If the time of the Church is an open time, then also the time of St. John Paul II the Great’s ministry had to be an open time. And, so it was throughout the years of his long pontificate. He himself constantly looked to the future and taught this forward-looking way to the entire Church. Faced with the question of the correct way to live this particular time of the Church’s Advent in the face of the approaching end of the second and third millennium of its history, the Holy Father answered in the Encyclical Redemptor Hominis, published in 1979: ” To this question, dear Brothers, sons and daughters, a fundamental and essential response must be given. Our response must be: Our spirit is set in one direction, the only direction for our intellect, will and heart istowards Christ our Redeemer, towards Christ, the Redeemer of man. We wish to looktowards him-because there is salvation in no one else but him, the Son of Godrepeating what Peter said: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (Jn 6:68; cf. Acts 4:8ff.). Through the Church’s consciousness, which the Council considerably developed, through all levels of this self-awareness, and through all the fields of activity in which the Church expresses, finds and confirms herself, we must constantly aim at him “who is the head” (cf. Eph 1:10, 22; 4:25; Col 1:18), “through whom are all things and through whom we exist” (1 Cor 8:6; cf. Col 17), who is both “the way, and the truth” (Jn 14:6) and “the resurrection and the life” (Jn 11:25)” (RH, 7).
On January 6, 2001, as the third Christian millennium began, St. John Paul II published
the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, in which he included the following message for the future: ““Let us go forward in hope! A new millennium is opening before the Church like a vast ocean upon which we shall venture, relying on the help of Christ. The Son of God, who became incarnate two thousand years ago out of love for humanity, is at work even today: we need discerning eyes to see this and, above all, a generous heart to become the instruments of his work. (…) At the beginning of this new century, our steps must quicken as we travel the highways of the world. Many are the paths on which each one of us and each of our Churches must travel, but there is no distance between those who are united in the same communion, the communion which is daily nourished at the table of the Eucharistic Bread and the Word of Life. (…) On this journey we are accompanied by the Blessed Virgin Mary to whom, (…) I entrusted the Third Millennium. During this year I have often invoked her as the “Star of the New Evangelization”. Now, I point to Mary once again as the radiant dawn and sure guide for our steps. At the beginning of this new century, our steps must quicken as we travel the highways of the world. (NMI, 58).
Lateran, September 23, 2022
