I)lcmbtr 3,113 ' The Millage MomMy -- for Cstholi¢l of Soub'lmm Indts 5
Bishop's Forum --
Reflecting on Advent and the Synod
ADVENT is a time with a mixture of discomfort and carry out all those actions that he ratified. Or the
°f wonderment . . .
ADVENT is a time
of waiting with expectation...
ADVENT is a time
°f anticipation of things yet to be...
. The Christian seas
is a Speci-, .- on of Advent
-. L girt to us for it teaches
US-op.e for a better life on this earth
Q-a wlta the certaint o
nali,v ; .... Y f faith eter-
"-- '- ae life of heaven
t their
child will be like. There is
that their offspring will be whole and
happy thoughts for the life
yet to be lived.
wait with expectation knowing that
set amount of time necessary for a baby
ByBISHOP
GERALD A.
GETTELFINGER
joyful preparations.
Parents anticipate the first
pangs of labor. Mothers and fathers
make contingency plans for the mo-
ment that the time of birth is at
hand. While all is ready for the
newborn to arrive the anticipation
builds among family members and
the community of friends.
Then the wait is over!
Or does one advent give way to
another with its wonderment, its
waiting, its anticipation?
Although our Synod was not a
birthday, it certainly was preceded
with an advent. It had the mixture of all the emo-
tions and feelings of any advent be it for a birthday
or an arrival of a long lost friend.
The twenty-eight-month wait for our Synod is
over. A new advent has begun.
wonderment that goes with the question: Is it pos-
sible to do all those items the Synod delegates
called for by their votes?
Many others of you have begun the wait for
the implementation of your favorite action item
flowing from the Synod.
Still others anticipate the new Diocesan Pas-
toral Council as an exciting way fi)r the laity to be
even more involved in the life of the Church in our
diocese.
All of us, nonetheless, must make room for
these "newborns" and indeed welcome them as
part of the life of the "family." Each of us must
share responsibility for the quality of life in this
our family. Each of us is challenged to give of
time, talent and treasure to make certain that the
work of the Synod is nurtured to full maturity,
that the Mission of Our Diocese may be realized in
its mother. It is a waiting filled Many of you may wonder how the bishop will this new advent.
P0pe in Youth Day message urges young people to sha life
re
^ x WOODEN
'atholic News Service message for the 1994 and 1995 day both years. It will be cele- called to participate by reason our century, to all of you, dear
celebrations of World Youth brated internationally with the of their baptism and their be- young people who hunger and
Day.
The theme for the celebra-
tions will be: "As the Father
has sent me, so I send you."
World Youth Day will be cel-
ebrated locally on Palm Sun-
[ CITy (CNS)
are called on to
life that is
his followers,
aul II said in a
s-' .-Urges Catholics to make
piritual room for Christ at Advent
Y Jo TI_A
VATt,._ VIS, Catholic News Service
to akra, CITy (CNS) _ Pone John Paul II asked eo le
Year. uu tbr Jesus as they count down to ChristmP: tPis
"V¢
tory heaesa, arecaa'tcold,neeti cthe-- Lord if our minds are distracted, if our
v-" ae sap - "uur eyes are unable to open to the mys-
at at a blessing Nov 28, the first Sunday of Ad-
for "vigilance- among his followers, the pope
a request that challenges "our laziness, asking
in our daily lives," he said.
not look at Christmas as a merely historical
but as a chance to welcome Christ anew in
the pope said.
Christmas this year, he said, the church is
to the U.N. International Year of the Family
should recall that a family, born from
a man and a woman to join their lives, is by
toward the future.
a "project of love" marked by "the ex-
new lives that the family nucleus is
With tenderness, to care for attentively and
WAIT UNTIL
REACHED
YOUR LIMIT.
yQ Willng im though you simply cannot cope
o.."e more demand, ire us,, ca,
:4 h0U'4 ame:, confidential per, amsmnts
uay, Seven days a week to help you
i:
get past it.
THE HELP LINE
To634"NEED (634-6333)
II Free 1-800-852-7279
B Aselviceofthe
AL HEALTH
pope in Manila, Philippines, in
January 1995.
The pope's message, dated
Nov. 21 and released Nov. 27
at the Vatican, urges young
people to continue the journey
they began at earlier youth
days.
The 1993 World Youth Day
celebration in Denver, he said,
was a time of "experiencing
and tasting the gift of life in
abundance."
At the Denver celebration
last August, young people fo-
cused on Jesus' words: "I have
come that they may have life
and have it abundantly."
"While we keep the mar-
velous and unforgettable sight
of that great meeting in the
Rocky Mountains before our
eyes and in our hearts, our pil-
grimage continues and makes
its way this time to Manila, in
the vast Asian continent, cross-
roads of the 10th World Youth
Day," he said.
The pope said the person
calling young people to prepare
for the Manila celebration is
"Jesus Christ, center of our
lives, root of our faith, reason
for our hope and source of our
love."
"Called by him, young people
from every corner of the world
will examine their commit-
ment to the "new evangeliza-
tion' in the tracks of the mis-
sion entrusted to the Apostles
longing to the church commu-
nity."
The pope said the mission-
ary commitment of the church
arises from the truth of
Christ's resurrection.
Like the Apostles, members
of the church are strengthened
in their mission by Christ's
resurrection, which showed
"his message was not a lie,
(and) his promises were not
written on sand."
"He, living and blazing with
glory, is the proof of the om-
nipotent love of God, which
radically changes the course of
history and of our individual
existences," the pope said.
But for the Apostles ar.J for
Christians today an encounter
with the risen Lord cannot be
just a moment of individual
joy, he said.
"Strengthened by faith in
the risen Christ, we all are
asked to throw open the doors
of our lives without fear or un-
certainty, to accept the Word
which is the way, the truth
and the life and to shout it
courageously to the whole
world," he said.
Pope John Paul said young
people experience first hand
"the apprehensions of the cur-
rent historical season, dense
with hopes and uncertainties,
in which one can easily lose
the way that leads to an en-
counter with Christ."
thirst for truth, the church pre-
sents itself as a traveling com-
panion," he said.
"Faithful custodian and in-
terpreter of the patrimony of
faith given it by Christ, the
church wants to dialogue with
the new generations," he said.
At the same time, the pope
said, the church entrusts
young people with the task "of
shouting to the world the joy
which springs from having en-
countered Christ."
Go and preach the Good
News that redeems," he told
the youths.
"Do it with joy in your hearts
and become communicators of
hope in a world that often is
tempted to despair, communi-
cators of faith in a society that
often seems to resign itself to
disbelief, communicators of
love amid daily events that are
often marked by the most un-
bridled egoism," he said.
Young people are called to
show their peers and the whole
world, through word and ac-
tion, the truth that reconcilia-
tion and peace begin in the
human heart, the pope said.
ro you, young people, is en-
trusted in a particular way the
task of becoming communica.
tors of hope and peacemakers
in a world always more in need
of credible witnesses and, co-
and in which all Christians are "To the men and women of herent announcers.'
Church teaching on sexuality not meant to restrain 10ve
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --
Catholic teaching on sexuality
and parenthood is not designed
to put =a restraint on the gen-
erosity of love," Pope John
Paul II said.
Rather, he said, the church's
teaching is aimed at helping
couples see new life as an ex-
pression of their complete self-
giving.
The church recognizes the
legitimacy of using natural
methods of family planning
when couples decide they have
a valid reason to delay having
a child, the pope told a Vati-
can-sponsored conference
marking the 25th anniversary
of Pope Paul VI's encyclical on
human life and married love.
"Adhering fully to God's de-
sign for matrimony, couples do
not feel impoverished in their
love, but on the contrary, expe-
rience the fullness of their mu-
tual dedication," the pope said.
The Nov. 25-26 conference
on the encyclical "Humanae
Vitae" ("Of Human Life") was
sponsored by the Pontifical
Council for the Family. More
than 100 Catholic university
leaders, moral theologians and
people involved in ministry to
families took part.
Pope John Paul said Pope
Paul, "in promulgating this
highly valuable document in
one of the most delicate and
difficult moments of his pontif-
icate, showed apostolic
courage, love for the truth and
authentic fidelity to God and to
human beings."
"It is comforting to see how
in the Catholic Church today
the service to humanity ren-
dered by this great pope is
gaining recognition despite the
demanding character of the
doctrine he reaffirmed and the
strong resistance offered by
those opposed to it," the pope
said.
Humanae Vitae "touches es-
sential aspects of the experi,
ence spouses are called to live
as their means of sanctifica,
tion" and is a document requir-
ing "the distinct attention" of
all pastoral workers.
