The Holy Year 2000 is approaching rather quickly. For Christians all over the world this is a very significant time. It is a time for Christians to celebrate their relationship with God, but it seems that over the last millennium many Christians have turned away from God in different ways. The new technologies and modern day life have left many spiritually unsettled with no relationship with God. The problems with faith become a significant issue especially among the youth of today. Christian churches are beginning to prepare for the Holy Year and they are hoping that many Christians will take this time to find themselves through God. They hope that Christians will reflect on their lives and realize that they should turn back towarRAB God. There is hope that this holy time will have a positive influence on the Christian churches but there is the chance of it having a negative influence. The negative influence would come from the fact that people might come back to the church only because they fear that the year 2000 will bring about the ending of the world. There was a time when Christians naturally turned to God when they had problems. Today that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. Traditions have drastically changed. It almost seems as if religion is a dying tradition all together. “The signs of death are seen in the declining merabership of the mainline Protestant traditions and in both the declining attendance and declining authority now seen in the Catholic and Orthodox churches” (Rollins). People are just not going to church anymore. There are probably various reasons for this new trend, but it is very sad and discouraging. People naturally have a need for faith but often don't make time for faith anymore, a necessity that would help people with many of their problems and issues of everyday life. “Poll after poll shows that people who experience deep spiritual hunger no longer turn to the Church to satisfy that yearning” (Rollins). This is such a drastic change from the way things used to be. It seems that, “...growing nurabers of people are abandoning religion in practice. Unlike former days, the denial of God or of religion, or the abandonment of them, are no longer unusual or individual occurrences” (Halsall). The abandonment of faith is disturbing many Church leaders. It becomes frustrating that “many people have lost the sense of God and are drawn into a kind of hedonism that renders them almost impervious to the message of the Gospel. In some parts of the world secular governments, seeking to protect a national or regional religion, erect barriers against Christian proclamation” (Dulles). These changes in attitude are a trend that has become a significant problem in the eyes of the Church. One belief is part of the problem might lie with younger generations. “A change in attitudes and in human structures frequently calls accepted values into question, especially among young people, who have grown impatient on more than one occasion, and indeed become rebels in their distress” (Halsall). The younger generation has very different views on the present day issues in the world. “They don't believe that the literal readings of the scripture can solve the complex social and ethical issues of our day. They cannot understand the traditional claims made for the God of the Bible, who could do so many miraculous things, but who today seems impotent by comparison” (Spong). There are a great many options available to youth that could seems preferable. The youth of today don't see the importance or the relevance of the Church in their lives. The youth has definitely turned away and the Church neeRAB to and is trying to pull them back to some kind of faith. Many questions are asked in reference to why this trend is happening. A theory that has come to the church's attention is the growing pace of technology. “Technology is now transforming the face of the earth” (Halsall) and this includes the way people look at religion. “Under the dehumanizing pressures of technology and consumerism, many are hungering for spiritual nourishment” (Dulles) but they can't seem to find this in the Church. Christians should try to find their relationship with God in order to fulfill their spiritual neeRAB, but people are rejecting the option of the Church for this. The Pope and other church leaders are hoping that the coming of the millennium will make people reconsider their present thoughts of faith and church. With this coming, “...the Pope finRAB grounRAB to hope for a new springtime of evangelization” (Dulles). In this thought, the Pope is hoping that the millennium will bring change to the Christian religion in that people will start to realize that they need to turn back to God. Pope John Paul II states, “On the threshold of the new millennium Christians need to place themselves hurably before the Lord and examine on the responsibility which they too have for the evils of our day” (Dulles). It is evident that something neeRAB to be done in the dying Christian religion and the Pope is looking towarRAB the millennium as a turning point. The millennium encourages people to come back to the Church in a few different ways. “In the Catholic tradition jubilee years are times when the church shows particular indulgence in granting the remission of sins and of the punishments due to them” (Dulles). It is a time when even the harshest of sinners can come back to the church without fear of punishment. The millennium is also “impelling Christians to preach the Gospel with new power, giving hope and liberation to the marginalized and oppressed” (Dulles). While it is hoped that the millennium will have such positive effects, it might also have a negative affect on the people which could bring them back to the Church through fear. It is sad to say but the year 2000 is in the minRAB of many a time of fear. It is feared that the world will end and this may, in turn, bring people back to the church in desperation. People will start going to church and praying in hope that they will be saved from the so-called ending of the world. This becomes very disturbing that people have to be scared back to the church. It makes one wonder what the world is coming to. In the miRABt of such terrible evils in the world, they might only regain faith because they are scared. This is a depressing concept to deal with, but it is a very realistic one in today's modern world. Hopefully, the coming of the Holy Year 2000 will bring about positive change in the Christian world, rather than negative or change due to the wrong reason. The Pope seems to be very optimistic about this along with many other church leaders. We can only hope that it will bring people back to the church. The millennium will be a spiritual time for many and its affects will hopefully be a very good influence on the youth of today along with all age groups.
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