I Introduction

 1  THE FUTURE

    What will this new century and new millennium bring? The need for us to prepare for the challenges of the future is urgent.

 2  THE VISION AND CHALLENGES FOR THE FUTURE

    In his apostolic letter on the Great Jubilee, Tertio Millennio Adveniente, our Holy Father provides a prophetic vision of the future that is both optimistic and challenging. He says that the Great Jubilee will announce a new springtime of faith and Christian living, if we are docile to the Holy Spirit. The new springtime is the hope-filled vision of the future. The need to be docile to the Holy Spirit is the challenge.

 3  THE ARCHDIOCESAN VISION AND CHALLENGE

    The Archdiocese of Vancouver has adopted the vision and challenge of our Holy Father. Our vision is to promote the new springtime of faith and Christian living. Our challenge is to listen to the Holy Spirit and to follow His guidance.

 4  LISTENING TO THE HOLY SPIRIT THROUGH OUR SYNOD

    In our Archdiocese, we have opted for a synodal process as a way of listening to the Holy Spirit. It is a process involving wide participation of clergy, religious, and laity in an effort to listen to the Holy Spirit and to discern where He is leading us as we promote the new springtime.

 5  HOW DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT SPEAK TO US?

    The Holy Spirit speaks to us in a variety of ways, but three in particular:  through Sacred Scripture, through the voice of the Church, and through the “signs of the times.” The “signs of the times” is a term coined by Blessed John XXIII, meaning the signs found in the Church and in the world of the current day. These signs can be phenomena, conditions, situations, trends, happenings, and events. Through these signs, the Voice of God, the Holy Spirit, can be heard.

 6  WHAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT SAYING TO US THROUGH HOLY SCRIPTURE?

    God Himself speaks to us through Sacred Scripture. What is His most basic message and most basic challenge?

      (a)  The most basic message, a nutshell summary of the entire message that God conveys to us in the Bible, is found, I believe, in the Gospel of St. John, 3:16: “God so loved the world that He sent His Son so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have life everlasting.”

      (b)  Consequent to the most basic message, God also gives us a most basic challenge. This most basic challenge to the Church, is found, I believe, in the Gospel of Matthew, 28:19: “Go, make disciples of all nations.”

    To be docile to God’s basic message and challenge in Sacred Scripture, we, as Church, must constantly strive to make disciples of all nations, to proclaim the Good News of salvation, and to be evangelizers and missionaries; in other words, to be “mission-driven.”

    This mission and challenge is given not only to bishops, priests, and religious:  it is a mission given to the whole Church, the Body of Christ, and to each baptized member of the Church. To each of us, Jesus extends His challenge, “Go make disciples of all nations.” Are all members of the Church aware of this call to be evangelizers, makers of disciples? Do all respond to the call? I think there is a growing awareness of the universal call, as well as a growing response, but I believe the Holy Spirit is calling us to strengthen that awareness and response. 

    How can we motivate all members of the Church to become missionary-minded and evangelizers? What formation is needed in catechesis for children and adults? What pastoral programs are needed to promote evangelization, new in ardor, method, and expression?

 7  WHAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT SAYING TO US THROUGH THE VOICE OF THE CHURCH?

    We receive God’s revelation, light, and guidance through Tradition as well. Tradition is a living reality. In a sense, going to Tradition for answers is like consulting the God-inspired wisdom of our ancestors, who have faced similar problems in their own times and offer us help in our search for solutions. Listening to Tradition is listening to the voice of the Church as it speaks to us from the past and in the present.

     While the Holy Spirit is constantly speaking to us through the voice of the Church, in recent years He has been giving us one overriding message. He is calling us to a new evangelization, one that is new in ardor, method, and expression. This dominant message is given particularly in recent pronouncements of our Holy Father:  in the encyclical The Mission of the Redeemer (1990); in the apostolic letter on the Great Jubilee, Tertio Millennio Adveniente (1994); in the encyclical The Gospel of Life (1995); and in the post-synod exhortations for each of the continental synods held in preparation for the Great Jubilee Year. In an unmistakably clear way, through the voice of the Church, the Holy Spirit is calling us to a new evangelization and a new missionary thrust. 

    This conclusion is confirmed and reinforced by Pope John Paul II in his post-Great Jubilee apostolic letter, Novo Millennio Ineunte. Our Holy Father states:  “...we have lived this Jubilee, not only as a remembrance of the past, but also as a prophecy of the future. We now need to profit from the grace received by putting it into practice in resolutions and guidelines for action. This is a task I wish to invite all local churches to undertake.... Now is the time for each local church to assess its fervor and find fresh enthusiasm for its spiritual and pastoral responsibilities, by reflecting on what the Spirit has been saying to the People of God in this special year of grace, and indeed in the longer span of time from the Second Vatican Council to the Great Jubilee” (n. 3). 

    Further on, our Holy Father urges us to launch out into the deep:  “Now we must look ahead, we must ‘put out into the deep,’ trusting in Christ’s words:  Duc in altum!  What we have done this year cannot justify a sense of complacency, and still less should it lead us to relax our commitment. On the contrary, the experiences we have had should inspire in us new energy, and impel us to invest in concrete initiatives the enthusiasm which we have felt. Jesus himself warns us:  ‘No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God’ (Lk. 9:62). In the cause of the Kingdom there is no time for looking back, even less for settling into laziness. Much awaits us, and for this reason we must set about drawing up an effective post-Jubilee pastoral plan” (n. 15). 

    Our Holy Father’s post-Great Jubilee apostolic letter deserves to be read in its entirety, for it contains a veritable wealth of insights directly related to my pastoral reflections and to our Archdiocesan Synod. For this reason, I will refrain from further references to it in these present reflections, except to say that I strongly urge you to study and meditate on it, since our Holy Father wrote it for us.

 8  WHAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT TELLING US THROUGH THE SIGNS OF OUR TIMES?

    There are many signs of our times that need to be considered:  some are negative, some positive and hope-filled, and some ambivalent, having both positive and negative aspects; some are easy to understand and clearly tell us what the Holy Spirit is asking, others are not. 

    Hearing what the Spirit is saying is one thing; finding appropriate ways of responding is another. Our Synod is taxed with a two-fold task:  it must discern what the Spirit is saying; then it must seek effective ways of responding. 

    My list of the signs of our times that follows is not in any particular sequence, is not exhaustive, and the interpretations offered do not pretend to be infallible or the only ones possible. 

II Contemporary Signs of the Times

  1  THE GREAT NUMBER OF LAPSED CATHOLICS

    When reading the signs of our times, no one can ignore the glaring and disturbing sign of fallen-away Catholics. The phenomenon is a sad reality, especially in Europe and North America, and in our own back yard. There are various reasons for people leaving the Church, including, on the part of some, an unwillingness or inability to regularize their situation within the Church after civil divorce and remarriage.

    Undoubtedly the Holy Spirit is telling us through this sign of our times, “Bring them back to the Church. Like the Good Shepherd, leave the ninety-nine and go in search of the stray.” Are we responding adequately to this sign? What can we do to make our response more serious and effective?

 2  THE GREAT NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THE WORLD WHO HAVE NOT HEARD OF CHRIST, OR WHO DO NOT BELIEVE IN HIM.

    Although it is encouraging to hear that the number of Catholics throughout the world has now increased to over one billion, up from approximately 600 million in the sixties, we are still faced today with an enormously challenging sign:  our Holy Father points out in his encyclical The Mission of the Redeemer that the number of people in the world who have not heard of Christ or who do not believe in Him has doubled since Vatican Council II. This is an enormously challenging sign of our times not only for the universal Church, but also for the Archdiocese of Vancouver.

    We have a high percentage of non-Christians in our growing population, much of which is from Asia. In the whole of Asia only three percent of the population is Catholic; almost half of that three percent is found in the Philippines, which itself is ninety-eight percent Catholic. This means that Catholics make up perhaps one percent or a fraction of one percent of the population in most Asian countries. Since a high proportion of our population is Asian, it follows that a high proportion is non-Christian. Vancouver is prime missionary territory.

    The message of the Holy Spirit is obvious:  we must become a missionary Church that reaches out to non-believers. This is the same message we hear through the voice of the Church, especially in the encyclical The Mission of the Redeemer, which calls for a new missionary thrust. Thus the Church cannot be merely a maintenance Church, whose prime effort goes into looking after those who belong and practise, but rather it must be a mission-driven Church that expends time, effort, and resources in reaching out to the fallen-away and to those who do not yet believe.

    How can we better respond to this sign and its call for a new missionary thrust at home and abroad? Our Synod has to wrestle with this question.

 3  OUR GODLESS ‘POST-MODERN’ CULTURE – A CULTURE OF DEATH

    One might respond to the assertion that our ‘post-modern’ culture has become Godless and, to use the expression of John Paul II, a ‘culture of death,’ by saying that there are many good Catholics, Catholic families, and parishes, and that the churches are full. 

    While this may be true, it is nevertheless a fact that the Church is being pushed out of public life, and the trends in our society and culture leave little room for God. In what follows, I will attempt to describe the main traits of our so-called ‘post-modern’ culture:  

      i     It is a culture that has lost the sense of God and of the holy and sacred, a culture in which God has become irrelevant.

      ii            Because our culture has lost the sense of God, it has lost the sense of sin, and therefore, the sense of need for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  

      iii    It is a culture that has lost the sense of the sacredness of human life. This is why we have legalized abortion and lobby for legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide. Once God is out of the picture, human life is no longer seen as the crown of creation, man and woman made in the image and likeness of God. Rather, it is seen as just another form of life, along with plant and animal life, and held no more sacred than these. Peter Singer, professor of bioethics at Princeton University, sees human life in that perspective.  

      iv    Our culture has lost the sense of the sacredness of marriage and no longer sees marriage as being in God’s plan. Consequently, over forty percent of marriages in Canada end in divorce courts. In addition, our government is being lobbied for the legalization of same-sex marriages.  

      v     It has lost the sense of the sacredness of the family. We see a mounting lobby for a re-definition of the legal meaning of family. The breakdown of the family and the erosion of the very concept of family is a disorder for both the Church and society.  The family is to the Church and to society what the basic cells of our body are to our whole body:  when the basic cells of the body are healthy and strong, so is the whole body; when the cells are weak and debilitated, the whole body is likewise. When family life is strong, the Church and society are strong; but when the family is weak, so also are Church and society. Many of our problems in the Church and society stem from the breakdown of the family.  

      vi            Contemporary authors paint a disturbing picture of our culture’s lack of the sense of moral right and wrong, saying there are no more absolutes – everything is relative. There are no more universally valid rules, no more boundaries – everything is negotiable. The only real difference between moral right and wrong is personal opinion and preference. In the end, there appears to be only one moral imperative, namely, that we must always respect each individual’s personal moral opinion and preference. That is why as soon as we disagree with another’s personal moral opinion and preference, we are invariably labelled as imposing our moral values, as intolerant, bigoted, and discriminatory. This description of our culture’s views on moral right and wrong does not appear to be exaggerated. An Angus Reid poll on Canadians’ views on this issue showed that fifty-seven percent of Canadians hold the view that moral right and wrong is nothing more than a personal opinion and preference. 

      vii   Our culture is losing the sense of true and false. Being politically correct is often seen as more important than telling the truth. Is the Holy Spirit not directing us to evangelize our culture, restoring the sense of God, of sin, of moral right and wrong, of true and false; restoring the sense of the sacredness of human life and of marriage and family? In essence, this is what our Holy Father is calling for in his encyclical The Gospel of Life – the transformation of our culture of death into a culture of life based on truth, justice, and love. How are we to do this? – tough question for our Synod!

 4  THE ALARMING SHORTAGE OF VOCATIONS

    Although vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life are increasing internationally, the shortage of vocations is keenly felt in particular parts, especially in Europe and North America. The shortage in our Archdiocese is not as acute as that in other dioceses in Canada; we must thank God for the fact that we still have priests in every parish. However, we cannot afford to be complacent:  many of our priests and religious are overworked and are aging. 

    This sign of our times is a serious issue. Without ordained priests, there is no Eucharist; without the Eucharist, the Church cannot exist:  “The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the fountain from which all her power flows. From the liturgy, therefore, and especially from the Eucharist, as from a fountain, grace is channeled into us, and the sanctification of man in Christ and the glorification of God, to which all activities of the Church are directed as toward their goal, are most powerfully achieved” (Vat. II, Constitution on the Liturgy, n. 10).  

    Indeed, the question of vocations is crucial for the future of our Church. Is God not calling us to expend more time and energy in promoting vocations? Is He asking the laity to do what they can, so as to free the ordained priests for what only they can do? Serious questions for our Synod!

 5  THE EMERGENCE OF THE LAITY IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH

    The Synod of Bishops of 1985 stated that the emergence of the laity in the life of the Church is one of the finest fruits of the Second Vatican Council. Without doubt, the laity are more involved now than they were in the past. However, there appear to be two areas in particular in which a stronger lay involvement is needed. 

    Evangelization:  a large number of Catholics seem to be unaware of the call to make disciples of all nations or feel incapable of becoming evangelizers. In our diocese, there is an encouraging growth in the number of lay people bringing Catholics back to the fold and making converts, but we are only at the beginning of a long road. What is needed to make all aware of the call to evangelize and to help them become zealous and capable evangelizers? 

    The temporal order:  greater lay involvement is needed is the area of the temporal order, in influencing public life in society, in bringing Christian values into the market place, and in evangelizing our culture. The Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity states:  “The laity...must carry out their apostolate in the Church and in the world” (bold added) (n. 5). The laity must take on the renewal of the temporal order as their own special obligation (n. 7). Since in this age of ours, new problems are arising and extremely serious errors are gaining currency which tend to undermine the foundations of religion, the moral order, and human society itself, this sacred Synod earnestly exhorts lay people, each according to his or her natural gifts and learning, to be more diligent in doing their part according to the mind of the Church, to explain and defend Christian principles, and to apply them rightly to the problems of our era” (n. 6).  

    We are faced with an enormous challenge regarding the apostolate of the laity in the world. Let me use but one example to illustrate my serious concern.  

    The religious affiliations of our federal politicians probably reflect those of our general population in Canada, which is about fifty percent Catholic and eighty percent Christian. How then is it possible for our Federal Parliament to pass laws that are in direct conflict with the teaching of the Church? The fact that this does happen is scandalizing. Some of our Catholic politicians appear to be Catholic on Sundays and in their private lives, but their Catholic faith appears to have no influence on the decisions they make in public during the rest of the week. In fact, if they were taken to court for being Catholic in their public lives, it would be difficult to find enough evidence to convict them!  

    Why are Catholics so weak in living out their apostolate in the world? Is it because they have been sacramentalized but not evangelized? Are our catechesis and preaching deficient? Some more crusty grist for our Synod mill!

 6  GLOBALIZATION

    Globalization is an obvious sign of our times. The world is becoming a global village with a global culture. Teenagers in Saigon dress the same as teenagers in Vancouver, watch the same movies, listen to the same music, are interested in the same sports, and all love their McDonald’s hamburgers.

    Many facets of life on earth are now organized internationally:  goods are manufactured by multi-national corporations and business, trade, sports, entertainment, travel, and communications are international. One significant aspect of this sign is demographic globalization – people moving from one country to another – with the result that cultures are becoming mixed. This is particularly true in North America and especially in Vancouver. 

    As long as science and technology provide better and easier means of communication and transportation, globalization will continue to grow. This may present some challenges, but also offers promising opportunities. Demographic globalization, in particular, presents the Church in Vancouver the opportunity to welcome peoples of different cultures and creeds. Because many newcomers are not Christian, it challenges us to share our faith with them, to adapt the lifestyles of our parishes so that newcomers feel welcome, to be enriched by the true, good, and beautiful of other cultures, and to enrich other cultures with the true, good and beautiful of our own. Are we not being challenged to build a rich global culture by integrating the best of each culture represented in our society into a new and rich culture?

 7  INCULTURATION OF THE CHURCH

    In recent decades, the Church has focused attention on inculturation (the adaptation of the Church in each country to that country’s culture). In Vancouver, where we are surrounded by many cultures, inculturation is a daunting challenge. Some parishes have parishioners from seventy or eighty different countries. Which culture should these parishes adapt to? Is God asking us to inculturate the Church into that emerging global culture we spoke of in the last section?

 8  ECUMENISM

    The Second Vatican Council gave new impetus to ecumenism, the movement that strives to bring about the unity of Christian Churches. Before the Last Supper, Jesus prayed that His disciples might be one, just as He and the Father are one. There is only one Body of Christ, the Church, and the fragmentation of the followers of Christ into different denominations is a tragedy, scandal, and obstacle to its well-being, credibility, and growth. Praying and working for Christian unity is not merely an option; it is essential to the life of the Church. What are we doing? What should we be doing?

 9  INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE

    The Second Vatican Council also advocated inter-religious dialogue. The mandate given by the Lord, “Go, make disciples of all nations” (Mt. 28:19), requires us to go beyond peaceful co-existence with the great religions of the world to share our faith with them. Internationally, there has been significant growth in dialogue; nationally, there are beginnings of dialogue, particularly with Judaism; locally, we participate in the Pacific Interfaith Citizenship Association. Since a large portion of our population belongs to the great religions of the world, inter-religious dialogue is essential. Are we sufficiently aware of our role in this dialogue? Are we doing enough?

10  RECONCILIATION WITH ABORIGINAL PEOPLE

    The need for reconciliation with our aboriginal brothers and sisters is obvious. Almost daily we hear about land claims, residential school law suits, disputes about logging or fishing rights, public demonstrations, and road blocks. We must be concerned about the fact that many aboriginal families remain on the margins of our affluent society and live in poor conditions. 

    The Archdiocesan First Nations Council, which I meet with regularly, has undertaken a number of significant initiatives in the area of healing, leadership formation, and spiritual enrichment, and has served as a support group. This is only a beginning:  the need for reconciliation is ongoing. How else can we respond?

11  SOLIDARITY WITH THE POOR OF THE WORLD

    The growing sense of solidarity with the poor of the world is a positive sign of our times. There has been a significant growth in the number of organizations that help the disadvantaged both within and without the Church. The response internationally to victims of natural disasters is heartwarming. In our own country, the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace elicits a generous response from our people in their efforts to assist the poor and undeveloped nations. Yet there continue to exist large numbers of people in dire need at home and abroad. How can we better serve the poor?

12  RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE RESOURCES OF THE EARTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT

    There is certainly growth in the sense of stewardship and responsibility for the resources of the earth and the environment. Ecological concerns are alive in our society and are a sign of our times. Are we, as Church, responding to what God is asking of us?

13  RAPID ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND THE CONSEQUENT RAPID SOCIAL CHANGE

    We are living in a world of rapid social change, a consequence of advances in the field of science and technology. Alvin Tofler describes this situation very well in his book Future Shock. Every invention, be it the telephone, automobile, or the computer, brings about social change – change in the way people live, work, recreate, and relate to one another. With the proliferation of inventions, as science and technology advance, old ways become obsolete more quickly and social change is constantly accelerating. 

    This sign of our times has consequences for every institution, including the Church. To survive and remain effective in a world of fast change, institutions must be adaptable. The Church must be flexible, without compromising what is essential to its life. This is part of the process of inculturation. The Vatican Council recognized this fact and spoke of updating the Church (aggiornamento). Because of rapid social changes, the need to inculturate the Church is ever present.  It would be a mistake to think that Vatican II updated the Church once and for all. 

    What areas of Church life need adaptation to our changing world? Are we sufficiently in touch with our fast-changing world and open to the need for inculturation? Do we have adequate structures to cope with ongoing change? These are broad questions, but important.

14  ADVANCES IN THE FIELD OF GENETICS AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

    There are advances in the field of genetics and biotechnology, some promising, but some disturbing. The world was amazed to hear of the birth of a baby conceived in a laboratory petri dish, through a process called ‘in-vitro fertilization.’ It was equally amazed to hear about ‘Dolly,’ a cloned sheep. These amazing biotechnological breakthroughs are only the tip of the iceberg.  

    Genetic biotechnology is now capable of transferring plant genes to animals and vice versa. For example, cucumbers on the market in Canada stay fresh longer because they have Arctic char genes transferred into them. In essence, these cucumbers are still mostly cucumbers, but in part they are also fish! There are, at present, forty-eight different kinds of such foods on the market in Canada. Genetically altered foods are with us. 

    Little wonder that there is concern now for the conservation of the human genome, that is, the integrity of the human species. The human species could be altered by mixing human genes with animal and plant genes. The outcome of such a mixture would be a being that would be partly human, partly animal, and partly plant. How frightening! Who will decide what will or will not be done in this field? Should scientists have the freedom to do whatever they like? 

    For several years, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Catholic Organization for Life and Family have urged the Federal Government to outlaw a number of procedures in this field that are dehumanizing and, therefore, immoral. The Federal Government created a Royal Commission to study the issues and make recommendations, and their work cost some $60 million. Although the Commission made some excellent recommendations on what should be outlawed, our government has not passed any legislation on these issues so far. Even after repeated letters urging legislation, the Minister of Health is still replying that the issues are sensitive and require careful study. 

    In themselves, advances in the science of genetics and in biotechnology are progress, but this progress can be a two-edged sword. It can be used in ways that are good for humanity, but also in ways that are harmful and dehumanizing. 

    What is God asking of us as individuals, as parishes, as a diocese?

15  THE POWER OF THE MEDIA

    Experts in social communications have recently made some alarming assertions:  they say, for example, that the media have the sophistication and the power to make the general public think anything about anything; they also claim that the values people live by are formed not by parents, the family, the school, or the Church, but rather by the media, especially television. 

    The media are a formidable competition for parents, catechists, and homilists:  pastors have about fifteen minutes a week to relay their message, television and computers have hours. A few years ago, the CBC surveyed grade one school children, asking them, “What do you like better, your Daddy or your TV?” Forty percent without hesitation chose TV, twenty percent were torn, and the remaining forty percent chose their Daddies. Who is educating children in our contemporary world? 

    This situation raises serious pastoral questions. How can we influence the content of the media or educate people in the proper use of the media? How can we evangelize the media and use their extraordinary potential to spread the Good News and make disciples of all nations?

16  GROWTH IN THE MANIFESTATION OF CHARISMS

    There has been considerable growth in recent years in the manifestation of charisms. In its biblical meaning, a charism is a gift of the Holy Spirit given for the building up of the Church, the Body of Christ, rather than for the benefit of the individual who receives it. The Charismatic Movement has grown rapidly and become a source of spiritual renewal, putting new focus on the importance of charisms in the life of the Church. We now need to create the openness and the process needed to discern genuine charisms and to allow those who receive them to use their gifts fully for the building up of the Church.

17  HUNGER FOR SPIRITUALITY

    Pastoral experience as well as sociological studies show that people hunger for spirituality. Our contemporaries realize that “man does not live by bread alone” (Mt. 4:4). How are we reaching out to satisfy the spiritually hungry?

18  DISAFFECTION WITH INSTITUTIONAL ASPECTS OF THE CHURCH

    Many people in our country shy away from organized religion and the Church as an institution, yet at the same time consider themselves religious and hunger for religious food. What is it about the Church as an institution that disenchants them? How can we reach them? What changes do we need to make?

19  HUNGER FOR SACRED SCRIPTURE

    In the past few decades, hunger for the written Word of God has grown significantly and Bible study groups have become common. Many people pray with the Bible and hunger for a better understanding. Are we providing what is needed to satisfy the hunger?

20  HUNGER FOR PRAYER, ESPECIALLY IN GROUPS

    There is also great hunger for prayer and the increase in the number of prayer groups is an encouraging sign of our times. St. Teresa of Avila wrote, “God is found in prayer and if anyone teaches you different, they are leading you astray.” As prayer groups grow, so does the number of people who are finding God. How can we nourish and foster prayer?

21  RENEWAL MOVEMENTS WITHIN THE CHURCH

    Since Vatican Council II, we have witnessed a proliferation of programs aiming to renew the Church. While it is difficult to measure the success of these initiatives, they manifest that the Spirit is stirring in a visible way.  That itself is a sign of promise and hope.

22  THE NEW AGE PHENOMENON

    The New Age phenomenon appears to be an eclectic or smorgasbord approach to religion whereby individuals, according to their tastes, pick and choose from here and there among world religions. The result is an incongruous and bizarre mixture. Why is this happening? What is God telling us and how can we reach those who have immersed themselves in this new age culture?

23  FUNDAMENTALISM

    There are people who take fundamentalist attitudes both in the Church and society, rigidly demanding black and white answers and refusing to admit gray areas. In my opinion, such fundamentalism is a reaction to our ‘post-modern’ culture which has relativized everything to the point of virtually eliminating all black and white answers. Faced with pluralism and relativism, some people feel there is nothing certain to hang on to anymore, so they panic and demand black and white answers to everything and cannot tolerate anything gray. How can we help these people?

24  CO-RESPONSIBILITY WITHIN THE CHURCH

    Growth in the sense of co-responsibility within the Church is a positive and promising sign, but one that presents a challenge. Members are encouraged to take ownership of the Church and to become actively involved in its life; the challenge is to understand the nature of co-responsibility within the Church, which is different from co-responsibility in a democratic society. 

    In a democratic society, the members have equal responsibility and equal authority. Authority – the flip side of responsibility – is, in its essence, the power to carry out one’s responsibility. Members have equal say and cast equal, deliberative votes. They elect their leaders and give them responsibility and the corresponding authority.  

    While the Church is called to adapt itself to the culture of its members, including their political, democratic cultures, it cannot simply adopt the democratic system as such. The Church is hierarchically structured and differs significantly from a democratic society. If the differences and their implications are not understood, then our parishioners, who bring their experience of democracy with them, can be frustrated when they discover that the Church can adapt itself only to the spirit of democracy, but, in the end, cannot function democratically, with individual, equal, deliberative votes. 

    It is Revelation that makes known God’s design and determines the hierarchical structure of the Church. The leaders of the Church are not elected and do not receive their responsibility and corresponding authority from the members of the Church. No, they are chosen by God and ultimately receive their responsibility and authority, determined and described in Revelation, from God through the Sacrament of Holy Orders and through pastoral appointment.

    In the Church, co-responsibility and shared authority do exist, but in a hierarchical fashion, not as in a democratic organization. All members have responsibility and authority, but not equal responsibility and authority. There is a hierarchy of responsibility and authority:  thus, the Pope has the greatest responsibility and the greatest corresponding authority; bishops have their level of responsibility and authority; so also with priests, deacons, and the lay faithful. 

    In other words, in our hierarchically structured Church, everyone has a say, but not an equal say. That is why on the parish level, for example, pastoral councils are structured as they are by Canon Law. The say of the lay members is consultative, not deliberative. This gives the pastor the greater say, thereby reflecting his God-given responsibility and corresponding authority. However, the consultative vote of parish pastoral councils does carry weight, as experience demonstrates and, when making a decision about an issue, pastors can hardly afford not to pay attention to a majority vote of their pastoral councils. 

    Do our pastors and parishioners understand co-responsibility in the Church? What problems are encountered and how can they be alleviated?

25  JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

    People today are quick to fight for their rights, showing that a sharpened sense of justice and recognition of human rights have developed in our society. In itself, this sign of our times is positive. However, there is question whether people are as ready to fight for the rights of others as they are to defend their own. Just witness the number of lawsuits today. 

    Are we ready to advocate justice for others – the unborn, the poor, the disadvantaged, and the voiceless – as well as for ourselves? What is God asking of us?

26  INTOLERANCE OF ABUSE

    The growing intolerance of any kind of abuse – verbal, emotional, psychological, physical, or sexual – is a positive sign. Disagreements and conflict are inevitable in any society, but have we learned to resolve conflicts in non-abusive ways? How can we grow in this area?

27  VIOLENCE

    Our society has become violent, reflecting the violence on television and computers:  husbands, wives, and children suffer violence; adults frequently try to settle their differences in violent ways; teenagers are violent and even kill each other; and bullying leads students to commit suicide. Violence is a common feature even with grade school children. Witness the example of the grade two student who hit another boy over the head with a baseball bat. The boy fell, unconscious and bleeding. The student who had hit him was genuinely surprised that the boy was harmed, because in his computer games little human figures get smacked all the time, but never get hurt!  

    To what extent do television and computers encourage violence and to what extent do they merely reflect the anger in the hearts of our people? Why have we become violent and how can we eliminate violence?

28  PORNOGRAPHY

    The widespread viewing of pornographic materials cannot be ignored as we look at the signs of the times. Pornography is becoming commonplace on television, the internet, and in magazines. Not only does it harm the viewer, but it also harms those who are exploited to create the pornographic scenes. Children especially are victims of this abuse.

29  SOCIAL INJUSTICE AND LACK OF PEACE IN THE WORLD

    Perhaps for the first time in history we are able to produce enough food, clothing, and commodities to satisfy the basic needs of each person on the face of the earth. Yet approximately two-thirds of the world’s population is unable to live in a way befitting human dignity, while the remaining third has more than it needs and is wasteful. The poverty of millions of people is heartrending. Little wonder that there is strife and warfare! 

    A fellow Oblate priest, just returning from an international demographic conference in Asia, gave me his impressions of the world situation:  “Imagine ten people sitting around a large table with ten place settings and enough food for all. Four people are eating more than they need and are wasteful, while the other six cannot satisfy their hunger. How long will there be peace at that table?” A conscience-pricking picture of the world! 

    Where do we fit in this picture? What are we doing to promote social justice?

30  CONSUMERISM

    To produce more, buy more, use more, have more, seems to have become the ideal. Consumerism has led us to the point where what one has is more important than what one is. It has also blurred the distinction between need and want, where our wants are often seen as needs. Perhaps we have also lost the meaning of the word ‘enough.’ The consumerist attitude is not conducive to alleviating the plight of the poor of our world. How can we help?

31  MODERN ART

    Why does much modern art not express the true, good, and beautiful? Should art not inspire and lead to the pursuit of excellence? Instead, much of it conveys the message that reality is not intelligible (How often do we hear the reaction to a piece of art, “What is it?”), that there is no purpose in life, only anger, frustration, confusion, hopelessness, pain, and intense suffering. Consider the example of one exhibition of modern art, where there was a prizewinning tableau that was nothing more than a framed blackboard:  an expression of nihilism? Another prizewinner was a broken bicycle: an expression of wrecked hope? 

    Why does much modern music not express joy, peace, happiness, or harmony? Amid the truly intricate and sophisticated rhythms, the words are often unintelligible, perhaps purposely so, and the music itself gives a loud message of rebellion, violence, and agony. One particular rock concert ended with the artists, amid savage shrieks, smashing their guitars over each other’s backs. The French call art, “Les beaux arts!” – “the beautiful arts!”  Where is the beauty? 

    Some years ago, a renowned professor of music predicted a new era of music that would consist of a marriage between the beautiful melodies and harmony of the past with the intricate and sophisticated rhythms of our modern music. Despite the negative side, then, could modern music not become the stepping-stone to a new springtime of music and a great era of art? 

    Artists are said to have the genius of reading the souls of their contemporaries, and of expressing what they perceive. If that is true, then we have to conclude that some of our contemporaries no longer believe that life has purpose, so they end up hopeless, violent, and full of pain. What does this sign mean for the life of the Church? Can we bring purpose and hope once again to our world?

32  FEMINISM

    The feminist movement, both in society and in the Church, is certainly a sign of our times. There is a good and necessary movement, the kind described in Pope John Paul’s encyclical The Dignity of Women, that promotes the dignity of women and their rightful place in society and the Church. Then there is another feminist movement, one that advocates goals and objectives in direct conflict with Church teaching. Are women respected in our society and in the Church and do they enjoy their rightful role?

33  DRUG ABUSE AND ADDICTIONS

    Drug abuse and addictions have reached alarming proportions in our society. Has life in our society become so meaningless that one has to escape from it by means of drugs or through other addictions? What is the Spirit telling us and how can we help?

34  AIDS AND SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES

    There is an alarming proliferation of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in our society, reaching tragic proportions for entire populations in some countries. Is this not indicative of the widespread disregard for the Church’s teaching on sexual morality?  

    St. Thomas Aquinas tells us that God gave the commandments, not because He needs them, but because we need them. When we disregard them, we not only offend God, but also hurt ourselves; we become auto-destructive. This is true of God’s commandments regarding sexual activity:  sexual activity belongs to husband and wife in marriage for the purposes of procreation and expressing and fostering conjugal love. Any other sexual activity is immoral, offensive to God and harmful to humanity – morally, spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, and even physically.  

    How can the Church help those who have contracted AIDS and STDs? How can it convince our world that it needs God’s commandments regarding sexual activity?

35  SINGLE-PARENT FAMILIES

    With forty to fifty percent of all marriages ending in divorce courts, the number of single-parent families is growing. It is not uncommon to hear that over fifty percent of children in any one school classroom come from single-parent homes. What does this mean for the future of our society and the Church? How are we meeting the needs of single-parent families?

36  HOSTILITY TOWARD THE CHURCH AND RELIGION

    Whereas, during the first half of my twenty-six year ministry as a bishop I discovered an indifference to the Church on the part of the public and media, during the second half I have experienced a gradually growing hostility toward the Church. Now the media appear to have little interest in the Church except when there is controversy or scandal. This hostility is noticeable in the concerted effort to quarantine and privatize the Church and keep it out of public life. Underneath this effort, there is a conviction that positions based on religious convictions are automatically invalid and, therefore, inadmissible. Media interviewers have put it bluntly to me:  “Why do you not stay in your Church? Preach all you like in your Church, but stay out of political, economic, and social issues. Stick to your job of saving souls and leave the running of society to us.” 

    My answer is twofold:  “I am a citizen and taxpayer and, as such, have every right to express my views on issues affecting the society; as a religious leader, I am a teacher of faith and morals and therefore have the right and duty to address the religious and moral aspects of public issues, be they political, economic, social, or other.” 

    We recall the B.C. Supreme Court ruling that the Surrey School Board had no right to ban homosexual books from a public school classroom because the board members acted out of religious convictions. Fortunately, the Appeal Court overturned this ruling and provided a landmark definition of ‘secular’ as meaning “plurality of views, whatever their source, not excluding religious views.” If ‘secular’ were understood to exclude religious views, then only atheists could express admissible views on public issues! 

    Why this current trend? What is God asking of us?

37  THE MARTYRS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

    The number of believers who died for the faith in the twentieth century was enormous and Christians are still being persecuted and martyred throughout the world in this century. Long ago, Tertullian wrote:  “Sanguis martyrum, semen Christianorum” – “The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians.” History, beginning with the earliest Christian community, clearly shows that the Church flourishes in the shadow of the cross. Opposition and hostility do not stunt the Church’s growth, but foster it. Our modern-day martyrs are a sign of hope for the Church.

38  ADULT RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

    The General Synod of Bishops on Catechesis placed emphasis on the necessity of adult catechesis. In his post-synod exhortation, De Catechesi Tradendae, our Holy Father wrote: “I cannot fail to emphasize now one of the most constant concerns of the Synod Fathers...the central problem of the catechesis for adults. This is the principal form of catechesis (bold added)....For catechesis to be effective, it must be permanent, and it would be quite useless if it stopped short at the threshold of maturity” (cf. n. 43). 

    This focus on adult catechesis prompts serious questions. Is adult catechesis “the principal form of catechesis” in our Archdiocese? Should we not be giving it at least as much or more attention then we do to catechesis for children and youth? What forms of catechesis for adults should we be promoting?

39  CATHOLIC EDUCATION IN THE ARCHDIOCESE

    There is promising growth in Catholic education in our Archdiocese. New secondary schools and elementary schools have begun and old ones have been enlarged and renovated. Particularly significant is the fact that the Archdiocese has succeeded in establishing two post-secondary Catholic colleges. 

    However, growth in numbers can be maintained and fostered only if we commit ourselves to maintain and foster the Catholic and academic quality of education as well. Our Holy Father states that Catholic education is the lifeline for the Church. Should we not then be consumed by a passion for Catholic education? Our lifeline has grown strong, but how can we make it stronger still?

40  EMERGENCE OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH AND SOCIETY

    The Second Vatican Council noted the emergence of young people in the life of the Church and society in the Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, stating:  “Young people exert a very important influence on modern society...While their social and even political importance is growing from day to day, they seem to be unable to cope adequately with the new burdens imposed upon them. Their heightened influence in society demands of them a proportionately active apostolate....They themselves ought to become the prime and direct apostles of youth” (n. 12). 

    Since the Council, there has been a greater focus on the importance of youth and young adult ministry in the Church, as attested, for example, by the astounding success of the World Youth Days. Held every two years, WYDs have had an impact on every diocese in the world. In our Archdiocese, we have recently updated our Youth Ministry Office and adopted a more comprehensive youth program. An evaluation of this program made a short time ago reveals that it has taken root and holds promise for the future. An Archdiocesan Young Adults Council has also been revived to assist our young adults in their desire to grow spiritually and serve the Church more effectively. 

    Our youth and young adults hold the future of the Church in their hands. How can we reach out to more of them and provide for their growth in faith?

41  THE AGING OF OUR POPULATION

    With the decline of the birth rate, the aging of our population is a significant sign of our times. We have responded in our Archdiocese by establishing a ministry to seniors through an initiative called Parish Outreach and also by giving assistance to housing projects for seniors. Are our seniors assured of a quality of life worthy of every human being? Are their pastoral and health needs adequately met? How can we assist them more effectively?

42  INCREASE IN NUMBERS OF CONVERTS AND PEOPLE RETURNING TO THE CHURCH

    The growth in the number of converts and in people returning to the Church is a significant and encouraging sign of our times.  

    On the first Sunday of Lent each year we celebrate the Rite of Election. Properly speaking, the Rite of Election is for catechumens, people preparing for baptism at the Easter Vigil. However, Christians of other denominations seeking full communion with the Church, and Catholics returning to the practice of their faith, also attend. When I came to the Archdiocese in 1991, the Cathedral was half full for the celebration of the Rite of Election. A few years later, the Cathedral filled up. Now we fill it twice to capacity. 

    What does this sign of our times mean? It means that the harvest is ripe. People are hungry for the Good News. It also means that the initiatives we have taken are bearing fruit: we have promoted the RCIA, supported the Catholic Evangelization Team Ministries in providing formation on how to evangelize, and cultivated the ALPHA program of evangelization.  

    While this success fosters our hope, we must not become complacent. The harvest remains ripe:  as long as there are people estranged from the Church and people who have not yet heard the Good News, we must be driven by the mission mandate, “Go, make disciples of all nations” (Mt. 28:19). 

    How can we strengthen our present initiatives and what new ones should we consider? How can we become a stronger, mission-driven Church? These are questions that deserve serious attention.

43  INCREASE IN BUILDING PROJECTS

    Increase in the number of our building projects demonstrates that the Church is alive and growing in the Archdiocese – a gratifying and encouraging thought. At no one time in the past nine years have there ever been fewer than fourteen building projects in progress. Can we expect now that operations will slow down? Not at all. During the past year, eight new building projects have been initiated, ranging in cost from $3 to $7 million. What a powerful and hope-filled message! We are a growing Church, thanks be to God, but we must become even more zealous in promoting the new springtime of faith and Christian living.

44  THE GROWTH OF OUR POPULATION

    The growth of our population is a clear and challenging sign, calling us to growth in all aspects of our Archdiocesan life:  we need more priests, religious, and active lay people; and we need to plan more pastoral initiatives involving greater overhead, more land, and new and larger facilities. We are a growing Church and always called to even further growth.

45  THE POSITIVE ATTITUDE AND COOPERATION OF OUR CLERGY, RELIGIOUS, AND LAITY

    I am now in my third diocese as a bishop, having previously worked in several dioceses as a priest. Without reservation, I can state that I am impressed by the positive attitude, the spirit of harmony and collaboration, the strength of faith, zeal, generosity, commitment, and dedication of the clergy, religious, and laity of the Archdiocese of Vancouver. Our clergy, religious, and laity are our greatest asset – a strong reason for being optimistic and hope-filled as we look to the future.

III Conclusion

 1  SUMMARY REFLECTIONS

    In his encyclical The Mission of the Redeemer, written ten years ago, our Holy Father reflects on the signs of our times:  “If we look at today’s world, we are struck by many negative factors that can lead to pessimism. But this feeling is unjustified: we have faith in God our Father and Lord, in His goodness and mercy. As the third millennium of the Redemption draws near, God is preparing a great springtime for Christianity, and we can already see its first signs. In fact, both in the non-Christian world and in the traditionally Christian world, people are gradually drawing closer to Gospel ideals and values, a development which the Church seeks to encourage. Today, in fact, there is a new consensus among peoples about these values:  the rejection of violence and war; respect for the human person and for human rights; the desire for freedom, justice and brotherhood; the surmounting of different forms of racism and nationalism; the affirmation of the dignity and role of women. Christian hope sustains us in committing ourselves fully to the new evangelization and to the worldwide mission, and leads us to pray as Jesus taught us: ‘Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ (Mt. 6:10). The number of those awaiting Christ is still immense...As she prepares to celebrate the Jubilee of the year 2000, the whole Church is even more committed to a new missionary advent” (n. 86). 

    My own reflections on the signs of our times are similar to those of Pope John Paul II. Some signs are positively gratifying and encouraging:  our Church is vibrant and full of promise and we are already experiencing some refreshing breezes of the new springtime. Other signs of our times are negative and present overwhelming challenges that raise the question, “Is it realistic to believe that we can make a difference?” 

    The answer is yes – in spite of all the challenges, it is realistic to have hope for the future. With the help of the Spirit, we can bring about the new springtime.

 2  FOUR GOOD REASONS FOR HOPE

      1    The Positive Signs of Our Times

            The positive signs of growth in our diocesan Church, together with the faith, commitment, zeal, and dedication of our clergy, religious and laity, constitute good reason for hope. We are not a losing team and have every reason to believe that we can win. 

      2    The Faith Example of John Paul II

            At the time of his election to the papacy in 1978, I had a private audience with Pope John Paul II that marked me for life. I still live by the strength I received in that encounter. I had been a bishop for four years and was overwhelmed by my experience, wondering what the future would bring and how I could face up to it. I felt burdened and anxious. 

            As soon as we were alone, the Holy Father asked me, “When you look at the world and the Church today, do you have hope and enthusiasm, or are you anxious, discouraged, and pessimistic?” Then he answered his own question, “Yes, in the world we have serious problems affecting the whole of humanity and in the Church we have problems as perhaps never before in history. But,” he added slowly, firmly, and with great vigor, “the reasons for hope and optimism are stronger and more convincing.” His words sunk in. 

            After the audience, I reflected deeply. Out of the silence, the question came, “Does our Holy Father really believe what he is saying or is he whistling in the dark?” Then, like a bolt of lightning, it hit me that he does believe what he is saying:  he believes in God and in Christianity; he believes that Christ has conquered the world; that Christ’s death and resurrection were victories; that God is stronger than Satan, grace stronger than sin, goodness stronger than evil, faith stronger than the lies of the world, hope stronger than despair, love stronger than hatred, the light of Christ stronger than darkness, and life in Christ stronger than death. These beliefs of faith enable him to say that the reasons for hope and optimism are stronger and more convincing.  

            That is why Pope John Paul II is an eternal optimist and why every Christian believer can be an optimist: “The reasons for hope and optimism are stronger and more convincing.” 

            That visit with our Holy Father was a turning point in my life, leaving an indelible impression on my soul. It taught me that a Christian believer is never justified in surrendering to feelings of anxiety, hopelessness, self-pity, pessimism, or despair. The Christian believer has convincing reasons for hope and optimism, even when his world falls apart, when he is overburdened, frustrated, unappreciated, surrounded with problems, maligned, and alone. The Christian believer has faith in the cross of Jesus, knowing that his own crosses are a share in that saving and life-giving cross. For the Christian believer there is always hope, even when he is being crucified. St. Paul was able to say, “I have been knocked down many times, but never knocked out” (2 Cor. 4:9). 

      3    The Faith Example of the Early Christian Church

            The early Christian community of believers, described in the Acts of the Apostles, were in a seemingly hopeless situation. All the signs of their times were against them. 

            The members of the early Church were few and could take no comfort in the strength of numbers. They were the ordinary, uneducated, insignificant people of their society, without social status, influence, or power, and had little potential for making a difference. They showed signs of human weakness and failure:  the Apostles had vowed that they would never abandon Jesus, even if it meant dying, yet they all fled when Jesus was arrested; Peter, their leader, had even denied knowing Jesus; and they all had reasons for remorse of conscience.

            They were poor, owning no land and having no means to build churches and schools, to set up pastoral service offices, or to fund pastoral programs. They lived in a world that was hostile to them, victims of the same hostility that had led to the crucifixion of their founder, Jesus. They went in fear of their lives, so they went into hiding.

            They were overwhelmed by the challenges facing them. Jesus had told them, “As the Father sent me, so now, I send you” (Jn. 20:21). He gave them the mission to continue His saving work, “Go, make disciples of all nations and be my witnesses to the ends of the earth” (cf. Mt. 28:19 and Acts 1:8). The expectations that Jesus placed before them must have seemed totally impossible. 

            The signs of their times were anything but encouraging. Humanly speaking, the members of the early Church had no reason to believe that they could survive or carry out what Jesus expected of them, even less of making an impact on the world of their time. Yet, they did! How is that explainable? 

            They were aware that, on the human level, they were in seemingly hopeless situation, but that did not discourage them. They believed, hoped, and loved Jesus intensely. He had promised to send the Holy Spirit to empower them to carry out the awesome mission He had entrusted to them. They prayed for the coming of the Spirit and for docility to the Spirit. Faith, hope, love, and prayer made the difference.

            The Holy Spirit came upon the first disciples of Jesus at Pentecost and transformed them with His power. Then they were no longer frightened, but knew how to evangelize; not even the fear of martyrdom could quench their zeal. On fire with love, they spread the faith from east to west and from north to south. A handful of ordinary people made a tremendous difference in a hostile world, laying the foundation for Christian civilization for centuries to come. By whose power did they bring about this new springtime in the hostile world of their time? Not by their own; they had learned to be docile to the Holy Spirit and they acted by His power.

            We learn much from the faith example of the early Christian community about hope – hope based not on what we can do by ourselves, but on what we can do when we are docile to the Holy Spirit and act by His power. The signs of their times were overwhelming to the early Christian Church, as are the signs of our times to us. Like the first disciples of Jesus, we are unable to accomplish the task alone and cannot bring about a new springtime by our own power. Like the early Church, we must place our hope in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is present in the Church, no less powerful today than He was two thousand years ago.

            Our Holy Father is right:  the key to the new springtime is docility to the Spirit. We receive the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation and, if we are to bring about a new springtime of faith – the goal of our Archdiocesan Synod – then, like the early Church, we must be docile and pray for empowerment by the Spirit.

      4    The Faith Example of the Blessed Mother Mary

            Initially, Mary had little idea of God’s plan for her personally. Then the angel Gabriel appeared to her saying, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you!” (Lk. 1:28). Mary realized from this unexpected news that God knew her and had a special plan of holiness for her. Her reaction was beautifully human:  St. Luke’s Gospel tells us she was “deeply disturbed and asked herself what this greeting could mean” (1:29-30). In modern-day parlance, she was “confused and frightened, and said, ‘Who me? You cannot be serious. You must be kidding!’” The angel reassured her, “Do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God” (1:31). 

            There comes a time in our life, when we realize that God knows us and has a plan of holiness for us. It comes as an overwhelming surprise that confuses and frightens us. We react just as Mary did, “Who me? You cannot be serious. You must be kidding!” But God reassures us, “Do not be afraid. I know you by name and have a special plan for you.”

            After reassuring Mary, the angel revealed God’s plan and her vocation:  “You will conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor, David. He will reign over the house of David forever and His Kingdom shall have no end” (1:32-33). Mary’s reaction is again beautifully human, “But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?” (1:34) In essence, Mary is saying, “God, you are asking for too much – for the impossible!” Through the angel, God reassures Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow” (1:35). Basically He is saying, “Yes, for you, Mary, it is impossible. But I will send the Holy Spirit upon you and by His power what is humanly impossible will become possible, because with God all things are possible.

            Like Mary, when we hear God’s call, we too exclaim in protest, “God, you are asking for too much – You are asking the impossible!” In reply, God says to us as He did to Mary, “You are right, what I expect is beyond you, but I do not expect you to do it alone. In Confirmation, I sent the Holy Spirit upon you. Be docile to Him and act in His power. Rely on God, for with God all things are possible.” 

            Having been assured of the gift of the Holy Spirit, Mary then spoke her trusting yes to God, “I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to Your Word” (1:38). In other words, “Here I am. Into Your Hands I place all that I am, all that I have and all that I can do. Do with me as you wish.” Mary’s yes was the most beautiful yes ever spoken to God by anyone. It was absolute and unconditional. She committed herself to be totally docile to the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit and her reward was twofold:  God did great things for her, as she acknowledged in her Magnificat; and, through her, God initiated a new springtime of salvation and hope for the whole of humanity.  

            Like Mary, we too must believe in the Holy Spirit by whose power the humanly impossible becomes possible; we must be willing to be docile to the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit; we must speak our yes to God, absolute and unconditional. Challenging and overwhelming as the signs of our times may be, if we speak our yes, then we can expect a twofold reward:  God will do great things for us, as He did for Mary; and through the power of the Holy Spirit acting in us, the new springtime of faith and Christian living will become a reality.

 Synod Prayer