He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16–21)
The word “jubilee” comes from the Latin word “jubilaeus" (annus) ‘(year) of jubilee’, based on Hebrew yōḇēl, (pronounced yo-BALE) originally ‘ram's-horn trumpet’, with which the jubilee year was proclaimed. Commonly the word is used to mean a celebration of a special anniversary (especially a 50th anniversary). Jubilees have been proclaimed in the Church every 25 years since the 13th century. But the jubilee goes back to ancient Hebrew practice described in Leviticus 25:
You shall count seven weeks of years—seven times seven years—such that the seven weeks of years amount to forty-nine years. Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month let the ram’s horn resound; on this, the Day of Atonement, the ram’s horn blast shall resound throughout your land. You shall treat this fiftieth year as sacred. 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. (Leviticus 25:8-22)
Practically, this meant that they were to release all Israelite debt-slaves to return to their families, people could reclaim their ancestral land, and that the Israelites were to rest from agricultural labor during the Jubilee.
The Jubilee was meant to ensure that the Israelites, newly freed in the Exodus, would never again be reduced to the slavery they had endured in Egypt (Lev 25:42–43; 25:55).
It was also the capstone of a liturgical structure for the consecration of time based on patterns of seven: seven day week, on the seventh day (sabbath) you are to rest; after seven weeks of passover, there was an extra day called Pentecost to celebrate; on a seventh year, there was to be rest, and let ground go fallow (no agriculture); after seven sets of seven years, there is the Jubilee year. In Hebrew the word for oath is literally “to seven oneself.” Therefore this structure of time based on sevens shows the covenant nature of time and its sacredness
Isaiah also predicted the coming of an “anointed” one who would “proclaim liberty” and “the year of the Lord’s favor,” that is, the Jubilee year. This “year of favor” would entail a profound renewal of God’s people and even the Gentiles. In the synagogue of Nazareth, Jesus reads the Jubilee prophecy of Isaiah and proclaims it fulfilled. Christians should understand Christ as the true Jubilee. The ancient Jubilee freed servants from their bondage, restoring them to their true families and homeland. In Christ, we are freed from all that holds us in bondage: sin, death, and the devil. He restores us to our true family, the family of God; and our true homeland, heaven. Another New Testament reference to the Jubilee may be found in Matt 18:22, where Jesus commands Peter to forgive “not seven times, but seventy times seven,” that is, 490 times, or ten Jubilee cycles, a symbolic number indicating complete forgiveness.
Throughout 2025, the Catholic Church celebrates a yearlong "event of great spiritual, ecclesial, and social significance in the life of the Church."
The Holy Year, under the theme of "Pilgrims of Hope," marks the 2,025-year anniversary of the Incarnation of the Lord. Catholics are encouraged to make pilgrimage during the year, either to Rome or to a sacred site within their local diocese. The Holy Father has also marked special celebrations throughout 2025 for various needs and communities.
Pope Francis stated in his February 2022 letter announcing the Jubilee 2025: "We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision. The forthcoming Jubilee can contribute greatly to restoring a climate of hope and trust as a prelude to the renewal and rebirth that we so urgently desire…"
The theme for this Jubilee is Pilgrims of Hope, and the Bull suggests several ways to bring Christ and his message of hope to the world, for example, by working for peace and an end to conflicts, promoting human life, showing amnesty to prisoners, upholding the dignity of migrants, healing the sick, and accompanying the elderly – or even through the forgiveness of debts, a custom of jubilee years in the Old Testament.
THE JUBILEE CALENDAR
December 24, 2024 - Begins in Rome with the Opening of the Holy Door of St.Peter’s Basilica.
December 29, 2024 - Begins here on the Feast of the Holy Family,
December 28, 2025 - Ends here on the next Feast of the Holy Family,
January 6, 2026 - Ends in Rome on Epiphany
In a future article, I will discuss the Holy Door’s and the granting of indulgences.
- Fr. Andrew
THE JUBILEE PRAYER
Father in heaven, may the faith you
have given us in your son, Jesus Christ,
enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
reawaken in us the blessed hope for the
coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us into tireless
cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within
both humanity and the whole cosmos in
the sure expectation of a new heaven
and a new earth, when, with the powers
of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine
eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken
in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for
the treasures of heaven. May that same
grace spread the joy and peace of our
Redeemer throughout the earth. To you
our God, eternally blessed, be glory and
praise for ever. Amen.