At short notice, students from a grammar school invited me to their A-level Religious Education course. Their topic was: Church as a place of hope. I had had to postpone a few appointments to make the meeting possible. They began with a brief introduction of the go4peace network and then asked me a dozen prepared questions. I was able to answer in a very personal and experience-based way. At the end of the meeting, one pupil said: "I could have listened to you much longer. How is it that you are so happy and hopeful despite the difficult situation of the church and all the scandals in the church? I'm really impressed!" Again I tried to answer personally: "When I use the word church with you, I am sure that many of you think of a building or the hierarchy or liturgies that are strange to you. In any case, all this has little to do with you and your life. Everything you think of when you hear the word church has to do with the church, of course. But for me, church is first and foremost an 'event'. The living Jesus wants to happen among us. And he does this when we love one another as best we can. This is precisely the experience we can have with each other right now. The hidden God is among us and the tracks to his presence are the joy, the openness, the peace and the fire among us!" After the lesson, a pupil came up to me. As she left, she smiled at me and said: "I'm sure we'll meet again!"
