Catholic Insight and Jubilee 2000.

In one of Raymond Carver's short stories a young wife wanders restlessly through the night while her husband is deep in slumber. Finally she puts her hands on the covers of the bed and asks, "God? Can you help us, God?"

It's an apt expression of the bewilderment of modern man who, by his own boastful admission, has grown beyond the need for God, but is still compelled by an ache without ceasing to throw a vague question into the darkness: "God, can you help us?"

As pointed out in the documents of Vatican II, specifically Gaudium et spes, this question, which comes with increasing insistence, urgency and pathos in today's world, is answered in the person of Christ.

And as the Holy Father notes in his apostolic letter, Tertio millenio adveniente, Christianity is essentially different from all other religions because it begins with the Incarnation of the Word of God: "Here, it is not simply a case of man seeking God but of God who comes in Person to speak to man of himself and to show him the path by which he may be reached..." (Tma #6).

Why does God seek man out? John Paul asks. It is because we have sinned that God comes in search of us. ". . . God wishes to persuade man to abandon the paths of evil which lead him farther and farther afield... `Making him abandon' those paths means making man understand that he is taking the wrong path; it means overcoming the evil which is everywhere found in human history. Overcoming evil: this is the meaning of the Redemption" (Tma #7).

As the time draws near for the celebration of the great Jubilee of the year 2000, the Holy Father exhorts all to prepare for this event, keeping in mind this fundamental meaning of Redemption. The primary objective of the Jubilee, he notes, is "the strengthening of faith and of the witness of Christians. It is therefore necessary to inspire in all the faithful a true longing for holiness, a deep desire for conversion and personal renewal in a context of ever more intense prayer and of solidarity with one's neighbor, especially the most needy" (Tma #42).

Catholic Insight

At Catholic Insight, the editorial board has spent the last two meetings rereading the apostolic letter. We hope to bring articles focussing on the person of Jesus Christ--the person of the Trinity on whom we are asked to reflect for 1997--and on the call to conversion and evangelization. The article by Catherine Collins in the present edition is the first instalment in this endeavour.

Meanwhile, we must continue our program of examining the Church in Canada. The Holy Father had set aside 1995 and 1996 for a collective examination of conscience, noting that although the Church is "holy because of her incorporation into Christ, [she] does not tire of doing penance: before God and man she always acknowledges as her own her sinful sons and daughters." John Paul adds that "Acknowledging the weaknesses of the past is an act of honesty and courage which helps us to strengthen our faith. . ." (Tma #33).

Canada

Two areas of particular concern in the Church in Canada are investigated at some length in this issue of C.I.: the troubled Catholic school system, which is under attack from without but also suffers in many instances from loss of faith within, and the worldwide movement to "reform" the Catholic Church, which has as its Canadian counterpart the Catholics of Vision.

The situation with the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA) should be taken seriously. It exemplifies the steady secularization of Catholic schools not only in Ontario but across the country. The pervasive indifference of Catholic parents, when coupled with the undermining of the Catholicity of our schools by people within the system, will make it impossible for Catholic schools to survive. Catholics will cease to believe--evidently, some of them already have--that Catholic schools are worth the effort to maintain.

The situation within the Catholic schools mirrors that of the entire Church, where sporadic challenges to the authority of the magisterium have converged into a movement to reform the Church. Catholics of Vision Canada may "gut the Catholic Church" as one bishop has put it.

A telling illustration of the attitude of these recalcitrant "visionaries" is a note in their promotional package for gathering signatures. One of the suggested lines to garner support from our separated brethren is "We're asking for the things Protestants take for granted."

Needless to say, the above is an example of false ecumenism. True ecumenism, however, is stressed repeatedly by the Holy Father: repentance of and conversion from those sins which destroy the unity willed by God for his Church. This he sees as of particular importance in the forthcoming Jubilee year, and it naturally involves strengthening the knowledge of our own faith, so that all ecumenical efforts spring from a well-grounded appreciation of the beauty and tradition of Catholicism.

Thus Catholic Insight, starting its fifth year, is setting its sights high. We take as our watchword, "Unless the Lord build the house, in vain do the builders labour". It is clear that there is a great deal of work to be done and that we are in need of many efforts to build the civilization of love. In the words of Pope John Paul, 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" (#35).

We ask for your prayers and support for these apostolic efforts.