Pope John Paul II has demonstrated in his teachings and writings that our Western culture is a "culture of death." He has prophesied that this year is the Great Jubilee of justice and freedom by which the culture of death may be displaced by a civilization of love and life, as Pope Paul VI prophetically intimated twenty-five years ago.

The Israelites after the Exodus were still in a culture of death. The wages of their sins (see Rm 6:23) were the deaths of many people due to snakebite (Nm 21:6). "So Moses prayed for the people, and the Lord" instructed him to make a bronze serpent and mount it on a pole (Nm 21:7-8). "Whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he recovered" (Nm 21:9).

Jesus promised: "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that all who believe may have eternal life in Him" (Jn 3:14-15). We too can let the Lord change our culture of death by fixing our eyes on Jesus (Heb 12:2) and believing in Him.

Our culture of death makes us feel hopeless. But Jesus is our Hope, "and this hope will not leave us disappointed" (Rm 5:5). The victory of life is assured in Jesus. Our eyes are "on the Lord, our God, till He have pity on us" (Ps 123:2).

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Edward J. Gratsch, October 4, 1999

Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, October 12, 1999