One of the sources of inspiration to Christian communities like our own over the years has been the Religious Life, those vowed men and women who lead an intentional community life of faith. In the Anglican tradition the post Reformation revival of the religious life is associated in England, this country and also in Australia with the Tractarian Revival of the 19th century and its continuing effect well into and beyond the 20th century. This parish was intimately associated for instance with the founding of the Order of the Holy Cross and has friendships today with that order, the Sisters of St Helena on 28th Street as well as with the Community of the Holy Spirit on the Upper West Side where I say mass regularly as a Priest Associate. Others of you will have connections with other religious orders both Anglican, Roman Catholic and in other traditions. For instance in Australia I have a close association with the Community of the Transfiguration, a Baptist religious community for men and women. These intentional Christian communities living the vowed life are not simply ends in themselves but signs and sources of inspiration to the whole church in living out the communal dimension of its faith. My own experience is that times spent on retreat or in visits to and in continuing friendship with religious communities can be a source of encouragement and hope in my own life of faith. Simply to enter into the round of prayer; to experience the hospitality of a community; to be listened to and encouraged by members of a community; and to enter the calming peace of a religious house can restore your sense of perspective and focus your priorities and prepare you to be a better builder of community in your own setting.

A recent tragic event recalled me to the importance of religious community to my own development. Many of you will have read recently of the death of Brother Roger Schutz of Taize. At age 91 and soon to step down as Prior of the community which he established in the 1940s in Burgundy in France he was murdered by a crazed woman during community prayers in the Church of the Resurrection at Taize. I want to speak a little about Brother Roger and the Taize Community for both had a profound effect on my own life and on the universal church and I need to pay proper tribute. Some of you may have attended the Diocesan Memorial Service for Brother Roger some weeks ago at the Cathedral.

My own associations with Taize began in 1973 when as a young priest I stayed with the community for 10 memorable days and then returned for a second visit in 1974. I had heard about the community, the first Protestant religious community since the Reformation from a priest mentor in Australia and was urged to visit it on my first visit to Europe on my way to work in England. I arrived at Taize, a rather remote village in Burgundy, not far from Clunys, in a snowstorm. What I do remember about that arrival and my struggle with my broken French was the immediate sense of being made welcome. The fact that I had simply arrived without notice did not seem to matter to the community. What was important was that I had come and they took my coming seriously. When they discovered that I was an Anglican priest from far off Australia they took even greater care of me which was kind though unlooked for. That tradition of hospitality goes back to the Rule of St Benedict and is central to Christian community. I have emphasized that in my preaching here again and again because the way we show hospitality reflects our faith in the hospitality of God. So began my time with the Taize community. In the days to follow I learnt much about worship and prayer, about reflecting with others on the Christian life, simply about being with others intentionally.

One thing about Taize needs to be said and that from the beginning it has been an ecumenical community. Although its origins were in the French Reformed church soon brothers came from other Protestant traditions and then from Anglican, Orthodox and eventually Roman Catholic backgrounds. It was at Taize for instance that icons were used in worship outside the Orthodox tradition; it was there that a style of music was developed that drew on different musical traditions and has become deservedly popular throughout the church. Indeed one of the very attractive things about worship at Taize was this blend of styles which somehow made everyone feel at home. Through the inspiration of Brother Roger and his confreres this Taize style developed an authenticity of its own. I will never forget my first experience of evening prayer in the vast concrete Church of the Resurrection. On entering this large space with no pews or chairs and largely lit by candles I was struck by the deep sense of prayerfulness as the large and young congregation gathered for worship. Notices as you approached the church encouraged silence. Nearer the time of worship the organ played and then stopped; the bells rang out that worship was about to begin; and then a deep silence fell. It was a silence I will never forget; it was a palpable silence; a silence pregnant with expectation. Then from the center of the church where forty or fifty brother sat in white robes for worship a voice rang out in French, “Lord open our lips”. There followed the psalmody, simple chants, the reading in several languages, and the prayers, all very much like our own service of Evening Prayer. It was spacious, prayerful and quite simple in form. But it was this prayer offered morning and evening that was central to and sustained the life of the community. What I will never forget was the quality of silence in that communal setting. It taught me so much in our word filled life that silence has its proper place. Silence complements and enriches our words and actions in worship. So often I have been afraid of silence in worship as if it were a failure or a mistake to filled in or covered over. At Taize I learnt that silence, our silence before God is valuable part of our response.

Brother Roger in his teaching which he gave on Sundays and on a regular weekday and in his writings emphasizes the place of silence as a preparation for our actions and engagements with the world. He talks of Contemplation and Action; not one at the expense of the other; but both together, one feeding the other. Contemplation leading to Action and Engagement and Action leading again to Contemplation. Brother Roger and his community have lived that model in both their worship and in their engagement in the world and particularly with the poor. One of the areas in which Taize has become most noted is its engagement with the youth of the world. From the late 60s onward young people from all over Europe and then from around the world have found their way to Taize and have discovered a place of fresh, new and inspiring life. In response to their coming Brother Roger initiated the World Conference of Youth in 1974. I was privileged to attend the first conference with 50,000 others. These conferences and youth gatherings have taken place in many countries and cities over the years and have breathed new life into many people and church communities.

One last reminiscence. In 1974 Brother Roger was awarded the second Templeton Prize for Religion; Mother Teresa of Calcutta receiving the first. The Templeton Prize founded by a billionaire from Tennessee is a sort of Nobel Prize for Religion. At the award ceremony in London I had the privilege of meeting Brother Roger who in his typical way embraced me warmly. In that moment I knew I had met a saint. People from all religious backgrounds or none found inspiration from him. Pope John XXIII called Taize a “springtime in the church”. At the funeral of Pope John Paul II the ageing Brother Roger was given holy communion by the then Cardinal Ratzinger, a gesture both generous and appropriate.

So thanks be to God for Brother Roger and his community at Taize for all the contribution they have and will make to the church as it seeks to live out the life of faith. May his and their example help us to live out the life as the Community of Faith here at Transfiguration.

May Roger of Taize rest in peace and rise in glory. Amen and Alleluia.

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