In his Apostolic Letter, “Tertio Millennio Adveniente,” written in preparation for the start of the new millennium in the year 2000, St. John Paul II wrote, “In Christianity time has a fundamental importance. Within the dimension of time the world was created; within it the history of salvation unfolds, finding its culmination in the ‘fullness of time’ of the Incarnation, and its goal in the glorious return of the Son of God at the end of time. In Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, time becomes a dimension of God, who is himself eternal. With the coming of Christ there begin ‘the last days’ (cf. Heb 1:2), the ‘last hour’ (cf. 1 Jn 2:18), and the time of the Church, which will last until the Parousia.”
As we celebrate the Golden Jubilee of our diocese, we are reminded once again of the “importance of time” in our faith and in the life of our diocese. For the past several years we have been given the opportunity to “remember” in gratitude the good things the Lord has done for us. We have “rejoiced,” with the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the current vitality of our diocese and the good work we continue to do in the name of the Gospel. And now, as we celebrate the diocesan Golden Jubilee Year, we are reassured of being “renewed,” as the Lord says to us in the Book of Revelation, “Behold I make all things new.” (Rev. 21:5)
In celebrating this special “time” in our history, we also prepare to celebrate the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025 in the universal Church. The very first Ordinary Jubilee was proclaimed by Pope Boniface VII in the year 1300. The entire Church in the year 2025 will acknowledge again the “importance of time” in the history of mankind. The theme for the Holy Year designated by Pope Francis is “Pilgrims of Hope.”
Together with the Ordinary Jubilee Year in 2025, Pope Francis has dedicated the year 2024 as a special “Year of Prayer” to prepare the Church to enter into and to encounter the graces of the jubilee year, which begins at Christmas 2024. On Jan. 21, he said, ”Today we begin the Year of Prayer; that is, a year dedicated to rediscovering the great value and absolute need for prayer in personal life, in the life of the Church and in the world.” He taught us at his Wednesday audience on May 6, 2020, that, “Prayer is the breath of faith; it is its most proper expression. Like a cry that issues from the heart of those who believe and entrust themselves to God.”
Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, Section for Fundamental Questions regarding Evangelization in the World, said, “In order for the Jubilee to be an event that spiritually enriches the life of the Church and of the entire people of God, becoming a concrete sign of hope, it has to be prepared for and lived in individual communities with that spirit of expectation which is typical of Christian hope. The Year of Prayer fully corresponds to this need.”
As we, the faithful in the Diocese of Arlington, celebrate our Golden Jubilee this year, we also prepare for this next moment in “time,” this great moment of grace in the history of our diocese and in the entire Church. We prepare ourselves to encounter the Lord in a new way having been renewed by him and to live out that renewed encounter through our works of charity, especially through the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. During the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy in 2016, Pope Francis reminded us that, “We need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy. It is a wellspring of joy, serenity, and peace. Our salvation depends on it.” This is witnessed when the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy are lived out by each of us.
St. John Paul II taught us that, “The term ‘Jubilee’ speaks of joy; not just an inner joy but a jubilation which is manifested outwardly, for the coming of God is also an outward, visible, audible, and tangible event, as Saint John makes clear (cf. 1 Jn 1:1). It is therefore appropriate that every sign of joy should have its own outward expression. This will demonstrate that the Church rejoices in salvation. She invites everyone to rejoice, and she tries to create conditions to ensure that the power of salvation may be shared by all.” May we take to heart these words of St. John Paul II and celebrate our Golden Jubilee, this Year of Prayer, and the Ordinary Jubilee 2025 with genuine joy that comes only from God, and may we outwardly manifest it in our lives as true pilgrims of hope.
