiply (as I upload the photos). I do read novels by Paulo Coelho, Stephenie Meyer, Emile Durkheim, and Joel Osteen during my vacant hours. I do surf the net. I play PSP. I switch on my iPod and enjoy listening to music. With all the tasks that I do, I think that I cannot be calm even for just a minute. Or so I thought?

But I was wrong. The encounter with the Taize Brothers, and the experience of praying with my fellow youth from around the world have taught me the most basic need of all… silencing. If I will set aside all of me, silence will be the only thing left. The experience of journeying with the Taize Brothers and the young people has taught me how to trust, how to love, and how to appreciate even the little qualities and talents that I have. The experience has taught me the many wonders in life that I often disregarded. It is a turning point, from a shallow and empty self to a meaningful and deep-coarse self.

Together with the other young people who chose to commit five straight days to be able to dole out a piece of effort and time working hand in hand with the other people, I chose to join the pilgrimage of trust as a volunteer-pilgrim not just to experience the wide array of activities in store but to be able to exercise my Salesian option… youth serving youth. Without a second thought, I joined the pilgrimage since it was an opportunity for me to calm down amidst the busiest avenues of my life, more so, because it is my way of fulfilling my mission as a young Christian and a payback for all the goodness God has given me through the years.

Even though the 5-day experience of journeying with them has ended, and the pilgrims have gone back home, the pilgrimage continues. Like what Bro. Alois and the rest of the Taize Brothers had said, the 5-day experience is just the beginning of life’s sojourn. Even if it is not natural to me, I found out that silence is the thing I badly needed in my life.

Jan Michael Jose- Juventus