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63 Jurist 22 (2003)
Duc in Altum - Communio: Source and Summit of Church Law

handle is hein.journals/juristcu63 and id is 28 raw text is: THE JURIST 63 (2003) 22-69

DUC INALTUM! COMMUNIO:
SOURCE AND SUMMIT OF CHURCH LAW
JOHN A. RENKEN*
Introduction
Duc in altum! (Lk 5:4) In his apostolic letter at the close of the Great
Jubilee Year 2000, Novo millennio ineunte,1 Pope John Paul II reflects
that this instruction of Jesus to Simon on the Lake of Gennesaret rings
out for us at the beginning of the third Christian millennium. They in-
vite us to remember the past with gratitude, to live the present with en-
thusiasm and to look forward to the future with confidence: 'Jesus Christ
is the same yesterday, today, and forever' (Heb 13:8). (1) When Simon
and his companions trusted the words of Jesus and cast their nets, they
caught a great number of fish. The Holy Father concludes his apostolic
letter with this recollection:
Duc in altum! ... Let us go forward in hope! A new millennium
is opening before the Church like a vast ocean upon which we
shall venture, relying on the help of Christ. The Son of God, who
became incarnate two thousand years ago out of love for human-
ity, is at work even today: we need discerning eyes to see this
and, above all, a generous heart to become the instruments of his
work.... At the beginning of this new century, our steps must
quicken as we travel the highways of the world. Many are the
paths on which each one of us and each of our Churches must
travel, but there is no distance between those who are united in
the same communio, the communio which is daily nourished at
the table of the Eucharistic Bread and the Word of Life. (58)
Several years earlier, when he prepared the Church for the Great Ju-
bilee 2000 in Tertio millennio adveniente,2 Pope John Paul II invited us
* Vicar General-Judicial Vicar, Diocese of Springfield, IL.
Origins 30 (2000-r2001) 489; 491-508. Frequently throughout this paper, the au-
thor will take the liberty to substitute communio (in Latin) for the translation of the same
into English-in order to illustrate more evidently the consistency of the original termi-
nology.
2 Origins 24 (1994-1995) 401,403-416.

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