The Great Jubilee of the Year 2000
Texts from the Encyclical Letter ‘Incarnationis Mysterium’ for the Jubilee 2000
Jesus - the true measure of all things and of all human expectations
One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism
A Jubilee of reconciliation and hope for those who look to Christ and to his Church
These words clearly indicate that in Jesus Christ the history of salvation finds its culmination and ultimate meaning. In him, we have all received "grace upon grace" (Jn 1:16), having been reconciled with the Father (cf. Rom 5:10; 2 Cor 5:18).
The whole of human history stands in reference to the birth of Jesus
Texts from the Encyclical Letter ‘Incarnationis Mysterium’ for the Jubilee 2000
Jesus - the true measure of all things and of all human expectations
One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism
A Jubilee of reconciliation and hope for those who look to Christ and to his Church
These words clearly indicate that in Jesus Christ the history of salvation finds its culmination and ultimate meaning. In him, we have all received "grace upon grace" (Jn 1:16), having been reconciled with the Father (cf. Rom 5:10; 2 Cor 5:18).
The whole of human history stands in reference to the birth of Jesus
Texts from the Encyclical Letter ‘Incarnationis Mysterium’ for the Jubilee 2000
Jesus - the true measure of all things and of all human expectations
Jesus is the genuine newness which surpasses all human expectations and such he remains for ever, from age to age. The Incarnation of the Son of God and the salvation which he has accomplished by his Death and Resurrection are therefore the true criterion for evaluating all that happens in time and every effort to make life more human.Two key centres for the Jubilee - Jerusalem and Rome
The Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 will be celebrated simultaneously in Rome and in all the particular Churches around the world. This event will have two centres: the City where Providence chose to place the See of the Successor of Peter, and the Holy Land, where the Son of God was born as man, taking our flesh from a Virgin whose name was Mary. That Land, in which the first Christian community appeared, is the place where God revealed himself to humanity. It is the Promised Land which has so marked the history of the Jewish People, and is revered by the followers of Islam as well. May the Jubilee serve to advance mutual dialogue until the day when all of us together, Jews, Christians and Moslems, will exchange the greeting of peace in Jerusalem.A time of conversion, penance and healing
The Jubilee should lead man to conversion and penance, to healing and the recovery of what he could never attain by his own strength: God's friendship and grace, the supernatural life which alone can bring fulfilment to the deepest aspirations of the human heart.The Church brings to the world the Light of Christ
At the Second Vatican Council, the Church became more deeply conscious both of the mystery which she herself is and of the apostolic mission entrusted to her by the Lord. The Third Millennium commits the community of believers to live in the world knowing that they must be "the leaven and, as it were, the soul of human society, destined to be renewed in Christ and transformed into the family of God".In the Most Holy Trinity the journey of faith has its origin and final goal
Christians, journeying towards the Third Millennium, feel invigorated, in the knowledge that they bring to the world the true Light, Christ the Lord. Proclaiming Jesus of Nazareth, true God and perfect Man, the Church opens to all people the prospect of being "divinized" and thus of becoming more human. This is the one path which can lead the world to discover its lofty calling and to achieve it fully in the salvation wrought by God.
The years of preparation for the Jubilee have been placed under the sign of the Most Holy Trinity: through Christ, in the Holy Spirit, to God the Father. In the mystery of the Trinity, the journey of faith has its origin and its final goal, when at last our eyes will contemplate the face of God for ever. In celebrating the Incarnation, we fix our gaze upon the mystery of the Trinity. Jesus of Nazareth, who reveals the Father, has fulfilled the desire hidden in every human heart to know God. What creation preserved as a seal etched in it by the creative hand of God and what the ancient Prophets had announced as a promise is disclosed in the revelation of Christ.A hymn of praise to the Holy Trinity
Jesus reveals the face of God the Father "compassionate and merciful" (Jas 5:11), and with the sending of the Holy Spirit he makes known the mystery of love which is the Trinity. It is the Spirit of Christ who is at work in the Church and in history: we must listen to him in order to recognise the signs of the new times and to make the expectation of the glorified Lord's return ever more vibrant in the hearts of the faithful.
The Holy Year must therefore be one unceasing hymn of praise to the Trinity, the Most High God. At this point, the poetic words of Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, the Theologian (AD 330-390) come to our aid:"Glory to God the Father and to the Son, King of the universe.Glory to the Spirit, worthy of praise and all holy.The Trinity is one God who created and filled all things:the heavens with heavenly beings, the earth with creatures of earth,the sea, the rivers and springs with creatures of the waters,giving life to all things by his Spirit,that all creatures might sing the praises of their wise Creator,who alone gives life and sustains all life in being.Above all others, let the creature who reasons celebrate him always as the great King and good Father".
One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism
May this hymn to the Trinity for the Incarnation of the Son rise with one voice from all who have been baptised and share the same faith in the Lord Jesus. It is only by listening to the Spirit that we shall be able to show forth visibly in full communion the grace of divine adoption which springs from Baptism: all of us children of the one Father. The challenging call of the Apostle rings out again for us today:"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all" (Eph 4:4-6).
A Jubilee of reconciliation and hope for those who look to Christ and to his Church
Let us all hasten to the feast of the Jubilee now being prepared; let us bring with us everything that already unites us and, by fixing our gaze on Christ alone, let us grow in the unity which is the fruit of the Spirit. The task of the Bishop of Rome, as the Successor of Peter, is to make the invitation to the Jubilee celebration all the more insistent, in order that the two thousandth anniversary of the central mystery of the Christian faith may be experienced as a journey of reconciliation and a sign of true hope for all who look to Christ and to his Church, the sacrament "of intimate union with God and the unity of the entire human race".A Jubilee focused on the Incarnation, Death and Resurrection of Christ
Accomplished in the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, the mystery of the Redemption of the human race is the consummation of an event which has its beginning in the Incarnation of the Son of God. From the whole Church there will rise the hymn of praise and thanksgiving to the Father, who in his incomparable love has granted us in Christ to be "fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God" (Eph 2:19). As brothers and sisters in the one human family, a warm invitation to share our joy goes out to the followers of other religions, as it does to those who are far from faith in God.The Jubilee will begin on Christmas Eve 1999
For us believers, the Jubilee Year will highlight the Redemption accomplished by Christ in his Death and Resurrection. After this Death, no one can be separated from the love of God, except through their own fault. The grace of mercy is offered to everyone, so that all who have been reconciled may also be "saved by his life".
I therefore decree that the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 will begin on Christmas Eve 1999, with the opening of the holy door in Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, a few hours before the inaugural celebration planned for Jerusalem and Bethlehem.Mary, Mother of the Church shows us the way that leads to the Son of God
May Christmas 1999 be for everyone a feast filled with light, the prelude to an especially deep experience of grace and divine mercy, which will continue until the closing of the Jubilee Year on the day of the Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ, 6 January 2001. Let all the faithful welcome the invitation of the angels who ceaselessly proclaim: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased". Thus the Christmas season will be the pulsing heart of the Holy Year, bringing to the life of the Church an infusion of the copious gifts of the Spirit for a new evangelization.
The joy of the Jubilee would not be complete if our gaze did not turn to her who in full obedience to the Father gave birth to the Son of God in the flesh for our sake. For Mary "the time to give birth" came to pass in Bethlehem, and filled with the Spirit she brought forth the First-Born of the new creation. Called to be the Mother of God, from the day of the virginal conception Mary lived the fullness of her motherhood, crowning it on Calvary at the foot of the Cross. There, by the wondrous gift of Christ, she also became the Mother of the Church, and showed everyone the way that leads to the Son.Woman of silence, given to listening, docile in the hands of the Father, the Virgin Mary is invoked as "blessed" by all generations, for she recognised the marvels accomplished in her by the Holy Spirit. Through the coming months may Mary deign to intercede intensely for the Christian people, so that abundant grace and mercy may be theirs, as they rejoice at the two thousand years since the birth of their Saviour.God’s purpose set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time
Let the praise of the Church rise to God the Father in the Holy Spirit for the gift of salvation in Christ the Lord, both now and for evermore.
Contemplating the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God, the Church prepares to cross the threshold of the Third Millennium. Never more than at this time do we feel the need to make our own the Apostle's hymn of praise and thanksgiving:"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will... For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth" (Eph 1:3-5, 9-10).
These words clearly indicate that in Jesus Christ the history of salvation finds its culmination and ultimate meaning. In him, we have all received "grace upon grace" (Jn 1:16), having been reconciled with the Father (cf. Rom 5:10; 2 Cor 5:18).
The whole of human history stands in reference to the birth of Jesus
The birth of Jesus at Bethlehem is not an event which can be consigned to the past. The whole of human history in fact stands in reference to him: our own time and the future of the world are illumined by his presence. He is "the Living One" (Rev 1:18), "who is, who was and who is to come" (Rev 1:4). Before him every knee must bend, in the heavens, on earth and under the earth, and every tongue proclaim that he is Lord (cf. Phil 2:10-11). In the encounter with Christ, every man discovers the mystery of his own life.Pope John Paul II
Texts from the Encyclical Letter ‘Incarnationis Mysterium’ for the Jubilee 2000
Jesus - the true measure of all things and of all human expectations
Jesus is the genuine newness which surpasses all human expectations and such he remains for ever, from age to age. The Incarnation of the Son of God and the salvation which he has accomplished by his Death and Resurrection are therefore the true criterion for evaluating all that happens in time and every effort to make life more human.Two key centres for the Jubilee - Jerusalem and Rome
The Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 will be celebrated simultaneously in Rome and in all the particular Churches around the world. This event will have two centres: the City where Providence chose to place the See of the Successor of Peter, and the Holy Land, where the Son of God was born as man, taking our flesh from a Virgin whose name was Mary. That Land, in which the first Christian community appeared, is the place where God revealed himself to humanity. It is the Promised Land which has so marked the history of the Jewish People, and is revered by the followers of Islam as well. May the Jubilee serve to advance mutual dialogue until the day when all of us together, Jews, Christians and Moslems, will exchange the greeting of peace in Jerusalem.A time of conversion, penance and healing
The Jubilee should lead man to conversion and penance, to healing and the recovery of what he could never attain by his own strength: God's friendship and grace, the supernatural life which alone can bring fulfilment to the deepest aspirations of the human heart.The Church brings to the world the Light of Christ
At the Second Vatican Council, the Church became more deeply conscious both of the mystery which she herself is and of the apostolic mission entrusted to her by the Lord. The Third Millennium commits the community of believers to live in the world knowing that they must be "the leaven and, as it were, the soul of human society, destined to be renewed in Christ and transformed into the family of God".In the Most Holy Trinity the journey of faith has its origin and final goal
Christians, journeying towards the Third Millennium, feel invigorated, in the knowledge that they bring to the world the true Light, Christ the Lord. Proclaiming Jesus of Nazareth, true God and perfect Man, the Church opens to all people the prospect of being "divinized" and thus of becoming more human. This is the one path which can lead the world to discover its lofty calling and to achieve it fully in the salvation wrought by God.
The years of preparation for the Jubilee have been placed under the sign of the Most Holy Trinity: through Christ — in the Holy Spirit — to God the Father. In the mystery of the Trinity, the journey of faith has its origin and its final goal, when at last our eyes will contemplate the face of God for ever. In celebrating the Incarnation, we fix our gaze upon the mystery of the Trinity. Jesus of Nazareth, who reveals the Father, has fulfilled the desire hidden in every human heart to know God. What creation preserved as a seal etched in it by the creative hand of God and what the ancient Prophets had announced as a promise is disclosed in the revelation of Christ.A hymn of praise to the Holy Trinity
Jesus reveals the face of God the Father "compassionate and merciful" (Jas 5:11), and with the sending of the Holy Spirit he makes known the mystery of love which is the Trinity. It is the Spirit of Christ who is at work in the Church and in history: we must listen to him in order to recognise the signs of the new times and to make the expectation of the glorified Lord's return ever more vibrant in the hearts of the faithful.
The Holy Year must therefore be one unceasing hymn of praise to the Trinity, the Most High God. At this point, the poetic words of Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, the Theologian (AD 330-390) come to our aid:"Glory to God the Father and to the Son, King of the universe.Glory to the Spirit, worthy of praise and all holy.The Trinity is one God who created and filled all things:the heavens with heavenly beings, the earth with creatures of earth,the sea, the rivers and springs with creatures of the waters,giving life to all things by his Spirit,that all creatures might sing the praises of their wise Creator,who alone gives life and sustains all life in being.Above all others, let the creature who reasons celebrate him always as the great King and good Father".
One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism
May this hymn to the Trinity for the Incarnation of the Son rise with one voice from all who have been baptised and share the same faith in the Lord Jesus. It is only by listening to the Spirit that we shall be able to show forth visibly in full communion the grace of divine adoption which springs from Baptism: all of us children of the one Father. The challenging call of the Apostle rings out again for us today:"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all" (Eph 4:4-6).
A Jubilee of reconciliation and hope for those who look to Christ and to his Church
Let us all hasten to the feast of the Jubilee now being prepared; let us bring with us everything that already unites us and, by fixing our gaze on Christ alone, let us grow in the unity which is the fruit of the Spirit. The task of the Bishop of Rome, as the Successor of Peter, is to make the invitation to the Jubilee celebration all the more insistent, in order that the two thousandth anniversary of the central mystery of the Christian faith may be experienced as a journey of reconciliation and a sign of true hope for all who look to Christ and to his Church, the sacrament "of intimate union with God and the unity of the entire human race".A Jubilee focused on the Incarnation, Death and Resurrection of Christ
Accomplished in the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, the mystery of the Redemption of the human race is the consummation of an event which has its beginning in the Incarnation of the Son of God. From the whole Church there will rise the hymn of praise and thanksgiving to the Father, who in his incomparable love has granted us in Christ to be "fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God" (Eph 2:19). As brothers and sisters in the one human family, a warm invitation to share our joy goes out to the followers of other religions, as it does to those who are far from faith in God.The Jubilee will begin on Christmas Eve 1999
For us believers, the Jubilee Year will highlight the Redemption accomplished by Christ in his Death and Resurrection. After this Death, no one can be separated from the love of God, except through their own fault. The grace of mercy is offered to everyone, so that all who have been reconciled may also be "saved by his life".
I therefore decree that the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 will begin on Christmas Eve 1999, with the opening of the holy door in Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, a few hours before the inaugural celebration planned for Jerusalem and Bethlehem.Mary, Mother of the Church shows us the way that leads to the Son of God
May Christmas 1999 be for everyone a feast filled with light, the prelude to an especially deep experience of grace and divine mercy, which will continue until the closing of the Jubilee Year on the day of the Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ, 6 January 2001. Let all the faithful welcome the invitation of the angels who ceaselessly proclaim: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased". Thus the Christmas season will be the pulsing heart of the Holy Year, bringing to the life of the Church an infusion of the copious gifts of the Spirit for a new evangelization.
The joy of the Jubilee would not be complete if our gaze did not turn to her who in full obedience to the Father gave birth to the Son of God in the flesh for our sake. For Mary "the time to give birth" came to pass in Bethlehem, and filled with the Spirit she brought forth the First-Born of the new creation. Called to be the Mother of God, from the day of the virginal conception Mary lived the fullness of her motherhood, crowning it on Calvary at the foot of the Cross. There, by the wondrous gift of Christ, she also became the Mother of the Church, and showed everyone the way that leads to the Son.Woman of silence, given to listening, docile in the hands of the Father, the Virgin Mary is invoked as "blessed" by all generations, for she recognised the marvels accomplished in her by the Holy Spirit. Through the coming months may Mary deign to intercede intensely for the Christian people, so that abundant grace and mercy may be theirs, as they rejoice at the two thousand years since the birth of their Saviour.God’s purpose set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time
Let the praise of the Church rise to God the Father in the Holy Spirit for the gift of salvation in Christ the Lord, both now and for evermore.
Contemplating the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God, the Church prepares to cross the threshold of the Third Millennium. Never more than at this time do we feel the need to make our own the Apostle's hymn of praise and thanksgiving:"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will... For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth" (Eph 1:3-5, 9-10).
These words clearly indicate that in Jesus Christ the history of salvation finds its culmination and ultimate meaning. In him, we have all received "grace upon grace" (Jn 1:16), having been reconciled with the Father (cf. Rom 5:10; 2 Cor 5:18).
The whole of human history stands in reference to the birth of Jesus
The birth of Jesus at Bethlehem is not an event which can be consigned to the past. The whole of human history in fact stands in reference to him: our own time and the future of the world are illumined by his presence. He is "the Living One" (Rev 1:18), "who is, who was and who is to come" (Rev 1:4). Before him every knee must bend, in the heavens, on earth and under the earth, and every tongue proclaim that he is Lord (cf. Phil 2:10-11). In the encounter with Christ, every man discovers the mystery of his own life.