Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
There are passages in scripture that carry an element of solemnity that are more intense that other passages. One of such passage today’s gospel passage. In the synagogue, the solemnity with which the scroll is handed to Jesus, the description of Jesus unrolling he scroll, him reading the passage from Isaiah, the eyes of all in the synagogue looking intently at him, and Jesus announcing, "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing," all point to a solemn and momentous event. Especially the words from Isaiah ending with the words “to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” (Lk 2:20) has a very specific meaning.
What does “proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” signify? The themes in that passage - “bring glad tidings to the poor, proclaim liberty to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind,and let the oppressed go free,” tell us that it was a reference to a Jubilee. And Jesus announcing, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4:21) signifies that Jesus was declaring a Jubilee year.
As you already know, Pope Francis has declared 2025 a Jubilee year. I would like to reflect with you a little more deeply on the concept of the Jubilee and its implications for us.
How is the Jubilee Year calculated?
To understand the Jubilee, we must begin with the Sabbath and the Sabbath year. For the Hebrew people, just as every seventh day was observed as the Sabbath, every seventh year was also observed as Sabbath year for the land (Lev 25:2-7). During the Sabbath year people did not plant, prune, or harvest. People could eat whatever the land produced on its own. The slaves tenants, the livestock, and the wild animals, could eat freely of whatever the land produced on its own.
After seven such Sabbath years, which adds to 49 years, the fiftieth year was to be declared as a Jubilee year. Leviticus 25: 8-22 states that the Jubilee year was to be proclaimed by blowing a ram's horn on the Day of Atonement. It prescribed: “You shall proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to your own property, each of you to your own family. This fiftieth year is your year of jubilee; you shall not sow, nor shall you reap the aftergrowth or pick the untrimmed vines, since this is the jubilee. It shall be sacred for you. You may only eat what the field yields of itself.”
The Purpose of the Sabbath and Jubilee Years
The purpose of the Sabbath year was to restore the relationship between God, humans, and the earth. It made the earth more fertile and sustainable. Just as the Sabbath was set aside for God, the Sabbath year gave God honor and became an expression of gratitude for all that God provides.
The Jubilee year had the same theme but on a larger scale. The Jubilee year was a time when the Israelites would return to their original land, forgive debts, and free slaves. The Jubilee year was a time to learn mercy by giving mercy. The Jubilee year was a time to create social and economic parity. It was a time of economic, cultural, environmental, and communal reset.
It is stunning to me that a primitive people had more awareness of the connection between the land and the people more than we do. They had a deeper awareness of the need for social equality than we do today. Imagine everybody getting a chance at a new beginning financially and socially; imagine making the connection between the land and the people for sustainable growth; imagine creating a structure that ensures forgiveness, justice, and mercy. The Jubilee was a celebration of mercy, hope, social equality, and care for creation – all this more than three thousand years ago.
Jubilee 2025: Hope at the Center
This brings us to Jubilee 2025. The Catholic celebration of the Jubilee goes back to Pope Boniface VIII in 1300. Initially, the Jubilee was celebrated every 100 years, then 50, and now a Jubilee is proclaimed every 25 years.
The theme of Jubilee 2025 is “Pilgrims of Hope.” The document declaring the Jubilee is titles, Spes Non Confundit or “Hope Does not Disappoint”. It is a lengthy document and in it the Pope makes a widespread appeal for hope. He appeals for diplomacy, negotiations, and peace instead of easily resorting to war. He appeals for a greater appreciation for life and the openness to life. He appeals for greater sensitivity to those enduring hardships – prisoners, the sick, and those with disabilities. He appeals for a great attention to the frustrations of adolescents and youth. About the migrants who are often treated disparagingly in our nation and around the globe Pope Francis says, “Their expectations must not be frustrated by prejudice and rejection.” He also appeals for hope for the elderly and grandparents, whose wisdom can enlighten us. And then there are the millions of poor in the world. He says, “It is scandalous that in a world possessed of immense resources, destined largely to producing weapons, the poor continue to be “the majority of the planet’s population, billions of people.”
Keeping with the themes of the original Jubilee and the themes contained in today’s gospel, he calls for a just distribution of wealth among the people. He says, “I renew my appeal that with the money spent on weapons and other military expenditures, let us establish a global fund that can finally put an end to hunger and favor development in the most impoverished countries, so that their citizens will not resort to violent or illusory situations, or have to leave their countries in order to seek a more dignified life”. He further calls for a forgiveness of debt of the impoverished countries by affluent nations. And finally, there is special appeal for the ecological debt that exists in the way that the world resources are exploited. As he says, “If we really wish to prepare a path to peace in our world, let us commit ourselves to remedying the remote causes of injustice, settling unjust and unpayable debts, and feeding the hungry.”
As we reflect upon today’s gospel and the Jubilee year, we might think that the call of the gospel and Jubilee year is beyond our power. But we could all take personal steps in small and local way. I appeal to families to declare your own jubilee. Let us make effort an effort as families and as a parish community to implement the meaning of a jubilee in local and small way. We may not have power to forgive debts of nations but there is someone in our lives we can set from our unforgiveness. We can care more for the poor, the sick, those in prison, the elderly, and those with disabilities. We can have a greater appreciation for life, treat migrants and refuges with dignity, and seek peace instead of confrontation. We can all care more for the earth and live more simply to lessen the impact on the environment. We can make Jubilee 2025 truly an exercise in hope. We can all “proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”
Jubilee 2025, let us be pilgrims of hope – the hope promised by the ancient jubilee, the solemn jubilee proclaimed by Jesus Christ, and the hope to which Pope Francis appeals during Jubilee 2025 in our own time.
- Fr. Satish Joseph