Posted: March 4

One prayer, many voices

(Warsaw) Our day started with Mass, the sun shining through the windows behind the altar of the small chapel at the European Center for Communication and Culture. That is a long name for a small center on the outskirts of Warsaw where 21 webmasters from European Jesuit provinces gathered for their third annual meeting. Rain and high winds had delayed my flight from Rome the day before, so I was glad to see the sun. I was also happy to be with this group of mostly younger Jesuits, many of them still scholastics studying philosophy or theology. Father Dermot O'Connor, an Irish Jesuit now working in Brussels, presided at the Mass and led us in sining a few simple chants. He has a good voice so we even manaed to do some harmony at times.

The key moment came when we got to the Our Father and Dermot suggested that we all pray together but each one say this central prayer in his own language. The group includes Jesuits whose native languages include German, Polish, Romanian, Maltese, Ukranian, English, Catalan, Flemish, Dutch, Hungarian, French, Croatian and Italian. The prayer Jesus taught us became a soft harmony of many different words that united us around the table of the Lord. All day long we speak Enlish as the common language of this meeting, yet his one moment of prayer reminded me of the richness in culture and backgrounds that could separate us, or could enrich us if we continue to focus on the central thread that unites us.

This experience at Mass echoes the challenge we face: to present the work and resources of the Society of Jesus all over Europe. The cultures vary from place to place, so colors that work well in one place don't in another. Web design has to accommodate itself to local situations, yet we must find a way to communicate with every one. We begin by learning to communicate among ourselves. I feel confident that we can widen that circle of unity.