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EDGES MAGAZINE Issue 18 |
Ju1-Aug 1999 |
Preparing for the
..........MillenniuM |
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Recently I
heard the cynical comment that the only people talking about the
millennium are those who are promoting events to mark it; no one
else is really interested. Perhaps there is some truth in that.
Certainly, the bigger the plans, the more the talk about the
importance of the moment. Who doesn't know about the Dome at
Greenwich? Or about the fact that entertainers are at least doubling
their normal fees for New Years Eve 1999? No doubt
the parties are going to be grand. But what is the real issue? Well,
two thousand years on the clock is quite a moment. But two thousand
years of what? The only answer is that for the last two thousand
years we have been struggling to understand, proclaim and follow the
gift of truth given to us by God in Jesus Christ, the Word made
flesh. So the real issue is that we use this moment to see how we
have been doing and what we can learn from our own history.
Frankly, the picture is very mixed. A glance around the world,
around our own society, shows how far we are from that order of
things proclaimed by Jesus. The hungry are not fed; the naked are
not clothed; the homeless are not cared for; the sick are left
waiting, or neglected; the gift of peace is scorned; forgiveness is
hard to find; the name of God is so often taken in vain in deed and
word; respect and protection for the weakest, for the unborn, is
frequently denied. The list could go on. Yet the world is
also full of people who are heroic in the efforts for the truth and
values of the Gospel. Some are well known; many are not. In every
street, in every community there are people who quietly get on with
the work of the Gospel, reaching out to those in need, teaching the
truths of the faith, searching out ways in which to bring people
together to work for a better ordering of life, protesting in public
over wrongs and injustices. The history of the last two
thousand years is the history of the work of the Holy Spirit. The
gift by Christ of the Paraclete was the beginning of the Church; and
the life of the Church is sustained every day by that same gift. All
the good that is done springs from the hidden promptings of that
Holy Spirit. So if we are to prepare to celebrate the true meaning
of the Millennium, and if we are to be ready to play our part in the
next period of history, then we have to open ourselves anew to the
gift of the Holy Spirit. How do we do this? The gift
comes from Christ. So in our minds and hearts we must be close to
him. Ponder his Word every day. When we read the Scriptures and hear
them proclaimed in Church, God speaks personally to us. Listen to
that voice. Follow its promptings. In the Mass and in the Blessed
Sacrament, Christ comes to us in his greatest act of self-giving. Go
there. Pray the Mass. Let us put ourselves in the presence of the
Lord. He will guide and comfort us. He will fill our hearts with his
most precious gift. The invitation to be filled and
guided by the Holy Spirit comes to us every day. If we are totally
preoccupied with all the tasks we face, or with all the problems
that overwhelm us, then there is little chance that the Spirit can
find a way in. Sometimes the spirit of self-pity can occupy our
hearts. At other times, we might we taken up by a spirit of envy, or
indignation, or despair. Only the Holy Spirit of God, given us in
Jesus Christ, can truly lead and guide our hearts to truth and
peace, and give us the strength to live out that truth. It
is a great privilege to live through the opening of a new
Millennium. Not surprisingly, the year 2000 is proclaimed by the
Church to be a Holy Year: a year of special invitation from the
Lord. It is a year in which we can realise again the honor we are
given as disciples of the Lord to work on this new, fresh page of
history. We prepare for it by putting ourselves at the disposal of
the Lord. Our prayer every day can be simple, and
heartfelt: Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and
kindle in them the fire of your love: send forth your Spirit and
renew the face of the earth. |
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Bishop
Vincent Nichols |
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