We've said it before, and it remains true: If the Catholics of the world had done all of the things Pope John Paul II has asked us to do, the world would be a radically different place.

Starting in this issue, the Register will reprint four guides that are meant to help us fulfill the program the Holy Father has set for the Church at the beginning of the new millennium. What the Pope asks is specific, practical and, if we take him up on it, will have extraordinary consequences that we can't even imagine.

Our guides take up four proposals that John Paul made in last year's Novo Millennio Inuente (At the beginning of the new millennium), one for each week of Advent. The guides can be cut out of the paper, photocopied and given to those we hope to attract to Catholic faith and practice. We will make new, improved versions of them available on our Web site, www.ncregister.com, in a .pdf and other formats.

Week 1, Sunday Mass. The Holy Father uses strong language in calling for the promotion of the Sunday Eucharist, saying he must “insist that sharing in the Eucharist should really be the heart of Sunday for every baptized person. It is a fundamental duty, to be fulfilled not just in order to observe a precept but as something felt as essential to a truly informed and consistent Christian life.”

Week 2, Confession. When John Paul talks about a “crisis” in the Church, he means in the sacrament of confession. In Novo Millennio Ineunte, he wrote, “the crisis of the sacrament was there for all to see.” He asked for bishops to have “courage” enough to reestablish the sacrament of confession in their dioceses. He said it is “necessary that pastors should arm themselves with more confidence, creativity and perseverance in presenting it and leading people to appreciate it.”

Week 3, Prayer. John Paul's next suggestion is to promote prayer, a suggestion that he has amplified by proclaiming October 2002 to October 2003 a Year of the Rosary. Prayer will be the secret weapon of the new evangelization, said the Holy Father. “As this millennium begins, allow the successor of Peter to invite the whole Church to … a renewed commitment to prayer.”

Week 4, Catholic Living. Our fourth guide will give the basics elements of living a Catholic life, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

We hope that, by making these guides widely available, Register readers can fulfill the great hopes of the Holy Father for a new evangelization — which he said can usher in a new springtime of faith.

Father Owen Kearns is publisher & editor in chief of the Register.