South Texas Catholic Monthly (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 1, Ed. 1 Friday, January 1, 1999 Page: 2 of 20
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Gulf Coast Register/South Texas Catholic and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries.
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January 1999
diocese
The Great Jubilee of the Year 2000
T1
I A
JL ti
i he First Sunday of
Advent each year is
the beginning of the
new liturgical year. The civil
calendar begins on January 1
each year, but the Church
begins with Advent, that
special season which prepares
for the coming of Christ.
Advent recalls the entrance of
Christ into the world as the
babe of Bethlehem whose
birthday we celebrate from
December 25, Christmas Day
until the Feast of the baptism
of the Lord, January 10,1999. This is the real Christmas
Season! The First Sunday of Ad%'ent is the day when
momentous events in the life of the Church are an-
nounced, for example the Revised Code of Canon Law,
came into effect the First Sunday of Advent, November
27, 1983. Likewise, Pope John Paul II published the Bull,
The Mystery of the Incarnation, this past First Sunday of
Advent, November 29, 1998.
The Mystery of the Incarnation is the official procla-
mation by the Holy Father of the beginning of the Great
Jubilee of the Year 2000. It is also an invitation to
Catholics, Christian brothers and sisters, and all people
of good will to partake in the graces of the Great Jubilee.
The Bull is also the official invitation to Catholics and
others to come as pilgrims to Rome, to the Holy land, to
their own Cathedrals and local shrines, to take part in
the Great Jubilee.
The Holy Father ordered the Bull to be read before the
doors of the major basilicas in Rome. Let us hear some of
what the Holy Father has to say in his official invitation
to us.
“Contemplating the mystery of the Incarnation of the
Son of God, the Church prepares to cross the threshold
of the Third Millennium Never more than at thus time
Father of our Lordjesus Christ, who lias blessed us in
Christ in every spiritual blessing.- (Eph 1:3-5)"(Mystery
of the Incarnation, no 1) 3
“These words clearly indicate that in Jesus Christ the
history of salvation finds its culmination and ultimate
meaning. In him we have all received, grace upon grace-
On. 1:16)" (Mystery of the Incantation, no. I)
“Jesus is the genuine nesvness which surpasses all
human expectations and such he remains for ever, from
age to age The Incarnation of the Son of God and the
salvation which he has accomplished by his Death and
Resurrection are therefore the true criterion for evaluat-
ing all that happens in time and ever)' effort to make life
more human.” (Mystery of the Incarnation no.l)
The Holy Father continues that the Great Jubilee is
upon us. The event will be celebrated simultaneously in
Rome and all the particular Churches (Dioceses) around
the world. There will be two centers of the Jubilee. Rome
and the Holy Land. The Holy land is seen as Holy
because there Jesus was born and died To Lite Jewish
People it is the promised Land. It is revered by the
followers of Islam. The Pope prays, “May the Jubilee
serve to advance mutual dialogue until the day when all
of us together —Jews, Christians and Moslems— will
exchange the greeting of peace in Jerusalem/”
The Holy Father points out that the coming of the
Third Millennium prompts the Christian community to
lift its eyes of faith to embrace new horizons in proclaim-
ing the kingdom of God. The Church needs to return
faithfully to the leaching of the Second Vatican Council
which shed new light on the missionary task of the
Church. The journey of believers towards the Third
Millennium is not weighted down by the burden of the
past two thousand years. Christians should feel invigo-
rated by the Third Millennium knowing they bring to the
world the true light, Christ, the Lord.
The Holy Father recalls the three years of preparation
called for by his Apostolic Letter, Preparing for The
Coming of the Third Millennium; namely 1997, the Year
of the Son, 1998, the Year of the Holy Spirit; and 1999,
the Year of the Father. The Pope recalls the history of
Jubilee Years in the Church beginning with the year 1300
under Pope Boniface VIII. Pope John Paul II invited the
world to the Extraordinary Jubilee of 1983 celebrating
1950 years since the Redemption of the human race by
the Death of Jesus in 33 AD. The comingjubilee will be
“Great" because the Church wants to embrace all
believers and offer them the grace of reconciliation.
The Pope outlines the events of the Great Jubilee of '
the Year 2000 which will begin on Christmas Eve 1999
with the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter’s in the
Vatican and other openings in the other great basilicas of
Rome and the holy Land. In each diocese, and therefore
in the Diocese of Corpus Christi, the holy Door will be
opened on Christmas Eve 1999 to be followed by a
solemn Eucharistic Liturgy presided over by the diocesan
Bishop. ( Note: Details of the Corpus Christi Celebration
will be announced later.) There could be a procession
from another church to the Cathedral and the reading of
the Papal Bull , the Mystery of the Incarnation, at the
door of the Cathedral. The Ritual for the Celebration of
the Great Jubilee in Particular Churches should be
followed.
The Pope wishes every one a Christmas 1999 filled
with light, grace and mercy. The Jubilee Year will close
on the day of the Epiphany of Our Lordjesus Christ,
January 6, 2001. The Pope points out pilgrimages to
Rome, the Holy I.and, sacred shrines, both worldwide
and locally as a means of celebrating the Great Jubilee.
The Holy Door, in St. Peter’s, Rome, the other great
basilicas of Rome and the Holy Land, as well as in the
Corpus Christi Cathedral is a means of recalling the
meaning of the Jubilee. As the Pope said the day he was
elected Pontiff, “Open wide the doors to Christ."
The third distinctive sign of the Jubilee Year is the
indulgence, the forgiveness of the temporal punishment
due to sin. The Holy Father points out that first comes
the Sacrament of Reconciliation, (Penance or Confes-
sion), whereby sins, mortal and venial are forgiven. The
Sacrament takes care of the eternal punishment due to
our sins and part of the temporal punishment due to our
sins.. There is something left over, whereby we have to
make up for the damage done by our sins, this is called
temporal punishment. The penance given in the confes-
sional is to make up for this temporal punishment due to
sin. We know however that on our own we can never
make up adequately for our sins. That is where the
doctrine of uiduinencesconH's in. The Church is the
treasury of the merits of Christ, the blessed Virgin and all
the Saints. We believe in the Communion of the Saints.
From the beginning Christians believed the sufferings of
the martyrs could help other Christians. As St. Paul put
it, “In my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the
afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the
Church," (Col. 1.24) The indulgences of the Jubilee are
set out in a separate document. In general, gaining an
indulgence means being in the state of grace, going to
confession if necessary', receiving Holy Communion, and
doing some other good work of charity combined with
prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father. The Decree
for the Indulgences of the Holy Year will have to be
printed separately for your reference.
The Holy Father points out some other effects of the
Holy Year. First, the purification of memory', that is to
have the courage and humility to recall the wrongs done
by those who have bom or bear the name of Christ, e.g.
the Inquisition, African slavery’, religious wars against
fellow Christians, such as the Crusades which attacked
Orthodox Christians as well as Moslems and Jews. “As
the Successor of St. Peter, I ask that in this year of mercy
the Church, strong in the holiness she receives from her
Lord, should kneel before God and implore forgiveness
for the past and present sins of her sons and daughters"
(Mystery of the Incantation, no. II). There could not be a
stronger statement than that. The Holy Father makes an
equality between the apology of the Church and the
recognition there should be of injustices done to the
Church and her members.
Second, charity should be another hallmark of the
Jubilee. Rich nations should forgive the debts of poor
nations, especially those which have no natural resources
or suffered wars or recent calamities such as Hurricane
Mitch. Abuses of power in the social order must stop.
“May this year of grace touch the hearts of those who
hold in their hands the fate of the world's peoples."
(Mystery of Faith, no. 12)
Third, the memory of the martyrs is an ageless sign of
Christian charity. The Pope recalls the martyrs of
Christian history. Today there are more martyrs than ever
in the past. The sufferings of Christians and others at the
hands of the Nazis and the Communists, the sufferings of
the poor
in Third World Countries, all these are witnesses to
Christ who have washed their garments in the blood of
the lamb and sing his praises in heaven. "In the hearts of
the faithful, may admiration for their martyrdom be
matched by the desire to follow their example, with
God’s grace, should circumstances require it." (Mystery of
the Incarnation, No. 13)
The Holy Father closes with the invocation of the
Blessed Virgin, who was called to be Mother of God,
through accepting the message of the angel. Mary
became Mother of the Church by standing at the foot of
the cross, where Christ gave her to the Church saying,
“There is your Mother.”(john 19.27) She is now
proclaimed “blessed” by all nations. "Through the
coming months may she deign to intercede intensely for
the Christian people, so that abundant grace and mercy
may be theirs, as they rejoice at the two thousand years
since the birth of their savior."
(Mystery of the Incarnation, no. 13)
1 hope that all the People of God in the Diocese of
Corpus Christi, clergy, deacons, religious, and laity will
do all they can to participate in the celebration of the ,
Great Jubilee of the year 2000. There will be pilgrimages
and special celebrations. But especially celebrate in your
hearts with thanks to God for the great gift of Jesus
Christ. Return to the Father through the open door of
Jesus Christ. "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one
comes to the Father but through me." (John 14.5)
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
inside this issue:
Respect Life
.. .page 5
Vocation
Awareness Week
... pages 9-11
Where your
TREASURE
is. llieir
your
HEART
will be’
1ft
jr
Mail. I2\
: I
the
cover:
(STC photo/Paula Espitia)
Fausto Villatoro said he was thankful to be alive
after Hurricane Mitch ravaged his home in
Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
South
Bishop Roberto O. Gonzalez
Publisher
Father Bradley A.M. Barber
Theological Consultant
James M. Bamhardt
Staff Writer
Paula J, Espilia
Editor
Joe P. Hardeman
Advertising Representative
Christine M. Cashion
Correspondent
I
»ns
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(ISSN 0745-9343)
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Espitia, Paula. South Texas Catholic Monthly (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 1, Ed. 1 Friday, January 1, 1999, newspaper, January 1, 1999; Corpus Christi, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth855856/m1/2/?q=%22~1%22~1: accessed June 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .