大象传媒

Please note:
This script cannot exactly reflect the transmission, as it was prepared before the service was broadcast. It may include editorial notes prepared by the producer, and minor spelling and other errors that were corrected before the radio broadcast.
It may contain gaps to be filled in at the time so that prayers may reflect the needs of the world, and changes may also be made at the last minute for timing reasons, or to reflect current events.
The music for this feature based programme is detailed in the script and came from a number of sources including commercial CD, the Birmingham Taize gathering, and St Martin's Voices a choir based at St Martin-in-the-Fields London.聽
TAIZE SCRIPTOpening Announcement [from Continuity] It鈥檚 ten past eight. This morning鈥檚 Sunday Worship explores the music and spirit of the Taiz茅 community. The preacher is Brother Alois, Prior of the Taiz茅 community who spoke at a recent Taiz茅 gathering in Birmingham鈥檚 St Martin in the Bullring. The service is led by the Bishop of Aston, the Rt Revd Anne Hollinghurst.
TAIZE CHANT: The Lord is my lightSung by St Martin鈥檚 Voices (大象传媒 recording)
+ANNEGood morning and welcome to Birmingham. I鈥檓 standing at the entrance to the Bullring shopping centre at the heart of this bustling metropolis. Next to me, between the shopping centre and the market, is the church of St Martin-in-the-Bullring, a place of stillness and the calm at the heart of this lively community.
Inside St Martin鈥檚 are gathered some six hundred young adults from across the UK and thirty other countries for Taize Birmingham, a weekend of prayer and song, community and bible study.聽
[Vox pops x 3 about being here in Birmingham] Our music today includes Taize chants recorded here in Birmingham, in the Taize community in France, and elsewhere, as well as music from other Christian traditions.
Also here this weekend is Brother Alois of the Taize Community in France, who will be offering us some reflections later in the service. He now leads us in an opening prayer.
BROTHER ALOISMerciful God, help us to wait for you in prayer, and welcome the look of love you set upon our lives. Amen.
TAIZE CHANT: Cantate DominoRecorded in Taize Birmingham
Reading (Actor)Jesus Christ, Love of all loving, you were always in me and I did not know it. You were there, and I kept on forgetting you. You were in my heart of hearts and I was looking elsewhere. Even when I remained far from you, you kept on waiting for me. And the day is coming when I can tell you: Risen Christ, you are my life: I belong to Christ, I am Christ鈥檚.
+ANNEThe words of Brother Roger, founder of the Taize Community. He had a profound intuition that people living together in community - mirroring the life of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit - could be a powerful and persuasive witness to God鈥檚 love in our world.聽
The Taize Community is perhaps best known for its short songs, or chants, sung in churches of all denominations around the world. Repeated again and again, using just a few words they express a basic reality of faith, a faith which can be quickly understood.TAIZE CHANT: Jesus, remember meSung by St Martin鈥檚 Voices (大象传媒 recording)
Brother Roger chose Taiz茅 because when he knocked on a door in the village he was welcomed in. Hospitality to the stranger a key note from the beginning. The village was mostly deserted in 1940 鈥� the country ravaged by war and the men all away fighting or working. Roger came to France precisely because of the suffering: it seemed to him exactly the right place to begin a life of prayer and service. Indeed an early ministry was that of welcoming refugees and displaced persons 鈥� a ministry still core to Taiz茅 today.聽
But what is the gift of Taiz茅, its promise and its purpose: its fundamental ordinariness. It is in so many ways an extraordinary place. But at heart it is all about 鈥渙rdinary Christianity鈥� 鈥� a group of people saying their prayers, building community and seeking to serve their neighbour. The heart of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
TAIZE CHANT: Jesus, remember meSung by St Martin鈥檚 Voices (大象传媒 recording)
Br Roger鈥檚 vision was founded in a profound understanding of Christian community. From his doctoral research on the Rule of St Benedict to the first community at Taiz茅, to the thriving monastery today and indeed in his very pragmatic practice of ecumenical Christianity. It was all rooted in his understanding of community, ordinary community, different people living, praying and serving together.聽
Br Roger was not a great preacher or writer; he was not in the academic sense a theologian or a systematic thinker. But he was a man who simply refused to recognise boundaries. 聽A Protestant pastor who received the Eucharist daily at a Catholic Mass. And the multi-lingual, trans-denominational monastic community epitomises those values today 鈥� an inclusive vision.聽
TAIZE CHANT: Jesus, remember meSung by St Martin鈥檚 Voices (大象传媒 recording)
And he knew therefore that the community had to live in a very particular way, always pointing towards the other and the God they were there to serve.聽
We refer to Taiz茅 as an 鈥渆cumenical鈥� community. The word 鈥渆cumenical鈥� means concern for the whole inhabited world 鈥� and that was ultimately the unity that Roger and the community he founded sought to serve, particularly in the person of the outcast and the stranger. The church lives to serve that greater unity, and can even be a foretaste of it. Indeed that is the experience of so many who go on pilgrimage to Taiz茅 itself.
Brother Roger and the community he founded have embedded a simple yet powerful vocabulary of peace and trust. The conviction that the God we know in Jesus meets us in our human frailty and heals us by his love. And so we are gathered this weekend in Birmingham, with those from all over the world, sharing that vision of peace and love.
MUSIC: Brother, sister, let me serve youSung by St Martin鈥檚 Voices (大象传媒 recording)
+ANNEThree times a day, everything on the hill of Taiz茅 stops: the work, the Bible studies, the discussions. Everyone is called to church for prayer. The same happens here this weekend in Birmingham. Taize worship is characterized by music, silence, and scripture.
PRAYERS, interspersed with Taize chant 鈥榁eni sancte spiritus鈥橲ung by St Martin鈥檚 Voices (大象传媒 recording)
This meditative singing becomes a way of listening to God. It allows everyone to take part in a time of prayer together and to remain together in attentive waiting on God.
At the heart of each communal act of worship there is a long period of silence, a unique moment for meeting with God. In the words of the Taize brothers: 鈥淗ow is it possible to reach inner silence? Sometimes we are apparently silent, and yet we have great discussions within, struggling with imaginary partners or with ourselves. Calming our souls requires a kind of simplicity: "I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvellous for me." The words of Brother Roger. Silence means recognising that my worries can鈥檛 do much. Silence means leaving to God what is beyond my reach and capacity. A moment of silence, even very short, is like a holy stop, a sabbatical rest, a truce of worries.

MUSIC: Da Pacem - Arvo PartSung by Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir / Paul Hillier (CD: Harmonia mundi)
+ANNEIn a few moments time Brother Alois will offer the first of three short reflections. But first we hear words from Matthew, Chapter 13, beginning at the forty-fourth verse
READING: Matthew 13: 44-46Jesus said: The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again , the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and brought it.
BROTHER ALOISWe all want to learn how to find the hidden treasures which God has placed close at hand, but which our eyes are not always able to see. These treasures lie, in particular, in the humble undertakings which many men, women and young people commit to, out of love for God and for others.
Their example encourages us to open new paths of hope in the places where we live. We live in a world in which many people see no hope. The reasons for this are many, in particular the conflicts and wars which continue with no end in sight, and attacks in many countries.
So where can we find a source of hope that does not fail? Where else, unless in the love which God has for humankind and for each person? We receive God鈥檚 compassion as a gift which is freely bestowed, for it is inherent in God鈥檚 very identity: God is love.
In the gospel, we are told that God鈥檚 love is like that of a shepherd who does everything to find the one sheep out of a hundred which has gone missing. For him that one sheep is irreplaceable. Because it has been lost, it counts more than the ninety-nine which are still with him. God鈥檚 kindness is for every one of us, and in a particular way for those who feel lost, who have become separated from God, or who have been hurt in their body or in their heart by life events.
So we can assure each person of this: God loves you as the person you are, God is close to you for all time. God鈥檚 compassion for us impels us, in our turn, to live in solidarity with others, and to sustain the hope of those who have been sent to us, especially those who are vulnerable.
TAIZE CHANT: Nada te turbeSung by St Martin鈥檚 Voices (大象传媒 recording)
READING: Romans 12: 2,9-12
A reading from Romans, Chapter 12.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God鈥攚hat is good and acceptable and perfect.
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.
BROTHER ALOISGod鈥檚 compassion for us impels us to live in solidarity with others. And so our heart becomes open to the anguish of others, whether it is material poverty or another kind of suffering altogether.
There are many forms of hidden distress: an immigrant or a refugee, a child in pain, a family in difficulty, a homeless person, a young person who sees no meaning in life, an elderly person living in solitude, someone suffering from their illness or disability.
Going with the little that we have. Yes, with very little, with practically nothing, we can approach those who feel excluded or abandoned.
And we shall make this discovery : the poor have something to say. It is not only a matter of helping them, but of receiving something from them.
When, even with empty hands, we go towards those who are poorer than we are, we receive joy. Often the disadvantaged, by their need of others, lead us to a generosity which takes us out of ourselves. They help us to accept our own vulnerability.
And still more: they can help us enter into a greater intimacy with Jesus, who was poor among the poor. We can serve Jesus in them.
Today, there are strong tensions and upheavals in our societies. So we all need to make a strong inner decision in order not to give in to discouragement, but to be creators of trust and hope, whatever the situation. What decision?
One which consists in rooting our lives more and more deeply in the good news of the Gospel. Faith and trust in God cannot be just a side interest for us. It means nothing less than putting Christ over and over again at the centre of our life. What a fine way for us to live this Easter season!
The King of love (St Columba)Sung by St Martin's Voices (大象传媒 recording) The King of love (St Columba)Sung by St Martin's Voices (大象传媒 recording)

PRAYERS, interspersed with Taize chant 鈥榁eni sancte spiritus鈥橲ung by St Martin鈥檚 Voices (大象传媒 recording)
For those who are drawing near the light of faith, guide their steps into the communion of the body of Christ. God of love, hear us we pray
Forgive those who oppress us or distort our best intentions; forgive us also and remedy our acts of injustice. God of love, hear us we pray

READING: JOHN 13:34-35A reading from John, Chapter 13
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.鈥�
BROTHER ALOISOn Easter Day a young person asked me: how would you explain Jesus鈥� resurrection in simple words to someone who does not share our faith? It鈥檚 not an easy question. I spoke to him about the life of our brothers in one very poor country; they have been living there for over forty years among the very poorest people.
The overwhelming majority of people in that country are very different in faith and culture from us. How can one be a witness of the risen Christ there? It is not by speaking a lot, but by welcoming others, by becoming close to them, by admiring their sense of beauty and poetry, and also by sharing their difficulties, allowing them to feel that they are loved.
How can we bear witness to the hope of the resurrection? It is not so much by our words, but by the lives we lead that we show Christ鈥檚 love for every person.
By his resurrection, Christ has built a bridge between death and life, between despair and hope 鈥� a bridge which leads beyond death, beyond violence. As we follow Christ, we too can build bridges, even in places where it looks impossible. Wherever there are divisions, separations and fractures, we can be creators ofpeace and community.
We can do this by developing an attitude of reciprocal hospitality with those who appear to be far from us: those whom we don鈥檛 understand, and who think differently from us.
At certain times, of course, we are asked questions and it becomes possible to speak about our faith in words.
But let us remember that Christ calls us to become more fully human, rather than to be people of many words.
On that path we discover an unrivalled source of joy. So then, may the joy of the risen Christ come to fill our hearts!
MUSIC: Now the Green blade riseth (Simon Lindley)Sung by St Martin鈥檚 Voices (大象传媒 recording)
We say the Lord鈥檚 Prayer together.
Our Father, who art in heaven,hallowed be thy name;thy kingdom come;thy will be done;on earth as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread.And forgive us our trespasses,as we forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation;but deliver us from evil.For thine is the kingdom,the power and the glory,for ever and ever.Amen.
+ANNE BLESSING
TAIZE CHANT: Surrexit Christus, AlleluiaFrom CD: Taize 鈥� Music of Unity and Peace (Universal Music)
Closing announcement from Contuinuity:Sunday Worship was recorded at a Taiz茅 gathering in Birmingham and was led by the Bishop of Aston, the Rt Revd Anne Hollinghurst. The producer was Andrew Earis.Next week Sunday Worship comes from Guildford Cathedral and features the ordination of candidates for the Priesthood.大象传媒 Radio 2 is seeking its Young Choristers of the Year 2017 and a link to the competition can be found on the Sunday Worship web pages.