DIOCESE OF AGULERI

INTRODUCTION

The Year of our Lord 2025 is a year of Jubilee. Jubilees of this kind are ordinary Jubilees and are celebrated every twenty-five years. The Church makes detailed preparations for these celebrations, and these are systematically being rolled out for the new Jubilee. An extraordinary Jubilee on the other hand comes when the Pope announces a Jubilee in-between the twenty-five years gap, and this may be to mark a special occasion in the history of our salvation or the history of the Church.

JUBILEE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

First of all, we look at Jubilee as a word that may not have some sort of correlation in different languages. It first appears in the Bible in the book of Leviticus Chapter 25 from verses 8 to 10. It appears in the Hebrew Bible as “Yobel” which is a Ram; maybe the horn of a Ram. Why use the horn of a Ram? Because the horn of a Ram was used to announce the intervention of God and to signal hope. It signals some sense of uncommon sanctity and has very great supernatural effects, since it is carried and sounded only by the Priests, (we may compare also the text of Josh. 6:4-5). In Exodus Chapter 19, where God gave Moses instructions about the people coming to the mountain to hear him, he said, “Let nobody touch the mountain, or set foot on it…, when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, then they are to go up the mountain.” The sound of the ram, or horn of the ram or trumpets of rams is recalled with this expression “Soperot-hayyobelim.” 

What is Jubilee for the Jews, from where we got the word Jubilee? A Jubilee is made up of seven sabbatical years, seven years in succession. So, the seven sabbattical years will end in 49 years, plus one year to make it a Jubilee. For the Jews, the Jubilee captures just two things: 

1. Pardon for debt: It is a time for proclamation of liberty to some Israelites who had become enslaved, subjugated and reduced to servitude or in extreme cases had been sold to a fellow Jew during the course of the sabbatical years, for debts which left on their own, they might not offset. 
2. The second thing done in the Jubilee is the return to the land or return of the land. One of the greatest central pillars of the faith of the people of Israel is the land. That is the only thing that God promised to the people of Israel. And the people of Israel’s affinity to the Lord was connected to the land. Once the land is not there, then the faith of the people of Israel will be shaken. The land was promised and the land was given. The land was given principally, not just for the people of Israel to use, it was given as a part or a course of redemption history. So, for the people, that the Lord gave them the land is that the Lord is giving them redemption; the land is a sign of this redemption. 

So then, we have the two major theological thrusts when we talk about Jubilee. The first is release and liberty, the second is return and restoration. In the Book of Isaiah Chapter 42, one of the songs of the Suffering Servant, there is a reference to this Jubilee. In verse 6 we find that the Lord has prepared this servant, and this servant has a name, this servant is a person, not just a corporate individual, but a person that was given a mission. The book also reveals that the first task of this suffering servant is justice, the second task of this suffering servant is restoration. And when this suffering servant gives all these things, then he has light to give to the people. Significant in both the idea of the Suffering Servant and that of Jubilee is the indication of God’s will to intervene in human history. 

JUBILEE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

The New Testament reveals the identity of Isaiah’s Suffering Servant, and that is Jesus Christ himself. Thus, in what we call the ‘Nazareth Manifesto’ of Luke Chapter 4 verses 16 to 30, Jesus appeared in the village where he was brought up and stood up in the synagogue to read, opening the scroll given to him, he read: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,” (Lk 4:18a). By this declaration, Jesus is assuming the mandate that was given to the ancient prophets, Elijah, Jeremiah, Elisha, especially Elijah and Elisha. He reads on: “He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, sight to the blind, to free the oppressed and announce the year of the Lord’s favour” (Luke 4:18b-19). Some translations say “announce the year of God’s blessing.” So, the whole idea of the Jubilee from the Old Testament and New Testament means that it is a proclamation of the sovereignty of God over (i) Nature, and over (ii) Time. 

It is over nature, in that God is intervening in human problems because we cannot talk about Jubilee without talking about the problems of human beings that they cannot solve for themselves left alone, but God himself is coming to their help. It may be by law, by cultic expression, or by prophetic teaching, but God is intervening. 

In terms of sovereignty over time, what is indicated is intervention of God at a particular time: the Church speaks of Jubilee as a Holy Year because God is intervening in the lives of particular people living in a particular time. 

To benefit from a Jubilee, the person’s obedience of faith is required and this attracts the providential graces which God gives as part of the command of the observance of a Holy Year. The command of a Holy Year given with the guarantee of the blessing of forgiveness from God, puts us in mind of that divine forgiveness. This unmerited forgiveness, however, does not change what has happened in the past. But it can help shape the future, spurring us to strive to a higher state of life, opening a new vista, and inspiring us to hope for a restoration and wholeness in human history. 

JUBILEE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

In the Catholic Church, a Jubilee is always a very special event, although it may be occasioned by great suffering, wars, diseases, plagues and all sorts of human problem and human entanglements that he could not extricate himself from. The first of the Jubilees that was held in the Catholic Church was in the year 1300 AD, during the reign of Pope Boniface. Pilgrims coming to Rome had made appeals to the Pope through the Secretary of State to institute a special year of Jubilees for forgiveness of sins, for closeness to God and for spiritual closeness with Jesus Christ. Finally acceding to the appeals, the Pope declared a Jubilee on 22 February 1300 with a Bull, Antiquorum habet fida relatio. To make a pilgrimage for a Jubilee at that time, a resident of Rome must visit the Basilicas of Saint Peter and Saint Paul for a period of 30 days. Non-residents of Rome had a total of 15 days to make a successful Jubilee. It was also decreed that a Jubilee would come every 100 years. Pope Clement VI was the next to decree on Jubilees, reducing the interval from 100 years to 50. He decreed this with a Bull, Unigenitus. Then at about 1390, Pope Urban VI reduced the recurrent year of Jubilee to 33 years, basing this on the period of mortal sojourn of Jesus Christ in this world. Secondarily, it was considered that the average life span of most human beings at that time was between 33 and 40 years, and the new 33-Year duration envisaged that human beings would have the opportunity of a Jubilee at least once in their life-time. It was later reverted to 50 years by Pope Nicholas V. It was Pope Paul II that finally fixed the interval at 25 years. He also made provision for the first time, because of inconveniences of war, diseases and poverty, that people do not need to come to Rome to obtain the graces of a Jubilee. He gave Bishops around the world power to appoint specific churches in their country for celebration of the Jubilee, with a Holy Door to be opened so that passing through it, people may obtain mercy from God. And this continues till the present time.

JUBILEES IN THE 20TH CENTURY

The Jubilees of the 20th century come in this order: The Ordinary Jubilee of 1900 was announced by Pope Leo XIII with the Bull, Properante ad Exitum Saeculum. The ordinary Jubilee of 1925 was announced by Pope Pius XI with a Bull, Infinita Dei Misericordia. The extraordinary Jubilee of 1933 specifically to mark 1900 years of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was announced by Pope Pius XI with the Bull, Quod Nuper. The next ordinary Jubilee was in the year 1950, proclaimed by Pope Pius XII with the Bull, Jubilaeum Maximum. Pope Pius XII in 1954 announced also an extraordinary Holy Year. He called it a Marian Year which he inaugurated with the Encyclical Fulgens Corona. It was to mark the 100th anniversary of the promulgated of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Then, there was an extraordinary Jubilee Year in 1966 which was announced by Pope Paul VI with an Apostolic Constitution, Mirificus Eventus, to mark the end of the second Vatican Council. At the end of this Holy Year, the Pope also issued a Motu Proprio titled Summi Dei Beneficio. Then, came the ordinary Jubilee of 1975, announced by Pope Paul VI with the Bull, Apostolorum Limina. In 1983, Pope John Paul II proclaimed an extraordinary Jubilee which he called the Holy Year of Redemption to marked 1950th anniversary of the death of Jesus Christ, with the Bull, Aperite Portas Redemptori.

This Jubilee was followed by the Great Jubilee for the year 2000. This Jubilee of year 2000 was inaugurated with a Bull by Pope John Paul II titled Tertio Millenio Adveniente and this document was issued in 1994.

Pope John Paul II prepared for this great Jubilee with uncommon care, extending over 3 years. The theme of the first year of preparation, 1997, was “Encountering God the Son.” The theme of the second year, 1998, was “Focusing on God the Holy Spirit.” That of the third year, 1999, was “Returning to God the Father.” The 2025 Jubilee, for its own part, has one year of preparation, dubbed the Year of Prayer. 

Pope John Paull II carefully arranged this three years preparation with a selection from his own writings which formed a book titled: Celebrate 2000!: A Three Year Reader. He assigned a topic for every week from 1997 to the last week of 1999 and many of these topics are very striking. For example, the week of October 19, 1997 says that Christ looks with love on our work, and even though we may not have done so well in human reckoning, Christ still looks at them with love.

The practice of opening and closing of the Holy Door started around 1470. The door was normally sealed with concrete such that to open it for a Jubilee, the Pope makes use of a silver hammer to break open the seals on the door. This practice however was not done in 2000, as Pope John Paul II said that sometimes, opening that concrete with a silver hammer causes the debris to injure people. Therefore, for the Jubilee 2000, the Holy Father opened the door by pushing it open no longer the old practice of using hammer to break open the concrete seals. On January 6, 2001 Jubilee Year 2000 was officially concluded with closing of the Holy Door. For this ceremony Saint Pope John Paul II issued an Apostolic Letter titled Novo Millennio Ineunte (“At the Beginning of the new Millennium”). After this Jubilee year, the Holy Father announced that the next Jubilee would be in 2025. Now we come to Pope Francis.

The Holy Father, Pope Francis pronounced an extraordinary Jubilee in 2015. It was an extraordinary announced on March 13, 2015 with a Bull, Misericordiae Vultus (The Face of Mercy). 

The ordinary Jubilee of 2025 comes with the theme: “Pilgrims of Hope”. This Jubilee 2025 has another aspect. It is marking the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea which began on May 20, 325 AD. Pope Francis was of the view that this Jubilee would be an anchor of hope for the world suffering from the impact of wars, hazards of Covid-19 pandemic and climate crisis. The Holy Father, Pope Francis announced the Jubilee Year 2025 with the Bull, Spes non Confundit (Hope does not disappoint).

PREPARATIONS FOR JUBILEE 2025

The Vatican Dicastery for Evangelization prepared a document titled Teach Us to Pray: Living the Year of Prayer in Preparation for Jubilee 2025. The Communications Office of our Diocese made the book available throughout the Diocese. It was issued as a guide for prayers in preparation for the Jubilee 2025, as the Pope requested that there be “great symphony of prayers” in 2024 as we prepare for Jubilee 2025. Aside this document, there are other preparations made for this Jubilee. This Jubilee year has an Anthem, a very well scripted composition which shows a product of deep reflection. The refrain of the hymn runs thus: 

Like a flame my hope is burning,

may my song rise to you:

source of life that has no ending,

on life’s path I trust in you.  

This Jubilee also has a Logo. The logo has a round background and within it, there are four stylized images in four colours. The four images represent the totality of humanity, and reflects biblical phraseology in which the world has four corners. Notable is that the human beings coming from the four corners of the world are moving towards the same direction. They are also clinging to one another with their hands which shows solidarity, brotherhood and unity of the peoples in these times that political ideologies, different philosophical leanings and selfish aggrandizement have undermined and fractured the unity of the world.

The first figure which is red figure is clinging to the cross. Clinging to the cross is an invitation for all to work together towards a better future guided by faith. All humans working towards the future in faith which is the only hope in these troubled times. 

The colors are not just random colours; they represent something. The colours are red, orange, green and blue. 

• Red represents love, passion, Christ’s boundless love for us and the Holy Spirit that animates and strengthen Christians in every age. 
• Orange is a colour that shows vitality, joy, enthusiasms. This color exhorts us that with enthusiasm we move together on the path of our faith. 
• Green is a colour of hope, a colour that shows growth, a colour that shows rebirth. 
• Blue is a colour that represent peace and tranquility. It evokes an atmosphere of spirituality, atmosphere of contemplation and an atmosphere of prayer. 

When you look at the logo again, you see that the first image clings to the cross, and beneath the cross, there is an anchor. Anchor is a metaphor for hope. The anchor goes down beneath the sea.  The blue wavy lines represent the sea, a sea which is agitated by waves. The waves represent the existence of danger and obstacles in our personal lives and world events. The cross on top which runs through to the anchor beneath the sea waves represents Christ our sure hope hence, these trouble, these obstacles, the changes and chances of the world, the suffocating temptations, strife, brokenness represented by these sea waves will not swallow us up. 

When you look again at the cross, you notice that the cross is not static, it is not rigid. It is bending towards human figures in the logo. This shows that Jesus is moving towards us; even as we are clinging to him, he also clinging to us. God will never abandon us in the most difficult moments of our lives. 

ANNOUNCING THE JUBILEE YEAR 2025

The Holy Father, Pope Francis formally announced the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025 on May 9, 2024 being the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, with a Papal Bull, Spes non Confundit, (Hope does not disappoint). The Bull was read publicly same day in St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. In its opening pages of that document the, Pope extends his words of gratitude to pilgrims all over the world; pilgrims that are coming to Rome and specific churches to experience this very holy year. It will be a time of genuine encounter with Jesus who is the door (John 10:7) of our salvation, and the Lord who has charged the church to proclaim himself, (Jesus) as our only hope, (1Tim 1:1), the Pope noted.

The document is arranged under five points:

THE CALL FOR HOPE

Here the Pope makes us to know the strong love of God, who has loved us even while we were sinners. And due to this love, he gave us His Son who came and died for us, resurrected and he is in heaven. The Pope tells us of the invigorating presence of the Holy Spirit since Jesus departed this mortal flesh. The presence of the promised Spirit gives us hope and assurance in Jesus Christ who said that nothing will happen to us. The Pope quotes from Romans 8:35-37, a text that asks but is very assuring” who can separate us from the love of God.” And, even if anything would separate us from the love of God, the Pope just gave us one word and that word is patience. Saint Paul has this striking expression: “patience in suffering.” The people of this age abhor suffering but with patience and perseverance, confident in God, trusting in God, hope will not fail.

THE JOURNEY OF HOPE 

Hope and patience are the driving forces of every Christian life and every Christian journey. And every journey directed towards God is a journey that makes for the establishment of peace in the world. The Holy Father hinted that the establishment of the Jubilee has a long history. For this year and since the story of salvation started, we all are pilgrims and for most part, pilgrims are always on a journey. The journey is always characterized by quest, a search for that which gives meaning to life. If this journey is a conscientious endeavour, it will always be marked by these three qualities: 

1. A pilgrim’s journey is marked by silence. Pilgrims looking for meaning in life, searching for a betterment of life move in silence because they have somebody or something they are looking towards. 
2.  A pilgrim’s journey is marked by genuine efforts. And, moving in silence, you see the effort people make to go to different time zones, different weather, different cultures, go through different protocols and even through different unimaginable inconvenience, all for just itineraries occasioned by faith. They make these genuine efforts in persistence and silence in order to go to a particular place, and in order to meet the Savior who would give meaning to their lives.
3. A pilgrim’s journey is marked with simplicity of life. Those who are going on pilgrimage carry less, they carry only the things that are most important for that journey. If they had big estates, they do not carry any of that. If they had their big names and titles, they do not carry any of them. If they have big institutions, they do not carry it. They have one simple thing in mind: I want to go and encounter my Savior. In this particular paragraph, the Holy Father listed how the holy doors would be opened. He said on December 24, 2024, the door of Saint Peter’s Basilica will be opened by himself. December 29, 2024, he will open the door of Saint John Lateran Basilica. On January 1, 2025 the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God, he will open the door of Saint Mary Major, while on January 5, 2025 he will open the holy door of Saint Paul’s Basilica outside the wall. The Holy Father gave every Bishop the permission to appoint a specific church or popular Catholic Shrines in their dioceses, where pilgrims who cannot go to Rome would be offered opportunities for reconciliation with God, get indulgences and have other spiritual exercises that can nurture, revive and strengthen their faith. However, not contained to the document issued by the Holy Father, but a fifth door will be opened at a prison, the name of which has not yet been announced, nor the date for the opening, as at the time of writing this reflection.

THE SIGN OF HOPE 

Looking at the world politics, looking at climate change, looking at the thing happening in the world, we cannot but say that the world is desiring and yearning for peace in hope for a better future. Those who are desiring for peace must be peace makers. Matthew 5:9 says “Blessed are the peace makers for they shall be call the children of God.” So, if we are desiring peace, we all are the children of God irrespective of where we are coming from. Therefore, we must employ every good means to resolve conflict and strive for peace. One of the adverse effects of not desiring for peace is that people do not have enthusiasm to transmit life and readiness to share life. There is this hostility and termination of gift of life through abortion, gay unions, through wars, violence, killing, etc. Maybe because we are so entangled with individualism and consumerism that people would, looking at the problem and discomforts in raising a child and the financial costs of raising a child, some people would refrain from giving birth to new life. In this year, let us give signs of hope to children, sign of hope to prisoners, to the sick and the weak, to migrant. Continuing, the Pope calls on all to give sure hope to young people whose hopes, dreams and aspirations are all thwarted maybe by those who are before them, a sign of hope to elders, who on their part are mostly lonely, a sign of hope to the poor, a sign of hope to those who are ravaged by war. I remember some years ago when there was war in Iran, one woman in a documentary of Television Network Al Jazeera titled: Inside Life, was talking about the hopelessness of living. In that interview she said as she was pointing out to the news crew: “This is the way to the school my children used to attend, this is the way to the hospital we used to go, this place is the public market we used to go and buy stuffs we need.” She continued this way, “as you see me now, I am coming back from the market full of fear. That l am going home is what l am sure of but, meeting my children when I get home is what l am not sure of because maybe by the time l get home, they may have been killed.” This is stark loss of hope. 

APPEAL FOR HOPE:

The goods of the earth, the Pope says, are not for the privileged few only. The rich must be generous and not keep off their eyes from their brothers and sisters who are in need. Pastors of souls must bear this in mind too, and ensure that they share with the people. For the Holy Father, “hunger is a scandal; an open wound on the body of our humanity.” We all must examine our consciences on what we are doing or have done to clean up this wound of humanity. Special appeal was made to Heads of State, that money they spend on weapons and military expeditions should be directed to feeding the hungry and to development of impoverished nations. The Holy Father proposes the establishment of global fund to tackle this shame to humanity called hunger and deprivation. The affluent and wealthy nations should reconsider their past decisions and forgive debts of poor nations, especially those that might not be able to pay. This is not just a question of generosity but as a matter of urgency, a question of justice. The earth is the Lord’s and all of us dwell in it as “aliens and tenants” (Lev. 25:23), the Pope noted.

ANCHOR OF OUR HOPE 

Hope, faith and charity are the three theological virtues which express the heart of Christian living. St Paul exhorts us to rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering and persevere in prayer (Rom. 12:12). By this virtue of hope, we can view movement of time, the passages in our own history and the history of humanity as not doomed but are directed to an encounter with the Lord of Glory. The very anchor of our hope is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. With this, we can confront death, knowing that it is not finality by its painful separation from those dearest to us but an opening into dimensions of eternity and to life everlasting. Death should not frighten us but as N.T. Wright in the Book, Surprised by Hope opined should be “a continuation of the growth in the knowledge of God and in personal holiness that has already begun here in the world.” Beyond the threshold of life therefore, is communion with God. This communion is happiness and happiness is our human vocation, a goal which we aspire to. Another reality after death is judgment of God and which we must consider from the standpoint of hope. God will always judge us with mercy and love. In this Jubilee Year, indulgence will always serve as a way for discovering unlimited nature of God who is mercy and love. The sacrament of penance and unmerited effects of indulgences assure us that God wipes away our sins (Psalm 103: 3, 10-12). If God forgives us, let us also be apostles of forgiveness to our brothers and our sisters. Another convincing testimony to hope is the examples and acts of martyrs. Their steadfastness in the face of trials and the fruits from their witness show us that hope will not fail us.  The Pope made allusion to baptismal fonts, noting that before now, in certain old churches, you will notice the fonts have octagon shape (unlike the circular type in vogue now). The eight sides of the font tell us of the renewed hope of the 8th day. This 8th day is a day of joy, a day of hope, a day of testimony, a day of witnesses and a day of joy in the Lord who is our sure hope.

CONCLUSION

As we embark on the journey of faith this Holy Year, the Holy Father urges us to reconfirm our hope in Jesus Christ using the examples of Mary who remained calm in the face of sufferings, pondering the words of promises in her heart. He passionately appeals that we work harder to recover the fading hope in the Church by our witness as believers who are heralds of “a new heaven and a new earth,” (2 Pet. 3:13). He strongly reassures us of the unfailing hope in Jesus our anchor who preserved the Apostles from the threatening storms of the sea, (Mark 4:35-41). He encouraged us this period to read the Scripture and therein realize the hope set before us in Jesus, “who will allow us enter the curtain where he, the forerunner on our behalf has entered,” (Rom. 6:18-20). These will evoke afresh the ancient cries of our forefathers: “Hope in the Lord! Hold firm, take heart and hope in the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14).