THE NEW CHRISTIAN YEAR AND THE

MILLENNIUM.

Today is the First Sunday of Advent and we begin a new Church Year. We should not be confused just because the Church and the Civil Year do not coincide. There is no particular 'magic' about January 1st. For a start, for many centuries the civil New Year began on March 25th. Even within Christianity, the New Year does not necessarily begin now; in the Eastern tradition it begins on September 1st.

However, it is perhaps appropriate that 'Church time' and 'civil time' are not the same; the Church after all is tending towards eternity, which is outside time altogether.

So, four Sundays before Christmas we turn all the Missals, Lectionaries and Prayer Books back to page 1 and start again.

This is also the beginning of the second year of preparation for the Millennium. We are talking about the year 1998, though in the Church we have to spear' of '1997/8'. In the preparation for the Millennium we are invited to spend each year in specific reflection on one Person of the Holy Trinity. So 1997 was the 'Year of Jesus Christ', 1998 is the 'Year of the Holy Spirit', 1999 will be the 'Year of God the Father', while 2000 will be the 'Year of the Holy Trinity'.

To be perfectly honest (and speaking with caution for the idea comes from very high places) this idea is not without its dangers. 1998 cannot not be a Year of Jesus Christ, after all, just because 1997 was that! It makes it seem as though we wheel out the Holy Spirit for 1998 only to put him (her?) back in the cupboard for 1999. The Trinity is indivisible, and our Eastern Christian brethren - who loudly accuse us Westerners of doctrinal weakness - may suspect us of indulging in 'divine dissection'.

However, we are bidden to make 1998 the Year of the Holy Spirit, so let us proceed. And the trouble is that I suspect most Christians have quite a difficulty getting a grasp on the Holy Spirit. It is the 'vague Person of the Trinity'. Traditionally the Spirit is represented by fire, wind or that famous bird: the dove, which descends at crucial moments in the Gospels.

What does the Spirit do? Well, here are some areas where the Spirit is active. We can apply them to our Christian endeavours in '1997/8'.

	Communication. The Spirit communicates the love of God to us. Do we communicate, or are we self-contained?
	Creation. The Spirit sustains God's creation. Do we respect God's creation or abuse it?
	Faith. The Spirit gives us the gift of faith. Are we grateful for that gift, and do we ask for it to grow?
	Holiness. The Spirit is holy and brings holiness The call to holiness is the basic call to every believer.
	Mission. The Spirit inspires the missionary work of the Church. Do we believe in mission, or do we want private religion?
	Prayer. The Spirit takes all prayer perfectly to the Father. Do we wish to be more mature (not necessarily more lengthy !) in our prayer?
	Restoration. The Spirit restores our likeness to God through the Sacraments. Do we see these Sacraments as vital presences of God in our lives?
	Scripture The Spirit is the inspiration of all Holy Scripture. Do we resolve to hear the Scriptures with particular attention and seriousness?
	Unity. The Spirit serves to unite the Church. Our disunity is a wound to the Holy Spirit.

So a lot of work for the New Year! In 1997, we were invited to use the Angelus at Mass, as we did Our hierarchs have not offered us a particular prayer for this New Year, so I have chosen one to link Mary and the Holy Spirit, taken from the 'Mass of Our Lady in the Cenacle'. The Cenacle was the Upper Room where Mary and the apostles awaited the coming of the Holy Spirit; this prayer was written for the Sisters of Our Lady of the Cenacle (foundress Saint Therese Couderc, +1885). Here is a foretaste of that prayer:

Lord our God, as the Blessed Virgin was at prayer with the apostles, you poured out on her in abundance the gifts of the Holy Spirit; grant through her intercession that we too, being filled with the same Spirit, may persevere with one mind in prayer, and bring to the world around us the good news of salvation; we ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.