55.
A separate chapter will be the actual
celebration of the Great Jubilee, which will take place simultaneously in
the Holy Land, in Rome and in the local Churches throughout the world.
Especially in this phase, the phase of celebration, the aim will be to
give glory to the Trinity, from whom everything in the world and in history
comes and to whom everything returns. This mystery is the focus of the three
years of immediate preparation: from Christ and through Christ, in the Holy
Spirit, to the Father. In this sense the Jubilee celebration makes present in
an anticipatory way the goal and fulfilment of the life of each Christian and
of the whole Church in the Triune God.
But since Christ is the only way to the
Father, in order to highlight his living and saving presence in the Church and
the world, the International Eucharistic Congress will take place in
Rome, on the occasion of the Great Jubilee. The Year 2000 will be intensely
Eucharistic: in the Sacrament of the Eucharist the Saviour, who took
flesh in Mary's womb twenty centuries ago, continues to offer himself to
humanity as the source of divine life.
The ecumenical and universal character of
the Sacred Jubilee can be fittingly reflected by a meeting of all
Christians. This would be an event of great significance, and so, in order
to avoid misunderstandings, it should be properly presented and carefully
prepared, in an attitude of fraternal cooperation with Christians of other
denominations and traditions, as well as of grateful openness to those
religions whose representatives might wish to acknowledge the joy shared by all
the disciples of Christ.
One thing is certain: everyone is asked to
do as much as possible to ensure that the great challenge of the Year 2000 is
not overlooked, for this challenge certainly involves a special grace of the
Lord for the Church and for the whole of humanity.
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