As much as the world is attracted to the rich and famous, the powerful and the glamorous, the new and the sensational, it is also drawn like a magnet to those whose holiness defies the dictates of a material, and sensual society. As it seeks meaning in life, it is confronted and confounded by the mystery of God's grace evidenced in human beings. The simple but austere life and ministry of Mother Teresa of Calcutta was an enigma to the world, as countless people flocked to grasp and share in some way in her life. The impact of John Paul II upon the world's leaders as well as the ordinary, but unknown persons in the remote parts of the world, baffles the minds of the pollsters. This has become more true as he embraces the further deterioration of his physical body, without lessening his efforts to share the Gospel to the ends of the earth. The life of Padre Pio, of Sister Faustina, of Fr. Damien of Molakai, of Mother Drexel, of the parents of Theresa of Liseux, of Juan Diego, of the children of Fatima—the list goes on—their heroic, but quiet lives have drawn tens of thousands to seek greater holiness amidst the unholiness of the world.
As a Year of Favor from the Lord the Great Jubilee is a time for each of us to review our own lives, to revaluate our own spiritual journey, to renew our own baptismal promise of yes to God. What we do each Easter Sunday in word, what we do each time we enter a Catholic Church through the sign of the cross with water, what we do each time we profess our faith through the Creed must become not just an external, rote action but a conscious, intentional reminder of who we are in relationship to the God who has called us into the fullness of life. To be in fact what we are in faith! It should be obvious to everyone around that “all of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor 3:18)
John Paul has said that, “everything ought to focus on the primary objective of the Jubilee: 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.”
