By REV. KEVIN PEEKS

With the uneventful advent of the year 2000, many have already discarded the use of the word "millennium," and even more the arguments that the millennium does not start until the end of this year.

But for Catholic Christians, the word never really saw much use anyway, and we continue to speak of the year of jubilee.

Historically in the scriptures, the year of jubilee was part of a precept in the Old Covenant demanding that the people of God take specific years and dedicate them to forgiving debts, freeing slaves and renewing the land (Is. 61, Dty. 15, Lev. 25).

There are three different levels of celebration: a sabbatical year once every seven years, a jubilee year every 50 years (completing seven sabbatical years), and a final era which was only prophesied, having no defined duration or periodicity, with broader content than that of the other years.

The Catholic Christian believes this final era is one in which good news is preached to the afflicted; liberty is given to those captive to their own vices and the cruelty of others; sight is restored to the corporally and spiritually blind; freedom is given to those oppressed by greed, ambition and fear; and remission of sin and debt is provided in the grace of God.

This era was ushered in by Jesus Christ that day in Nazareth when he proclaimed the words of Isaiah to be "fulfilled in their midst," and continues to exist today.

Hence every year is a year of jubilee.

So why declare this year to be a particular and unique one? We do so because as humans we are weak and forgetful, needing to be reminded of our purpose and calling in Jesus Christ. We celebrate periodical jubilee years to encourage ourselves to make it a priority to fulfill the contents and the demands of the jubilee in which we live and go on living. We celebrate it this year in particular, for we mark 2000 years of our Savior's birth.

This recommitment to the era of God's jubilee takes on several signs and symbols to complete its reality and its impact. It's a thoughtful and comprehensive process of purification by the acknowledgment of our sins and reconciliation with God and our neighbor, specific acts of charity and mercy, and prayerful journeys or pilgrimages back to the roots of our faith, in order to see for ourselves the lands of our spiritual heritage, seeking a renewal of faith and wonder.

This year I have tried to participate in this re-awakening to true Christianity in as many ways as I can. For the pilgrimage, I could have gone to any of many different places, but I chose to go to Rome, site of the executions of hundreds of thousands of Christians in the first three centuries after Christ while the church was still in its infancy here on earth. I wanted to stand again on the ground that ran with the blood of those who loved God so much and believed so fervently in the truth of the church and its scriptures that they would die instead of live a watered down, cowardly Christianity.

And I wanted to do it with 2.5 million young people, called together by Pope John Paul II, with a zest for life and a hunger for meaning and purpose.

Walking the ground of Nero's circus, climbing through the Colosseum, and standing in the Circus Maximus, I paused to pray for the strength and the courage of those who died in order to hand on to us the unadulterated, uncompromised truth. These acts of fidelity and love are what make it possible to celebrate a faith that has survived two thousand years of persecution. The pope spoke of this at the end of his letter announcing the year of jubilee, and he spoke of it again to the teenagers gathered in Rome last week.

He spoke of the heritage and the example of the martyrs of the first two millenniums of the church, and the need for martyrs in the church of the third millennium. That there have been many persecuted and killed for their faith around the world in recent years, from China to Sierra Leone to Columbine, he is well aware. But he called for more; for silent, invisible martyrs who would light up their homes and schools and work places with their courageous witness to the truth in the face of great opposition.

Martyrs who would be daring enough to remain chaste and pure before marriage; martyrs who would remain chaste and pure in marriage; martyrs who would be honest and just to all in their work, taking special care of the poor and innocent; martyrs sticking it out in difficult marriages while seeking the grace of God; martyrs discerning and pursuing work in God's vineyard despite the opposition of family and friends; martyrs who would endure public ridicule rather than relinquish their principles, values and faith these are the heroes that will be celebrated in the jubilee years to come; theirs are the lands to which pilgrimages will be made; theirs are the names written in heaven.

Such is the power of the jubilee those who are weary and heavy laden in the highways of life find rest and renewal, purpose and meaning. So rejoice all ye who labor and are heavy laden. The jubilee of the Lord is come.

The Rev. Kevin Peek is the parochial vicar at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Peachtree City.

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