Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:
This Christmas brings us an extraordinary perspective on the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and of the beginning of the Holy Year of Jubilee of the 2,000th anniversary of our Savior's Nativity.
The opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter's by Pope John Paul II on Dec. 24 signals the start of the Holy Year. With gladness of heart, I greet you as we rejoice together in celebrating the coming of Emmanuel, God-with-us, and as we journey into the Holy Year of Jubilee.
Pope John Paul II called upon the whole Church to prepare for the Jubilee through prayer and reflection; pursuit of unity, reconciliation and transformation; deepening of our relationship with the Trinity -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit; and generous response to the needs of the poor and oppressed.
Many parishes, institutions and other groups in our Albany Diocese have participated with great vitality in the programs of Renew 2000 or Follow Me! Rooted in the Word of God and in increased awareness of the graces and transforming effects of the sacraments of the Church, as well as in the current circumstances of our daily lives, the prayerful reflections of the faith-sharing groups have strengthened our commitment to advance in the new millennium the mission of Jesus Christ, the peace and justice of our Savior's teaching, and further growth in ecumenical and interreligious unity.
Advent, as in times past, has prepared us bountifully for this celebration through the Scriptures, the riches of which we have probed. The voice of Isaiah, ardent prophet of Emmanuel, who is heralded in the Advent season, has continued to challenge, encourage, nourish and renew us in this season of waiting and longing for the coming of Christ.
Isaiah envisions the peace of the Messianic kingdom where the peoples "shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again" (2:4). This vision of peace for the human family dawns once more in a world heavily armed with deadly weaponry and widely desecrated by land mines that continue to kill or maim countless victims, including so many children.
The Book of Isaiah calls upon God as the potter whose hands have formed us (64:7) and as a shepherd guarding his flock (40:11).
"Gaudete" Sunday (the third Sunday of Advent) included the passage from Isaiah which Jesus read early in His public ministry at the synagogue in Nazareth and which Luke provides (4:17-21):
"When the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed Him, He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: 'The spirit of the Lord is upon me; therefore, He has anointed me. He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor; to proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind and release to prisoners; to announce a year of favor from the Lord.' Rolling up the scroll, He gave it back to the assistant and sat down....Then He began by saying to them, 'Today, this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.'"
This passage -- totally affirmed and fulfilled by Jesus our Savior in His life, redemptive death and resurrection -- wonderfully expresses for the Holy Year of Jubilee and the unfolding millennium the basic pastoral and spiritual objectives, and the social mission of the whole Church.
Leviticus (25:10ff) sets forth the meaning of a jubilee: Every 50 years called for cancellation of all debts, restoration of land to its original owners and freedom for the oppressed. Forgiveness of debts for the struggling developing countries comes to mind as a viable and merciful way to assist them in rechanneling their resources toward providing for the urgent health, educational, and economic needs of their people who presently suffer such deprivation.
Another very familiar voice, that of Luke (2:8-20), provides the announcement by the angel of God to the startled shepherds "as the glory of God shone around them....of the tidings of great joy to be shared by the whole people, the birth of a Savior, the Messiah and Lord." The shepherds hurried to Bethlehem with a newfound sense of God's love for them in the gift of their Savior, the child in the manger, whom they beheld in the welcoming presence of Mary and Joseph.
The shepherds saw face to face the fulfillment of God's promise, "understood what had been told them concerning the child" and shared their wondrous experience. With joy and praise of God, they rushed back to bring the good news to others, thereby serving as perhaps the first evangelists. Mary, we are told, "treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart."
"The tidings of great joy to be shared by the whole people" hearten us in 1999 with the reminder of the undiminished love that is at the heart of the redemptive mission of our Savior, born in the city of David. The Book of Isaiah declared concerning Emmanuel: "A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him" (11:1-2). In the synagogue at Nazareth, as noted above, Jesus read from Isaiah and declared the fulfillment of that passage in the hearing of those present. When John the Baptist identified himself to the priests and Levites, he, too, quoted Isaiah. John was "a voice in the desert, crying out: Make straight the way of the Lord!" (John 1:23).
In the desert, both Jesus and John the Baptist found preparation, strength and the guidance of the Spirit for their mission. Advent has called us to prayer and attentiveness to the Word of God in some times set apart from the frenzy of commercialism that since well before Thanksgiving has clamored its wares throughout this season.
In our time, we are increasingly and painfully aware, however, of another kind of desert -- a spiritual and moral wasteland, devoid of light and sustenance for faith, hope, a sense of humanity, and compassionate concern for the well-being of others. Such a wasteland cultivates the violence and destruction involved in the so-called "hate crimes," in ethnic cleansing, in the abuse and exploitation of children in frightening numbers, in the blatant disregard for human dignity and needs, in the culture of death that increasingly afflicts so many persons, including the unborn, the people on death row, the numbers of the young who have lost their lives at the hands of their peers, the victims of drive-by shootings.
The Holy Year of Jubilee of the 2,000th Anniversary of Jesus Christ seeks through our faith, prayer and caring service the dynamic advance of the mission of our Savior in our beleaguered world, of peace and justice for all of the human family whom the Gospel supports, befriends and blesses. The Gospel calls us to see the face of Christ in the hungry, the homeless, the unborn, the disabled, the persons suffering from HIV/AIDS, the imprisoned, the addicted.
In 1991, the American bishops issued a statement titled "Putting Children and Families First: A Challenge for Our Church, Nation and World." We stated our purpose as follows: "We seek to shape a society -- and a world -- with a clear priority for families and children in need, and to contribute to the development of policies that help families to protect their children's lives and overcome the moral, social and economic factors that threaten their future."
In light of the present conditions in our world that so radically affect the lives of children and families in need, this challenge merits renewed attention, support, advocacy and action as we move into the year 2000.
I rejoice, then, to greet you on this Christmas 1999 and at the beginning of the Holy Year of Jubilee of the 2,000th Anniversary of the Birth of Jesus Christ, our Emmanuel, God-with-us. May this Feast of the Birth of our Savior bring you and your loved ones many blessings and joys from our gracious God -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit -- and the profound peace of this treasured time in which we celebrate "the tidings of great joy to be shared by the whole people."
Faithfully yours in Christ,
Bishop of Albany