In today’s first Mass reading, God instructs Moses that the people shall make every fiftieth year “sacred by proclaiming liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee.”
Jubilee became associated with atonement and forgiveness of sins and the first Christian jubilee was declared by Pope Bonifice in the beginning of the 14th Century. In the Catholic tradition, jubilee has been associated with pilgrimage.
When I read the Leviticus passage, what comes to mind is a Michael Card song that sings of jubilee from a Christian perspective. I thought I’d share it this morning. Perhaps it might encourage a spirit of jubilee in you. We might all examine whether there are places we need to forgive debts and free what is enslaved.
Creo en Dios! 