WHAT THE VATICAN
IS TELLING US

Here are the basics about Jubilee 2000:

First of all, the Great Jubilee Year is a one-year world-wide event, which the Pope has invited everyone -- even non-Catholics, non-Christians, businesses, banks and countries -- to participate in. Pope John Paul II puts forth this invitation in an apostolic letter, Tertio Milennio Adveniente (On the Coming of the Third Millennium), and a papal bull, Incarnationis Mysterium (Mystery of the Incarnation). (Note, these links will open a new window and take you to the Vatican website. Your current window will remain open to easily return to; exception: WebTV users must use their back function to return here.)

In these documents, the pope speaks extensively about our Church history and a renewed hope for the future. He says, “…Christians need to place themselves humbly before the Lord and examine themselves on the responsibility which they too have for the evils of our day.”

This is a time of:

  • Spiritual Renewal
  • Evangelization
  • Celebrating 2000 Years of Christianity
  • Faith, Hope and Charity
  • Creation: "Tending God's Garden"
  • Justice and Equality
  • Forgiveness of Debts

The general message of the Great Jubilee, according to the Vatican, is to strengthen our faith and bear witness to it. How do we do this?

To strengthen our faith we need to:

  • read scripture
  • study the Catechism of the Catholic Church
  • take part in the Liturgy (especially at Mass)

To bear witness to our faith, we need to:

  • possess Christian commitment in all aspects of our lives
  • perform works of charity
  • offer our sufferings to God so we may be united to the Cross of Christ which saves us

In addition, the Pope says, faith, hope and charity are instrumental in bearing witness to the Christian faith:

”The Jubilee celebration should confirm the Christians of today in their faith in God who has revealed himself in Christ, sustain their hope which reaches out in expectation of eternal life, and rekindle their charity in active service to their brothers and sisters.”

A YEAR OF LOVE

The Vatican reminds us that the Jubilee "is a special call to understand better the mystery of the Incarnation….” We are to recall that God sent us his Son Jesus because of his great love for us. Because of this, we are to love one another as He has loved us.

Everyone is being called to “reflect on God who is Love.” The Holy Year is a year of spiritual renewal, an opportunity to make Christ ever more personal in our lives, and a time to more fully receive the love of God and and grow in love for God.

A YEAR OF CELEBRATION

Christians are celebrating the Jubilee Year by:

  1. a revision of their own lives
  2. a heartfelt repentance
  3. an unyielding resolution to “come to Christ” (see Matt. 11:28).
Pope John Paul II said: "The coming millennium must not be considered simply as another step in the passage of time, but as a step in the journey of humanity toward its definitive destiny.... The year 2000 is not only the passageway to another millennium; it is the gateway of eternity.... The true danger is not the passing of time, but spending it badly, refusing the eternal life offered by Christ." (from his Dec. 10, 1997, weekly general audience)

A YEAR OF FORGIVING DEBTS

One of the major themes of the Great Jubilee Year is financial, based on the tradition of Old Testament jubilees (see Leviticus 25). The Pope is inviting banks, businesses, and countries as well as individuals to forgive debts owed to them, especially the huge financial debts that underprivileged, developing countries are suffering under. This call to debt forgiveness is to be incorporated worldwide as an act of justice that will help build world peace.

A YEAR OF RECONCILIATION

"As the third millennium of the new era draws near, our thoughts turn spontaneously to the words of the Apostle Paul: "When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman" (Gal 4:4). The fullness of time coincides with the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word, of the Son who is of one being with the Father, and with the mystery of the Redemption of the world" (Pope John Paul II in Tertio Milennio Adveniente).

For many people, the "fullness of time" means that the end of the world is at hand, and that the year 2000 marks the beginning of the end. Historically, whenever a year ending with the number zero has approached, people have speculated that something drastic, even disasterous, is about to occur. It's called the "zero effect." Now we have a triple zero! What does it mean?

While numerous voices warn, "Repent, for the end is near!" Pope John Paul II is saying, "Repent, for a new beginning has come!" Writing about the origination of jubilee years in Old Testament history, he wrote in his apostolic letter, "One of the most significant consequences of the Jubilee year was the general 'emancipation' of all the dwellers on the land in need of being freed." In the Roman Catholic tradition, a Jubilee is a Holy Year, a year of receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the forgiveness of sins and also indulgences from the punishment due to sin. It's a year of reconciliation between adversaries, of year of conversion and change, and year of commitment to serve God with joy and in peace with our brothers and sisters. A Jubilee year is above all the year of Christ, who brings life and grace to humanity. Jubilee 2000 can be our own personal emancipation from everything that has been holding us back or slowing us down from becoming healthier, holier, and happier persons.