When pastoral leaders begin discussing the year 2000 one of the first questions that arise is WHY? What is it that we are celebrating during this year? Why give this year more attention than other years? The answer lies in the fact that these years can be on opportunity for people to deepen their faith and strengthen their Christian witness (TMA, no. 31) through personal and communal conversion. The most effective way to prepare for and celebrate the Jubilee year is not to create new programs but to weave the themes from Tertio Millennio Adveniete into the yearly rhythm of church life loosed on the liturgical calendar. Let these years be an opportunity to renew our spirits, strengthen our ministry and further our evangelizing outreach.

There are five reasons why we should pay attention to this time in our history

1. The Holy Father has invited us to do so.
   For John Paul II, the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 is an extraordinary event in the life of the Church and the work). He asks us to "do as much as possible to ensure that the great challenge of the year 2000 is not overlooked, for the challenge certainly involves a special grace of the Lord for the church and for the whose of humanity." (TMA, no. 55)

2. As a jubilee year, it is, "a year of favor from the Lord" an opportunity to start anew.
   A Holy Year is held to encourage holiness of life through repentance and conversion, works of charity, and participation in community (www.vatican.va/jubilee_2000). Today, in contemporary society, we especially sense a need for healing and reconciliation where we have the opportunity to begin anew and to acknowledge, as an act of honesty and courage, the weakness of our past.

3. Since a new millennium only comes once every thousand years it is a unique moment in history that calls for an engaging message of faith.
   One in every fifty generations experience the change of a millennium. If we believe these years to be a unique time in history, we must also believe that the "presence of the Holy Spirit will be more deeply experienced, impelling Christians to preach the Gospel with a new power, giving hope of liberation to the marginalized and the oppressed." (Avery Dulles, "John Paul II and the Advent of the New Millennium, America 173:19 {1995}, 10-11

4. We celebrate 2000 years of Christianity
   The "two thousand years which have passed since the birth of Christ" (Prescinding from the question of its precise chronology) represent an extraordinary great jubilee, not only for Christians but indirectly for the whole of humanity." (TMA, no. 15).

5. It can be a moment to re-energize ourselves and celebrate the good that is already present in our lives, our Church, and in society.
   Through its members, the church does wonderful work throughout the world. There are many excellent examples of this, including initiatives such as small Christian communities and faith sharing groups; the Catechumenate; the renewal of liturgical life; social action initatives that work to free the poor, care for the homeless, and advocacy for the sanctity of life and for justice and peace; a renewed interest in spirituality; the participation of the laity, especially women, in many and varied roles in church and civic life; the formation of youth; and the continuing dialogue among Christians and with those of other faiths. Other examples include the richness of our diversity, the witness of faithful men and women in the workplace, the wonderful sense of compassion and commitment present within so many people.

Ways that Saint Gabriel Parish celebrate the Jubilee Year

1. The Pledge for Justice and Charity in the New Millennium
   It is suggested that parishes inaugurate the Great Jubilee Year 2000 by inviting parishioners to participate in the Pledge for Justice and Charity. Advent is an appropriate time because it is the immediate preparatory time for the Jubilee Year and the Lectionary reading for Advent 1999 emphasize the virtues of justice and peace. Offering the Pledge during Advent can help parishioners anticipate the hope of the new millennium while drawing attention to the advent focus of expectancy and hope filled with waiting for Jesus Christ to come in glory. The pledge fosters a remembrance of our baptismal commitment to bring the gospel to the world of the Third Millennium. During the Advent season, the church centers it's attention and energy on preparing for the celebration of the Birth of Jesus Christ, the hope of all nations and the fulfillment of the Jubilee promise. The Scripture passages of Isaiah 61 and Luke 4:18-19, used during the Advent season focus on the virtue of justice as well.

2. The Beginninq of the New Millennium
   The liturgical celebration of the Feast of Mary, Mother of God, with special prayers for peace will mark the transition into the new millennium at St. Gabriel Parish. Special Masses will be celebrated on New Year's Eve. They will be marked by the blessing of instruments of time and of special symbols of peace and justice.

3. Day of Reconciliation and Pardon (Lent 2000) The Biblical dimension of Jubilee, the Church's tradition of the Holy Year, and the season of Lent call us to repentance and conversion. Parishes and dioceses throughout the United States are invited to participate in a special day of Reconciliation and Healing to be celebrated on Saturday, April 8, 2000. At St Gabriel we will mark this day with our Lenten Penance Service on March 27. This special season can provide the opportunity for a renewed appreciation and practice of this sacrament.

   This focus on conversion can provide an opportunity for reflection on the need for reconciliation on both the personal and the communal level. Pope John Paul II has identified two distinct times during which to celebrate pardon and reconciliation. He invites us to make Ash Wednesday a time for the Church community to ask pardon for offenses committed by its members; and to make the conclusion of Lent a time for personal reconciliation with God and each other as well.

4. Eucharistic Day Celebration
   The Holy Father has proclaimed the year 2000 to be an intensely Eucharistic year. Celebrations have been suggested on the Feast of Corpus Christi (June 24/25), or another time more convenient for the members. St. Gabriel Parish will host a Eucharist Day, but it will be on a date more convenient to people. A Eucharistic time will help us to intensify our encounter with Jesus Christ though the worthy reception of Holy Communion, through living the Gospel in the world and through adoration and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. Catechesis will be a vital dimension toward heightening our awareness and devotion to Jesus' Real Presence in the Eucharist.

5. A Personal Pilgrimage
   Throughout history pilgrimages have played a key role in the Church's celebration of the Holy Year. In Incarnationis Mysterium (#7), John Paul II says that pilgrimages evoke the believer's personal journey in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. In each culture they assume different forms relating to themes and faith expressions of people. During 2000, each person is invited to undertake a personal pilgrimage. The pilgrimage can be undertaken alone, or as a family. While any tirne during the Jubilee year is an appropriate time to take a pilgrimage' deciding to do so in unison with a major event like the Intemational Eucharistic Congress in Rome (June 18-25) or during World Youth Day in Rome (August 19-20) may be especially efficacious. The main point of the pilgrimage is for it to be an act of the heart longing for union with God. Pilgrimages deepen the significance of the Jubilee year as time for journey and hope as well as for the rest and reflection to let the land of our own lives lie fallow to experience Sabbath time with God.

6. Join a Small Christian Community or Faith Sharing Group
   During the past fifteen years a wonderful spiritual movement has been growing throughout parishes in the United States-the formation of small faith communities, or base communities. The occasion of tine Great Jubilee is an opportunity to become involved in this faith fellowship and community experience. These groups provide parishioners with opportunities for prayer, reading, discussing the Scriptures; seeking Christian values; and becoming involved in communal actions of justice and peace. The goal of the small faith community is to prepare Christians for discipleship in the world. Al Saint Gabriel parishioners will be invited to join a small faith community during the year 2000.

7. Evangelization Sunday - Being an Evangelizing Parish
   The Church's celebration of the Great Jubilee is a time for reconciliation and new beginnings. It is also a moment for evangelizing outreach. Parishes are invited to use the Jubilee year to strengthen their work of evangelization. The mission of the! church is evangelization. We are invited to foster new ways to welcome and witness, to reach out to both active members and non-active members (especially those who feel alienated) of the church, as well as those outside the church. The Jubilee Year is a perfect time to welcome home. In order for the initiative to be successful, we must ask the Holy Spirit to assist in understanding what it means to be an evangelizing and welcoming community. We must make every effort to create communities of life-giving worship, effective preaching, sound catechesis, generous hospitality and warm welcome. We must be a community that preaches and witnesses a consistent ethic of life, respect for all life, and affirmation of the dignity of the human person, a proclamation of justice and peace and the love of Jesus Christ. Our parish's Evangelization Committee has designated Pentecost Sunday, 2000 as Evangelization Sunday.

8. Encuentro 2000
   The Encuentro 2000 event will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, in Los Angeles, California, on July 69, 2000. In 1997, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops unanimously agreed to the recommendation of the Hispanic Affairs committee to convoke a national gathering in the Jubilee year 2000 to celebrate the rich cultural diversity of the church in the United States. Thus in November 1997, the body of bishops convoked Encuentro 2000. Encuentro 2000 will be an opportunity to celebrate the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 and to dialogue together as brothers and sisters among many cultures that form the Body of Christ. It will be an opportunity for the church in the the United ted States to gather, to engage in profound conversations about life and faith, to worship together, learn from each other, to forgive one another and be reconciled, to acknowledge our unique histories, and to discover ways in which we, as Catholic communities, can be one church yet come from diverse cultures and ethnicities. The Evangelization Committee of St. Gabriel is working on a similar gathering for all the ethnic groups in this parish during the year 2000.

9. Celebration in the Spirit of Hope: Jubilee 2000
   During the Jubilee year, the usual pattern of confirmation liturgies will be replaced by a large celebration of Confirmation at the Celebration in the Spirt of Hope Eucharistic liturgy. Archbishop Buechlein has invited a number of bishops to assist with the Rite of Confirmation. Many of our priests will also assist it is anticipated that more than 2,500 youth as welI as baptized Catholic adults will receive the sacrament. The Archbishop would like to invite adult Catholics who have never received the Sacrament of Confirmation to be confirmed at this time. For one reason or another, people were never confirmed although they are today active Catholics. This celebration will take place on September 16, 2000 at the Conseco Field House.