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Joseph ?. Komonchak Preparing for the New Millennium The approach of the third millennium has inspired various reactions, ranging from die sublime to the ridiculous, not to say die macabre and, as we near the year 2000, the faddish. Catholics have been hearing about it for quite a while, since it has been a major dieme in die major writings ofPope John Paul II. Indeed, he has even said diat "preparing for die year 2000 has become as it were a hermeneutical key ofmy Pontificate." The statement appears in # 23 ofhis apostolic letter, Tertio adveniente millennio, issued on November 10, 1994.' One of the most remarkable documents of the pontificate, this text is a call to die Church to observe the turn of the millennium not in the secular fashion we can already anticipate will be common , but as a spiritual moment. He outlines a celebration that resembles a long spiritual retreat or period of reflection, perhaps not unlike the time a couple might take before celebrating a major wedding anniversary. The anniversary at stake here is the bi-millennium of the birth of Jesus Christ. Drawing upon the biblical Logos 1:2 1997 Preparing for the New Millennium theme of the year of Jubilee, the Pope sets out a stage of more remote preparation during which the Church would engage, first, in a period of reflective thanksgiving for the great gift of God in Christ and, second, a period of self-examination and of repentance , not only for our present failures and sins, but also for the past sins of Christians, their failures, especially during the millennium that is drawing to a close, to live by the light and power of the Gospel. A three-year celebration would then follow, culminating in the year 2000, and marked by a trinitarian focus. The year 1997 would focus on Christ and on what it means to be a Christian, with the virtue of faith and renewed commitment to Christian unity given special emphasis. The work of the Spirit in die Church and in Christians and die virtue ofhope would characterize the reflections of die year 1998. Finally, the journey of audientic conversion should mark 1999, with die virtue of love and its articulation in a new commitment to peace, justice, and the service of the poor the major concern. In all these stages the Pope expresses the hope that diese moments might become occasions for ecumenical conversation and participation. The Pope hopes that die dramatic anniversary might become a dramatic moment in the life ofthe Church. A few years ago, before die publication of Tertio adveniente millennio, George Tavard gave a summary of die Pope's fascination widi the new millennium, noting the mystical and even almost messianic significance he assigned to it. Somewhat curiously,Tavard was concerned diat expectations of die year 2000 not become Utopian, and he ended widi die caution : "All similar expectations and prophecies in the past have come to naught. I perceive no sign that the passing of the year 2000 will be any different from that of the year 1000."2 It is clear from the apostolic letter that die Pope hopes tiiat the great anniversary will not pass as just another year on the calendar. He himself carefully distinguished his interest from "a new millen3S 36 Logos narianism, as occurred in some quarters at the end ofthe first millennium ; rather, it is aimed at an increased sensitivity to all diat the Spirit is saying to the Church and to the Churches (cf. Rev 2:7ff) (#23). And the fact diat he has set out a carefully articulated program of spiritual preparation also distinguishes his views from any sort of enthusiasm or expectation ofdirect effusions ofgrace from heaven. I wish here to reflect upon two themes in the apostolic letter that directly challenge Christians to engage themselves in this spiritual preparation. Sin and the Church One of the most dramatic, not to say controversial, sections of the apostolic letter is the one in which Pope John Paul II proposes, as part of the preparation for the celebration of die bi-millennium ofChrist's birth, that the Church engage in an activity ofself-examination and of repentance...

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