Strong Jubilee aid to prayer

Broken Bay Diocesan News, October 1997 - Issue #4

By now you will have seen the Jubilee 2000 Poster and the special prayer card with the Icon of Jesus and the Jubilee Prayer.  The Icon is a very dramatic work of the artist Marek Grzegorek; it was commissioned for the Jubilee.

This Icon, reproduced on the Poster and the Prayer card shows Jesus in his human form in the divine role of both Creator and Redeemer. He is seated on a throne giving a benediction with his right hand, and holding in his left hand the Book of the Gospels.

Surrounding his head is the traditional halo of holiness, and within the halo there is a cross – the traditional Christian symbol – and three Greek letters which spell out the text of Exodus 3:14 "I Am Who Am".

While he is living and in human form, he is also eternal God – both Creator and Redeemer.

The Icon is not meant to be simply looked at, but to becomes a powerful aid to prayer. It would be difficult to combine so much symbolism, history, tradition, and challenge in any other art form, and so this Icon becomes for us a potent pennant for our journey of faith and evangelisation as we stride into the third millennium

In Australia, the preparation for the Great Jubilee is well under way. The yearly themes are being used by Bishop Walker in his Lenten conferences, and the Australian Bishops have issued a letter to all Australians. This letter will be available shortly on our Broken Bay Jubilee internet website.

[Note: click on highlighted text above to take you to that letter now !]

Addressing all Australians, our Bishops welcome the year 2000 in our Nation as a time of intense celebration – the Sydney Olympics and the Centenary of our Federation make it a time of great rejoicing.

The other anniversary that is significant for us is that the new millennium also marks the 2000^th. Anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ and the initiation of the central events of our salvation. This Jubilee is of utmost importance for all the peoples of the world, and deserves to be celebrated globally. Following Pope John Paul II’s encyclical, the Bishops have called us to same goals as found in the Biblical celebration of Jubilee Years as found in Lev. 25.10 – a time to recover freedom, property, the restoration of the land and the protection of the poor and disadvantaged.

If we as human being enjoy the brotherhood of the world, how much more are we bound to address these issues as followers and family of Jesus Christ. "Christians have to raise their voice on behalf of all the poor of the world" (#51 T.M.A.).

To adequately celebrate such a Jubilee requires adequate preparation not only in order to look forward, but also to look back into the past, owning it, and being responsible for making positive commitments in the future. Hence part of the preparation is a call for repentance.

It is a time to explore more deeply the issues of Unity, Ecumenism and Dialogue. The Bishops re affirm commitment to working with other Churches and other world religions in a congenial manner.

Finally the Bishops note our unique Australian Spirituality. They call on Government to understand that the Australian people are a spiritual people, with the majority being Christian, and as such this Jubilee Year has special significance.  There is a call to express this Christian dimension of Australian life. While we are many people, we are One Australia As such, the Bishops call all Australians to a commitment to personal renewal and service.

The full text of the Bishops Letter is available from the Brisbane Office of the Great Jubilee GPO Box 282 Brisbane 4001. It will shortly be available on the Broken Bay Internet Website. In later columns we will publish some suggested discussion questions arising from the Bishops letter.