On the threshold of a new millennium, we celebrate in the Church a year of Great Jubilee. A Jubilee was celebrated in ancient biblical times every 50^th year. The Church has adopted this special celebration, blessed it and made it holy. Some special years like the turn of the century and the millennium are super years. We might be tempted to say, "Why all the hoopla?" It is a very important moment in history. We have no difficulty celebrating the milestones of our lives and the lives of our loved ones: birthdays and anniversaries, silver, gold and diamond. Is not 2000 years of grace and salvation worth celebrating? This is what the Great Jubilee is all about: we celebrate the 2000^th anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is a time to celebrate, but also a time to evaluate our lives and to recognise our successes, and our failures. It is a moment of grace, a moment of thanksgiving, a moment of hope, a time to forgive and be forgiven.

Forty years ago, Vatican Council II reminded us that we are a pilgrim people. This is so meaningful for us Scouts. We fit right in with the pilgrim image. This means that all of us, personally and collectively, as individual Christians and as Church, are on a great hike, on pilgrimage until the Lord returns.

Pope John Paul II, in his Apostolic Letter, On the Coming of the Third Millennium (# 49) writes: "The whole of the Christian life is like a great pilgrimage to the house of the Father... This pilgrimage takes place in the heart of each person, extends to the believing community and then reaches the whole of humanity." Let us reflect on these words of the Holy Father.

"This pilgrimage takes place in the heart of each person..." The heart is the traditional centre of one’s being where all that is good and beautiful, all that is worthy of being human finds its source. It is the locus where the "I" and God meet. It is the person’s holy of holies. A pilgrimage starts at the very core of our being B in our heart. It is there that I am most myself. It is there that I encounter God.

At baptism, when we died and rose with Jesus, we entered into a special union with the Triune God. This union was then nourished and strengthened when we let our lives be transformed by the Word of God and by our frequent reception of the Sacraments - especially the Holy Eucharist. At some point in our lives, we confirmed our faith and committed ourselves to a life of service in the Church. We accepted to minister to one another and to all our brothers and sisters. And we continue to minister as adult Scouters.

The Holy Father has often praised Scouting as a magnificent educational opportunity and reminded Scout leaders of the value of their ministry to youth through the Scouting Program. Hence, Catholic Scout leaders are truly ministers by virtue of who they are and what they do. Before ministering to others, Scouters first must be attentive to God’ voice in their own heart. They must leave the noise and distractions of this world and enter their personal holy of holies where, in the words of Saint Augustine, "God is more present to us than we are." Is it any wonder then that the Holy Father says that this pilgrimage must start in our own hearts? Here, at the very seat of our being, God’s voice is heard and identified. God’s word is accepted and becomes the rule of life. There can be no dichotomy between God’ word and our life, between what we say and what we do, between what we believe and what we live. Jesus cautioned his people about their religious leaders: "he scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice" (Mat 23, 2-3).

The first priority of Catholic Scouters must be the quality of their own spiritual lives. Then, as they reach out to serve their brothers and sisters in Scouting, they will come with lives that are full of God and the Spirit, as was Jesus’ lives willingly shared and given in service to others. Only when minds and hearts, words and actions are anchored in the Truth, which is Christ, only then will their lives ring with authority. Only then will they truly reflect Christ.

The more leaders strive to be faithful to the grace of their Baptism and Confirmation, the more their ministry will be effective, not because of who or what they are, but because of the Christ who lives in them and whose life they share. It is Christ Himself that Scouters must bring to those they serve in and through Scouting. They must take to heart and make theirs the words of the Apostle Paul who urges us to "Put on the Lord Jesus." (Rom 13,14)...; to see to it that "...our attitude must be that of Christ." (Phil 2,5); and to come to the realisation that "...the life I live now is not my own; Christ is living in me." (Gal 2,20).

The words of Pope John Paul continue: "(This pilgrimage) extends to the believing community." The young men and women entrusted to our care in Scouting are for us, a special community of faith. Scouts and Scouters are also called to be pilgrims. They look to us for the way. In many instances we will not only point out the way, but also live the way. By the example of our lives we need to show them how to act and walk as pilgrims. We need to be the friend who will walk and talk with them. We must prepare them and guide them, we must show them how to live and act in this world, how to attain their own self- appreciation and self-fulfilment, how to teach others by word and example the values of their faith as well as the principles of Scouting.

It is true that our world is full of human and moral dilemmas: a world more often than not godless and materialistic; a world where taking is more important than giving, and where the ego reigns supreme; a world that is characterised and ruled by wants, needs, feelings and desires; a world wherein public morality is hardly morality at all; a world wherein national leaders fail to be models of heroic virtue for youth to emulate; a world wherein human life itself is easily dispensable, especially when it gets in our way or when we are inconvenienced by it; a world wherein ethnic cleansing and abortion are preached, practised and defended without shame. We cannot shield our Scouts from this world nor do we want to. Our role is to teach and show them how to live and become evangelisers in this world. Their pilgrimage and ours does not by-pass the realities of the world. Our pilgrimage is in this world. The message and values we bring are for this world. Jesus died to save this world.

Jesus walked with his disciples. He shared his life with them. He taught them and tested them. For three years Jesus was their teacher and mentor. He rebuked them when they failed to show compassion. He forgave them when they betrayed him. He respected their different personalities, all the while capitalising on their strengths. In spite of their many weaknesses, Jesus trusted them and sent them on mission. In this great pilgrimage of life, Jesus walked the walk with his disciples.

Jesus’ world was not all that different from ours. His message found strong resistance. Civil and religious authorities were jealous of his popularity and especially of the fact that it was being said that he spoke "with authority". The plot to do away with Jesus was conceived early in his ministry.

But he was not deterred. When the disciples had lost all hope in the Master, Jesus still walked with them. Saint Luke has left us this beautiful image of pilgrimage: "Two of them that same day were making their way to a village named Emmaus seven miles distant from Jerusalem, discussing as they went all that had happened. In the course of lively exchange, Jesus approached and began to walk with them (his disciples)... He interpreted for them every passage of Scripture that referred to him... then he took bread, pronounced the blessing, then broke the bread and began to distribute it to them." (Luk, 24, 13... 30)

Jesus walked the paths of this world with his disciples and friends not only when things went well but also in their moments of despair. He was there for them when they needed him most. What greater example could we have as Scouters than this very person of Jesus Christ who himself shows us the way, teaches us the truth and gives us the life that He is. In our pilgrimage of life, Jesus walks with us too. Jesus walks with us even as we walk with those entrusted to us.

Empowered by the same Holy Spirit, let us walk the paths of this world with eyes that are illumined by the light of Christ, with values that are anchored in the teachings of Jesus and the tradition of the Church. The Scouting method and its strong educational thrusts are valuable tools. They are even stronger and more valuable when they serve the faith and provide our youth with the means to become leaders in the new millennium.

Leadership training and development must provide the opportunity and encourage our youth to grow in wisdom and in age, as Jesus did, not only before the world community but also before God. They are leaders among their peers today; tomorrow they will lead the world community, some as priests, deacons and religious, many as dedicated Catholic lay leaders, walking beside us at first, and eventually replacing us.

They will continue the pilgrimage to the house of the Father, reaching someday the whole of humanity. What a wonderful task it is to educate our Scouts to this tremendous challenge. But we must challenge ourselves first before we challenge them.

"They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, "Sir, we would like to see Jesus." (John 12,21)

On our pilgrimage of life, during this year of Great Jubilee as we face a new millennium, let us "Be Prepared" to respond not only to our Scouts, but also to everyone who comes to us with the request: "Sir, we would like to see Jesus" (Ibid).

Mgr. Richard P. LaRocque