The Most Reverend
William Keith Weigand
Pastoral Letter
Preparing for the Third Millennium:
Jesus Christ — Yesterday, Today and Forever
To the priests, deacons, religious and laity of the Diocese of Sacramento
Dear Friends in Christ:
"Christ yesterday and today, the beginning and the end, Alpha and Omega, all time belongs to him, and all the ages, to him be glory and power through every age forever." We recall these words from the liturgy of the Easter Vigil with reference to the current year. Jesus is the Lord of time, the Focal Point of history.
Every moment of time is embraced in the redemptive Incarnation of the One who transcends time — Jesus the Lord. As Pope John Paul II, writes:
"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."
It is in the context of the significance of time that we now begin three years of preparation for the Jubilee of the Incarnation of the Son of God in the year 2000. This triennium will help each member of the Church, the mystical bride of Christ, to be ready with lamp alight awaiting the divine Bridegroom (Cf. Mt 25:1f).
Preparation for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000
As Pope John Paul II reminds us, Divine Providence prepares for every jubilee in the Church's history. The Second Vatican Council especially was a part of that preparation, as is the latest fruit of the Council, the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Just as the liturgical season of Advent, which we are entering, is a preparation for the coming of the Lord in grace at Christmas and in glory at the end of time, so too was the Second Vatican Council an advent of remote preparation, and these next three years an advent of proximate preparation, for proclaiming again that Jesus Christ is our Lord and the Lord of history.
Therefore, I invite each and every one of us in the Diocese of Sacramento to embark upon an adventure of intense personal and communal preparation for the beginning of the third millennium. Relatively few are the persons in history who are able to greet a new millennium. We should be thankful for this special gift, through which we can give glory and thanks to God our Father for sending us his only Son, "that whosoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:15).
As we begin the triennium of immediate preparation, I urge all of us to make a real decision before the Lord to prepare ourselves in a very definite way for celebrating the great Jubilee of Jesus Christ. As we now begin Advent and approach Christmas, I suggest that each of us receive the sacrament of penance with special sincerity and thoroughness. A conversion of mind and heart would be a grace-filled beginning for our journey toward the year 2000.
Since sin is the fundamental cause of the strife, struggle, and division in the world and in our lives, repentance of our own personal sins will help to heal the wounds of division that afflict us. As we experience his mercy and forgiveness, Jesus will lead us on to become catalysts for unity and sanctity in the Church, and through the Church, in the world.
Thematic and Trinitarian Nature of the Preparation
Our Holy Father has given us a specific program of initiatives in order to prepare for the great Jubilee of the Incarnation. He reminds us that entry into any mystery must pass by way of the Most Holy Trinity, the Mystery of all mysteries, hence our immediate preparation is trinitarian. The year 1997 will focus on the eternal Word, incarnate in Jesus the Lord, with consideration of the sacrament of baptism, the theological virtue of faith and catechesis. In 1998, we will concentrate on the Holy Spirit, the sacrament of confirmation, and the virtue of hope. The year 1999 will direct us to the Person of the heavenly Father, the sacrament of penance, and the virtue of charity, including service to the poor and the needy.
The actual celebration of the great Jubilee in the year 2000 will focus especially on the Holy Eucharist. Thus, our Holy Father says: "...since Christ is the only way to the Father, in order to highlight his living and saving presence in the Church and the world, the International Eucharistic Congress will take place in Rome, on the occasion of the great Jubilee." Here in the Diocese of the Blessed Sacrament, we will want to celebrate a Diocesan Eucharistic Congress.
Prayer — A Necessary Component of the Preparation
Prayer and penance precede and accompany any sincere effort to enter into the life of Christ more intensely. As for prayer, I call us all to a renewed appreciation of the Lord Jesus Christ present really, truly, and substantially in the Blessed Eucharist. Participation at Sunday Mass is central to the life of a Catholic. Here, we join Christ in his perfect prayer of self-offering to the Father on the cross and his victorious resurrection. As the pinnacle of worship and the font of all grace, the Mass is so important that the Church further specifies the Lord's own mandate, "Do this in memory of Me," by making it a precept to participate in Mass on Sundays and Holy Days. Good external participation alone is not the goal, however, rather a deep internal participation in the sacred mysteries of Christ, made truly present sacramentally. We would do well to review again what the Mass really is in all its dimensions.
In addition, I encourage parishes to facilitate adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, an important way for the fruits of the Mass to be continued in our lives. Likewise, I urge us to make brief prayer-visits to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and, as one's time permits, to practice the ancient devotion of the holy hour with the eucharistic Lord:
"Could you not spend one hour with me?" What finer way to know better and become conformed to Jesus than to spend time with him in the Blessed Sacrament. From this will also flow a heightened awareness of Jesus' presence in others, particularly in the poor and the vulnerable.
Further, I urge families to adopt simple forms of prayer together as a family. Traditional prayers prayed at meals, at bed time, etc., are still important. Reflecting together on a passage of Sacred Scripture would be highly recommended. Since the Holy Father holds up the Blessed Virgin Mary as our model all through the triennium, praying the rosary together would be most beneficial.
Penance — A Complement to Prayer
As for penance, the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us: "The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle. Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes" (CCC #2015). Penance is not outdated in the Church's life. First of all, we need to strive joyfully to accept the trials and tribulations that our state in life entails, uniting them to the sufferings of Christ, for they have meaning and redemptive value in Christ.
The Judeo-Christian tradition, in preparation for great events or the confrontation of special challenges, has always joined to prayer exercises of self-denial such as fasting and abstinence. Until recent times, our Catholic practice required such preparatory mortification by precept throughout Lent, on Rogation Days, and on the vigils of great feasts. While such mandatory fast and abstinence is now greatly reduced, I invite you to rediscover the spiritual value of this penitential practice — united to prayer, alms giving, and other works of charity and service.
Therefore, I ask you to join with me in voluntarily designating Fridays as days of fast and abstinence (the usual cautions regarding health and physical ability being recognized). The fasting will remind us to hunger for the Lord and will help us to identify with the needy, with whom Jesus identified himself. The abstinence will serve as a weekly reminder in our homes or when socializing that we are different, "A people set apart . . . called out of darkness into (God's) own wonderful light" (Preface I, Sundays in Ordinary Time). In their 1983 pastoral letter, "The Challenge of Peace," the U.S. bishops have already urged this of us (#298).
Consequently, I ask that parishes, diocesan programs, and Catholic institutions and organizations not serve meat on Fridays at the events they sponsor . Let us offer this penance to Jesus for the good of the universal Church, for our diocese, our families, our own personal sanctification, and for the salvation of souls in general.This will be a simple, concrete and communal exercise of a people journeying towards the great Jubilee.
Renewed Appreciation for the Sacrament of Baptism
As we approach the great Jubilee, we need to renew our understanding of our baptism as making sacramentally present in each of us the Paschal mystery of Christ, the mystery of our salvation. During 1997 we will strive to renew our appreciation of the sacrament of baptism as the basis of our life in Christ; to recapture a sense of the dignity that is ours, the awesome reality of the mystery of Christ made present in us. We will try to recommit ourselves to Jesus as our Savior, our Divine Friend and our Lord. This implies recommitting ourselves also to one another, to the community of believers, who in Christ form one body.
In addition, our Holy Father reminds us: "Baptism constitutes the foundation of communion among all Christians, including those who are not yet in full communion with the Catholic Church" (CCC #1271). I would urge us all to consider 1997 a particularly graced time to renew our dedication to Christian unity . The Master's prayer is that we all be one in him. May we long for and pray for the consummation of the unity which begins with baptism. The approaches among the churches in recent years in charity, mutual respect and understanding are surely a sign of the Holy Spirit at work. It is the Spirit who will continue to prompt and open doors, while sustaining us in the fullness of the truth entrusted to the Church.
The Theological Virtue of Faith and Study of the Catechism
Throughout 1997, we should strive more than ever to enter into a living and personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ through the gift of faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines faith as: "the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself" (#1814).
The focus on catechesis in 1997 happily coincides with the 25th anniversary of the U.S. bishop's pastoral letter, "To Teach as Jesus Did." Throughout 1997, we should make a truly sincere effort to come to know the Lord Jesus Christ who is indeed "the Author and Perfecter of our faith" (Cf. Hebrews 12:2) by coming to know our faith better. As our Holy Father says,
"In this regard, a detailed study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church will prove of great benefit, for the Catechism presents 'faithfully and systematically ...the teaching of Sacred Scripture, the living Tradition of the Church and the authentic Magisterium, as well as the spiritual heritage of the Fathers, Doctors and Saints of the Church, to allow for a better knowledge of the Christian mystery and for enlivening the faith of the People of God.'"
The principal task entrusted to the Second Vatican Council by Pope John XXIII was to guard and better present the precious deposit of Christian doctrine in order to make it more accessible to the Christian faithful and to all people of good will. Not by accident was the Catechism of the Catholic Church promulgated by Pope John Paul II exactly thirty years to the day after the opening of Vatican II by Pope John XXIII.
The Diocese of Sacramento and many parishes have already made available programs on the Catechism of the Catholic Church and will continue to do so in 1997. Many individuals and families, too, are reading and studying the Catechism on their own. I commend them and urge others to do the same.
"As the Father has sent Me, so I send You"
I call upon each and every one of us in the Diocese of Sacramento to enter into this first year of the triennium with renewed faith and fervor. May we each come to know, love and serve God more intensely. For, indeed, as Jesus says, "He who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:8). May we come to proclaim with St. Paul, "Oh the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God!" (Romans 11:33).
Reviewing and renewing our faith and our baptismal life in Jesus, entering seriously into an extended advent of prayer and penance in preparation for the great Jubilee of the Incarnation in the year 2000, we will surely want to share our faith and life in Christ with others. Therefore, let us nurture in our midst the flourishing of ministries of evangelization. May we all be open to share with others in natural and simple ways something of the treasure that Jesus has given to us.
I am in admiration of so many of our parishes which have programs of evangelical outreach to others: newcomers, inactive Catholics, alienated people, unchurched or inactive neighbors, minority populations. May these efforts continue. Let us keep in mind, too, our youth and young adults. In all, we can be creative. If one outreach does not bring results, we should not fear to try another. And let us pray very much that the Lord Jesus might touch many hearts.
It is also urgent to call forth from our midst vocations to the priesthood and the religious life. The Diocese of Sacramento will need many priests and sisters as we continue to grow. Therefore, I call on all our parishes, schools, families, and every individual to join in the three-year national campaign of prayer for, and recruitment of, vocations which the bishops of the United States have jointly called for. I request that prayers for vocations be included regularly in the general intercessions at Mass. I also ask that this intention be uppermost in our prayer and devotions before the Blessed Sacrament.
Mary, Our Guide into the New Millennium
May Mary, our spiritual Mother, be to us like "the pale moon rising," reflecting the Light who is her son, Jesus, the Lord. May this humble "handmaid of the Lord" intercede for us powerfully, that we might arrive at the new millennium renewed and full of promise. May Mary bring us to her beloved Son in our time, just as she brought Jesus to the world 2000 years ago.
With these heartfelt sentiments, I impart to each and to all the blessing of almighty God: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Given on the feast of the Apostle Andrew, and the vigil of the first Sunday of Advent, November 30, 1996.
WILLIAM K. WEIGAND
Bishop of Sacramento
1 JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 17.
2 JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 17.
3 JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 20.
4 Cf. JOHN PAUL II, Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Reconciliatio et Paenitentia
5 JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente, # 55
6 Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1389, 2042, 2180; CIC, Canon #1247
7 JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente , 41.
8 JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Constitution Fidei Depositum (October 11, 1992).
9 JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Constitution Fidei Depositum on the Publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, citing JOHN XXIII, Discourse at the Opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council , October 11, 1962: AAS 54 (1962) p. 788-91.
10 John 20:21
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