Friends,
we have so much to celebrate today.
First, it is the Octave of Christmas: the eight days in which we
celebrate the birth of Jesus, our Savior and King. Second, it’s the feast of the Holy Family:
the “celebration within the celebration” during which we honor the fact that
our Lord Jesus came to us in the midst of a family—and not just any family, but
a family of the greatest saints: the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph—thus
honoring and elevating the dignity of all families. Third, we are celebrating the beginning of the
Jubilee Year. On Christmas Eve, Pope
Francis inaugurated this Jubilee Year by opening the jubilee doors on Saint
Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Here in our
own diocese, Bishop Doherty celebrated a Mass this morning at his Cathedral in
Lafayette inaugurating the Jubilee Year in our diocese. And so, like I said, we have so much to
celebrate and so much upon which we can reflect today. I’d like to begin with the Jubilee Year.
Hopefully,
all of you have heard something about this jubilee. If not, I’ll give just a quick overview. Since the 1300’s, the Church has observed “jubilee
years”—years set apart for celebration and to renew and refocus our missionary
discipleship for the future. Although
the frequency of these jubilee years has varied since their inception, in
modern times, we have set aside every 25th year as a jubilee year. Our last jubilee year was at the turn of the millennia
in the year 2000. Thus, as we enter
2025, the time for another jubilee is upon us.
It is important to note, however, that although these years began to be observed
in the 1300’s, the idea of a jubilee year is much more ancient: stretching all
the way back to Old Testament times.
In
Old Testament times, as part of the Mosaic Law, God prescribed both a Sabbath and
a jubilee for the people and their land.
Just as every seventh day was to be a “Sabbath” for the people—a day of
rest from labor after the pattern God demonstrated when he created the universe—so
was every seventh year to be a year of rest for the land, during which the land
wasn’t to be farmed so as to give creation a time of rest. Then, after the seventh Sabbath for the land
(that is, after the 49th year), a jubilee year was to be celebrated:
an extra year of rest during which many special instructions were to be carried
out. It was truly a year of celebration
and reset for the people.
The
special instructions were these: 1) all debts were to be forgiven; 2) all
slaves were to be set free; 3) a sabbath year was to be observed; and 4) all
were to return to their homeland. If right
now you’re thinking to yourself, “What extraordinary things to be asked for!”,
you’re understanding the full weight of the jubilee in Old Testament
times. Notice that the special
instructions did not stipulate conditions: debts were to be forgiven unconditionally, slaves were to be set
free unconditionally, the Sabbath was
to be observed unconditionally, and
all were to return home unconditionally. It didn’t matter if you weren’t ready to
forgive that debt or release that slave or have enough grain stored up or felt
like you could return home… The jubilee called
you to it and its pious observance would bring great blessings from God.
I
go through all of this today because I think that these special instructions to
those ancient peoples can help us to live this jubilee year today. I also think that they have some particular
things to say to us as we observe this feast of the Holy Family and as we consider
once again how our own families can grow in holiness. First, the jubilee year.
Those
first two points of the Old Testament jubilee seem to be perfectly applicable
to our own lives today. Who here doesn’t
have someone in their lives who either owes them an actual, material debt or
perhaps has hurt them in some way? All
of us have someone like this in our lives, I’m sure. Therefore, all of us could benefit from the
unburdening that could occur if we would forgive those debts/hurts during this
jubilee year. This, of course, could be
very difficult to do. Nevertheless, when
we understand what this forgiveness means, we can begin to find the strength
not only to do it, but also to see the great power it can unleash in the
world. Forgiveness of debts/hurts, at
its core, is a sign of confident hope that our happiness and flourishing does
not depend on strict justice. Rather, it
depends on the graciousness of God.
Thus, when we forgive a debt or a hurt we are boldly declaring that our
happiness does not depend on what we receive from men, but rather on what we receive
from God. Thus, we can let go of any
claims that we have in this world, because we trust that God will restore all
things to us in his graciousness. This
jubilee year is an invitation for us to reclaim this confidence in God and to
unleash this graciousness into the world.
“Setting
slaves free” is thus closely connected to forgiveness of debts. If someone is indebted to us, they are in
some sense enslaved by us: for they are not free until the debt is either paid
or forgiven. Forgiving debts and hurts
is a way of setting slaves free during this jubilee year and should give us
even greater inspiration to seek the strength and courage to forgive. We can take this idea further, however, and
consider how we can help others become free.
Perhaps some are slaves of poverty and we can help them find freedom
through material security. Perhaps others
are slaves to an addiction and we can help them break free from it. Still others might be slaves to loneliness
and we can help break their slavery by being companions to them. Perhaps you’re seeing that I am saying that
the works of mercy are great ways to set slaves free during the jubilee.
And
let’s not forget about any unforgiveness or slavery (to sin) we may be
experiencing within ourselves. This
jubilee year can be a great inspiration to forgive yourself for some past
failure or to seek additional grace to break free from some sin that has
enslaved you for far too long. This year
is a call to courageously ask for that grace and to respond, trusting in God’s
power to bring about this forgiveness and freedom.
The
other two Old Testament jubilee instructions are also helpful now. Although I’m sure that none of us can simply
stop working for a whole year, I am sure that we can each look at our lives and
ask ourselves, “What is something that I have been doing that I can leave off
for the next year so as to create the space that I need to celebrate this
jubilee?” Maybe it’s as simple as
committing to make Sunday (or any day of the week) a day of true rest
throughout the whole year. Whatever it
is, the idea is to give your life a rest in some way during this year, so that
you can enter the celebration.
Returning
home is an interesting one, isn’t it?
For the ancient peoples, this meant a literal return to the land of their
ancestors and to connect with their familial roots. It was a reminder to each of who they were
and of how they fit into the bigger story of God’s people. A very similar opportunity is made for
us. Perhaps we can’t return to our homelands,
but we can reconnect with families. Perhaps
we’re estranged for some reason. Could
we forgive some hurts that our family members caused us and reconnect during
this jubilee year? Doing so will remind
us of our roots: not so much as to force us to feel shackled by them, but
rather to understand who we are so that we might blossom in the way we were
truly made to be: something we can only do when we are firmly secured in our
roots.
And
this helps us to reflect on the family we honor today, doesn’t it? Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are the model for
living faithfully this confident hope in God: a hope that can forgive debts,
set free those enslaved to us, leave off our self-reliance, and embrace our
roots (however complicated they may be).
Thus, as we honor them today, and as we strive to grow in their
likeness, I encourage you all to spend some time with the second reading today,
as Saint Paul’s instructions to the Corinthians seem like a perfect encapsulation
of how to approach the work we’re called to do during this Jubilee Year.
In
striving to live this well, my brothers and sisters, we will truly become the “pilgrims
of hope” that Pope Francis has called us to become in this Jubilee Year. Let us, therefore, take up this good work;
and let us begin by giving thanks in this Mass for the abundant graces that God
is pouring on us to make this time fruitful, so that we might celebrate this
jubilee with joy: the joy of the Christ child, which fills our hearts today.
Given in Spanish at St. Joseph Parish: Rochester, IN –
December 29th, 2024
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