The
Great Jubilee Year 2000
|
Celebration
of the Jubilee Year |
Excerpts
from the Apostolic Letter TERTIO MILLENNIO ADVENIENTE
and
documents from the Vatican on the year 2000
OPEN WIDE THE DOORS TO CHRIST!
The Church of the first millennium was born of the blood of the
martyrs: "Sanguis martyrum--semen christianorum." The historical
events linked to the figure of Constantine the Great could never have ensured
the development of the Church as it occurred during the first millennium
if it had not been for the seeds sown by the martyrs and the heritage of
sanctity which marked the first Christian generations. At the end of the
second millennium, the Church has once again become a Church of martyrs.
The persecutions of believers--priests, Religious and laity--has caused
a great sowing of martyrdom in different
parts of the world. The witness to Christ, borne even to the shedding of
blood, has become a common inheritance of Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans
and Protestants, as Pope Paul VI pointed out in his Homily for the Canonization
of the Ugandan Martyrs.
This witness must not be forgotten. The Church
of the first centuries, although facing considerable organizational difficulties,
took care to write down in special martyrologies the witness of the martyrs.
These martyrologies have been constantly updated through the centuries,
and the register of the saints and the blessed bears the names not only
of those who have shed their blood for Christ but also of teachers of the
faith, missionaries, confessors, bishops, priests, virgins, married couples,
widows and children.
WHAT IS A JUBILEE?
The origin of the Christian Jubilee goes back
to Biblical times. The Law of Moses prescribed a special year for the Jewish
people: "This fiftieth year you shall make sacred by proclaiming
liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for
you, when every one of you shall return to his own property, every one
to his own family estate. In this fiftieth year, your year of jubilee,
you shall not sow, nor shall you reap the after growth or pick the grapes
from the un-trimmed vines. Since this is the jubilee, which shall be sacred
for you, you may not eat of its produce, except as taken directly from
the field. In this year of jubilee, then, every one of you shall return
to his own property. Therefore, when you sell any land to your neighbor
or buy any from him, do not deal unfairly." The Book of Leviticus
25:10-14
The
trumpet with which this year was announced was a goat's horn called Yobel
in Hebrew, and the origin of the word jubilee. In the New Testament, Jesus
presents himself as the One who brings the old Jubilee to completion, because
he has come "To announce a year of favor from the Lord and a day
of vindication by our God, to comfort all who mourn." Isaiah 61:2
JUBILEE 2000
It is interesting to note that in almost every country, time is
counted
as before and after Christ's coming into the world, although today few
people may realize the reasons for this calculation. For Christians then,
the Jubilee of the year 2000 is especially important because it will be
a celebration of the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Christ ~ apart
from differences of exact chronological count. What is more, it will be
the first Holy Year which marks the turn of a millennium, since the first
Jubilee was proclaimed by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300. For Christians then,
the Jubilee of the Year 2000 should be a great prayer of praise and thanksgiving
to God for the gift of the Incarnation of His Son and the Redemption He
brings.
WHAT IS A HOLY YEAR?
In the Roman Catholic tradition, a Holy Year, or Jubilee, is a great
religious event. It
is a year of forgiveness of sins... reconciliation between adversaries,
of conversion and receiving the sacrament of Reconciliation, and consequently
of solidarity, hope, justice, commitment to serve God with joy and 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, A HOLY YEAR
The Jubilee is called Holy Year, not only because it begins, is
marked, and ends with solemn holy acts, but also because its purpose is
to encourage holiness of life. It was actually convoked to strengthen faith,
encourage works of charity and brotherly communion within the Church and
in society and to call Christians to be more sincere and coherent in their
faith in Christ, the only Savior.
A
Jubilee can be "ordinary" if it falls after the set period of
years, and "extraordinary" when it is proclaimed for some outstanding
event. There have been twenty-five "ordinary" Holy Years so far:
the Year 2000 will be the 26th. The custom of calling "extraordinary"
Jubilees began in the 16th century and they can vary
in length from a few days to a year. There have been two extraordinary
jubilees in this century: 1933 proclaimed by Pope Pius XI to mark the 1900th
anniversary of Redemption and 1983 proclaimed by Pope John Paul II to mark
1950 years since the Redemption carried out by Christ through his Death
and Resurrection in the year 33.
Pope
John Paul II's New Year's Message
The
Great Jubilee Year 2000 Calendar
Medjugorje
Christmas Message
Silent
Night ~ Christmas Reflections
Auld Lang Syne
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
We'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
And here's a hand, my trusty friend
And gie's a hand o' thine
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet
for auld lang syne.
|
SUNG AT MIDNIGHT
The well loved and heart touching song, "Auld Lang Syne,"
is sung at the stroke of midnight in most every English-speaking country
throughout the world to bring in the New Year. This modern version that
we know so well was written by Robert Burns in the 1700's, and first published
in 1796 after his death. An old Scotch tune, "Auld Lang Syne"
literally means "old long ago," or more simply, "the good
old days." You can hear this tune being played here.
|