A YEAR OF HOPE IN THE SIGN OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Crescenzio Sepe
Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Grand Jubilee of the Year 2000

«...The mind races towards the grand date of Two thousand, when the entire Church relives with a particular intensity the mystery of the Incarnation. Towards that end we are invited to accelerate our steps, letting ourselves be lead, above all during the current Liturgical year, by the light of the Holy Spirit». The invitation to accelerate our steps towards Two thousand comes from he who, with the anxiety of consigning all of humanity to Christ, has put a signpost, on the picture of history, to the heartbeat of man. The heart of man is, for the world the image of that which the Spirit is for the Church. John Paul II put this in the forefront, making this synthesis almost transparent.

The Spirit animates and makes the Church live; it is the breath of the power of the mercy of God which signs the times with an inextinguishable hope which accompanies every step of a redeemed humanity. And the time of the Spirit is the eve of a new era which breaths on the expectations of all of humanity and is crossing the threshold of a Holy Door, who's passage will be like a new beginning in the name of Christ.

It is the Spirit which makes us see everything in a new perspective, so that even our gaze on a disturbed world which is still plagued by tragedies and injustice does not have the time to reflect and is instead taken by the light which illuminates and transforms everything. The solemn celebration of the beginning of the second year of immediate preparation for the Grand Jubilee of Two thousand, has in this way introduced us to the year dedicated to the third Person of the Holy Trinity. While the entire path, from here to the Holy year, is a step of rapprochement, it also presents a deepening dimension in the mystery of the Trinity.

The year dedicated to Christ was in the life of the Church the re-proposal of the central event of our faith and the culmination of the Jubilee of the second millennium: the birth and coming to the world of Our lord Jesus Christ, sole Saviour of the world, yesterday, today and always. 1997 also marked the beginning of the phase of immediate preparation for the Grad Jubilee, after the two anti-preparatory years: an arch of the time countdown in every passage of the Tertio Millennio Adveniente, which more and more represents, not only the great «charter of spirituality» of the Jubilee, but also the illuminated outline of the work plan, exhilarating for whomever comes across it.

In reality, the Grand Jubilee, in the light of the Tertio Millennio Adveniente, is already alive and vital in the tree poles which the Letter of the Pope suggests as the centre of the event: Rome, the Holy Land and the dioceses of the world. Like the year dedicated to Christ was the centre of a pastoral commitment of all of the universal Church, bringing forth a new and renewed interest in the Scriptures and a deepening of the Sacrament of Baptism, so will the year of the Holy Spirit open wide perspectives on the level of a new evangelising action. It is necessary to live this year as a gift, as a grace, so that, through a decisive pastoral, the Spirit penetrates every community, enriches it and renders it capable of grasping the signs of hope which surround each one of us.

Above all, during this walk which leads us towards a new millennium; it is necessary to rediscover step by step the ultimate and definitive meaning of our pilgrimage. It is a hope, which does not delude that which can illuminate every step of the way. It is the breath of the Spirit, which can push us beyond our limits and our fears. Crossing the threshold of hope: here is a Jubilian commitment in the year of the Holy Spirit. Concrete hope, able to express itself in the face of the proof of facts, able to, that is, commit itself. It is in this perspective that the encounter in February, at the Vatican, which will reunite the local Churches working around the world in preparation for the Jubilee, represents an appointment with a profound meaning. All the work of preparation will be shared, and used as a sole resource. All the future commitment will be entrusted to the Holy Spirit, as a sole absolute certainty of good final results.