Meeting between the Central Committee and Delegates
Jubilee 2000 Search
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John Paul II's discourse to assembly
of the Delegates of the Episcopal Conferences

A RENEWED PENTECOST TO ENTER THE THIRD MILLENNIUM

Meeting between the Central Committee and Delegates of Episcopal Conferences for the Jubilee May the Year 2000 be for all timeof renewal and graceThe Holy Father offers encouragement to continue along the journey of preparation the importance of communication and information in the preparation and celebration of the Jubilee was affirmed once again by the Pope in his discourse on February 12th at the conclusion of the second Meeting between the Central Committee and Delegates of Episcopal Conferences for the Jubilee.

Your Eminences,

Venerable Brother Bishops,

Dearest Priests and Lay faithful !

  1. I am happy to received you at the end of the second Meeting between the Central Committee and the Delegates of Episcopal Conferences for the Jubilee.I greet first of all, His eminence Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, President of the Central Committee, the Cardinal members of the Council of Presidency, Archbishop Crescenzio Sepe, new Secretary General, the members of the Central Committee and the Delegates of the Episcopal Conferences. I offer a special welcome to the Fraternal Delegates of non-Catholic Churches and ecclesial communions. To all I express my appreciation for your active participation!Your meeting is particularly importance for the possibility it offers to examine pastoral plans in view of Jubilee celebrations, draft a Calendar and prepare a concrete plan of hospitality for pilgrims. I wish to congratulate you for the generosity with which you are working during this period prior to the Jubilee, offering valid and enlightening contributions, to render more significant and more spiritually fruitful celebrations for the Jubilee year.
  • Our journey towards that historical occurrence is ever swifter, with the approach of the moment of the opening of the Holy Door, which will mark for the whole Church the beginning of a Year of grace and reconciliation.Worthy of praise therefore are efforts for exterior organisation, but this must be accompanied by interior preparation which prepares hearts to receive the gifts of the Lord. It is a question first of all of re-discovering a sense of God, and recognising his Lordship over creation and history. This will bring each person to examine, with sincere conviction and love, personal thoughts and choices, in view of tending to the fulness of supernatural charity.
  • The commemoration of the 2nd millennium since the birth of Christ leads us to the centre of the mystery of Redemption: "Apparuit gratia Dei et Salvatore nostri, Jesu Christ" (Tit 2,1). It is God who calls all people, without exception, to participate in the fruits of the work of salvation, which is brought about and spread over the earth though the mysterious action of the Holy Spirit. The Great Jubilee invites us to re-live this time of grace, in the awareness that the gift of salvation must be corresponded by conversion of heart, thanks to which the person is reconciled with the Father and enters once more into the communion of his love.Conversion however, would not be authentic unless it leads to reconciliation with our brothers and sisters, who are children of the same Father. This is the social dimension of newly-found friendship with God: it embraces the members of one’s family, extends to the work place, permeates the whole civil community. The Lord, while welcoming us with his forgiveness, entrusts to us the mission to be a leaven of peace and unity in our surroundings.
  • The re-discovery of this wealth of grace, offered to us in Christ, and its acceptance in our personal life call for an adequate itinerary of spiritual preparation: and we are seeking to do this is these years, of which you are familiar with the programme that I proposed to the whole Church. I called on every Christian re-vivify faith in the mystery God-Trinity and seek a deeper understanding of the mystery of Christ the Saviour.Only in this way will the people of God, in its earthly pilgrimage, re-discover and re-vivify the enthusiasm of the faith; every Christian will delight in the experience of encountering Christ, Master and Shepherd, Priest and Guide of every conscience. This will prepare believers to receive the gift of a new Pentecost, so as to enter the new millennium filled with a more fervent desire to reach a new appreciation of the always valid truth that God the Father, through his incarnate Son, not only speaks to man, he comes in search of him and loves him.
  • The task entrusted to you is important. In each of your Nations there is already expectancy. Curiosity and hope appear, there is above all a growing desire for authentic interior peace, illuminated by the truth of the Gospel. This is why to everyone must be brought the words of hope: Come to me all you who are tired and oppressed and I will give you rest" (Mt 11,28).

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