by Fr. Eugene Palumbo, SDB

At midnight of Christmas Eve, 1999, Pope John Paul II will rap three times with a silver hammer on the "Holy Door" of Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome. Inside the church, unseen hands will open the heavy doors which had been sealed tight at the end of 1975, the last "Holy Year." Then the Holy Father, candle in hand, will enter Saint Peter's in solemn procession with cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and lay people to usher in the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. Now all humanity stands on the threshold of the Third Millennium. What lies ahead for the next one thousand years is a total mystery, but for Pope John Paul II, his expectations assume almost cosmic dimensions.

John Paul's Apostolic Letter entitled Tertio Millennio Adveniente (As the Third Millennium Draws Near) reads like an ecstatic recital of what the Jubilee Year should mean for us: peace, conversion, repentance, a rebirth of religious faith, a new springtime of Christianity's blossoming. For a pope who has traveled so widely and mingled with the world's mightiest and most miserable, the Year 2000 carries a mystical, almost magical, significance.

In his Apostolic Letter, Pope John Paul II called for three years of intensive spiritual preparation. The first year, 1997, focused on Christ -- his role as our savior and proclaimer of the word of God, and the necessity of belief in him for our salvation.

The second year of preparation, 1998, was dedicated to the Holy Spirit. Wrote the pope: "The Church cannot prepare for the new millennium in any other way than in the Spirit. The Spirit is the principal agent of the new evangelization."

The year 1999 honors God the Father. This year should broaden the horizons of believers who will see things in the perspective of the "Father who is in heaven." (Mt. 5:45) "The whole of Christian life is like a great pilgrimage to the house of the Father."

Concluding his remarks on the three years of preparation John Paul calls for "inter-religious dialogue." "In this dialogue the Jews and the Muslims ought to have a preeminent place, and may it also be possible to hold meetings in places of significance for the great monotheistic religions."

One can see at a glance that the main thrust of the pope's thinking and planning for the new millennium dwarfs the expectations and hopes that characterized earlier jubilee years. From the very first jubilee year in 1300 AD, down through the centuries, the emphasis was mainly on pilgrimages to Rome, special indulgences, visits to other churches in Rome.

Through his Apostolic Letter, Pope John Paul II is attempting to rally all people in a mighty crusade to restore peace to troubled lands, provide all human beings with the dignity and justice they deserve, protect life at all levels and stages of development, and renew their faith in the Creator.