By Gretchen Keiser

A year “of hope, of joy,” which began for the universal Church on March 25, 1983, officially opened in the Atlanta archdiocese April 14 in a Mass at the Cathedral of Christ the King.

Openness to the Holy Year of redemption and its possibilities for renewal in individual hearts and in the life of the whole church means openness to a deep change, said Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan.

“Since all are sinners, all need that radical change of spirit the Bible calls conversion,” the archbishop said in his homily. He invited people to that conversion, particularly through renewed use and fuller use of the sacrament of penance or reconciliation; through prayer and through devotion to Mary, the Lord’s mother, as urged by Pope John Paul II.

The pope has declared a year of jubilee marking the 1950^th anniversary of the traditional date marking the death and resurrection of Christ. Beginning on the Feast of the Annunciation and continuing until Easter of 1984, the year focuses on Christ’s redemption. In his opening ceremony in Rome, the pope reminded the world of sin and of “the work of destruction that threatens humanity today.” He also balanced that warning by calling people to God’s mercy and love and Jesus’ act of redemption in His death and resurrection.

Archbishop Donnellan noted that the church in recent years has grown in its awareness of the Holy Spirit at work, citing the charismatic renewal as a sign of that growing awareness. A primary way the Holy Spirit works to inform and guide the church is through the pope, the archbishop said. When Pope John Paul II calls Catholics to a renewed awareness and use of the sacrament of penance, it is “on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,” Archbishop Donnellan said.

The sacrament is needed “to keep us in the love and friendship of the redeeming Christ,” he said.

Breaking with tradition, which in the past focused Holy Year activities in Rome, the pope has called upon local dioceses to hold special Holy Year observances and has made the special grace of the year and participation in it available to all, including those prevented from more public roles, such as prisoners and the sick confined at home or in the hospital.