Great Jubilee Preparations

Broken Bay Diocesan News, July 1997 - Issue #1

Pope John Paul 11 has declared the year 2000 as a Great Jubilee Year. The concept of a Jubilee year goes back to the Old Testament when such years were times of rejoicing; of thanking God for the goodness of the earth and to wipe slates clean and begin a new beginning.

Debts were cancelled, the fields were left fallow, slaves were set free, and a great spiritual cleansing took place among the chosen people.

In declaring the year 2000 a Great Jubilee the Pope is preparing us to enter the third millennium with a sense of pride and belonging in the anniversary of Christ coming among us with the message of Salvation - and as a great impetus to enter the third Millennium with a renewed vigour of faith and practical Christianity.

In preparation for the event, he has written an encyclical "The Coming of the Third Millennium" (Tertio Millennio Adventiente) in which he outlines a three year plan of action for the whole Catholic world. He invites all Christians to join with him in this endeavour.

The preparatory years are designated as: 1997 the Year of Jesus Christ; 1998 the Year of the Holy Spirit; 1999 the Year of the Father and the Year 2000 when the actual Jubilee will be celebrated in Rome, in the Holy land, and in each diocese throughout the world, the year of the Trinity.

Core themes of the Jubilee are calls to unity and a new evangelism. The Pope has been actively canvassing these themes and his prayer is that by the time we come to Easter 2001, we will have taken huge strides towards unity, and a more equitable sharing of responsibility for our world.

In Broken Bay, the theme for 1997 was taken up by Bishop Walker in his extensive Lenten program, and it is hoped that the yearly themes will continue in 1998/99.  A universal Prayer card will be shortly distributed to every parish and school in the Diocese so that we can all pray, together with Pope John Paul, for this great event.

To further involve the people of Broken Bay, it is proposed to establish a committee in the Diocese to work on both the parish and Diocesan level as we build momentum towards 2000. It may be possible to achieve a Diocesan Event to celebrate together and invite all Christians to share with us this time of extraordinary grace.

The year 2000 has several significances for us in Australia: the Olympics in Sydney, the celebration of the Centenary of our Federation as a single Nation, and the Great Jubilee.

While each of these is separate and has its own agenda, the Great Jubilee is something that can have very lasting effects for all of us as we take up the challenge of Pope John Paul to make, not just a new year resolution, but a new millennium resolution in the spirit that Jesus came into our world to proclaim.

If you are interested in being involved in the preparation for the Great Jubilee on both the Diocesan and Parish level, please come to an open meeting to form a Working Committee for the Great Jubilee on Thursday August, 14^th, 7:30pm at the Diocesan Office, 29 Yardley Avenue, 1st floor, Waitara.  Ring Fr. Bill Stevens (Willoughby) on 9958-8846 or fax 9958-0438.