VATICAN CORNER
On March 13, 2015, Pope Francis announced that an “extraordinary Holy Year” a “Jubilee of Mercy” will commence with the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica on the celebration day of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary on December 8, 2015. That day is the fiftieth anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council in 1965. The Holy Year will conclude on November 20, 2016 with the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. The Holy Father stated that “This is the time of mercy. It is important that the lay faithful live it and bring it into different social environments. Go forth!” During the Jubilee, the Sunday readings for Ordinary Time will be taken from the Gospel of Luke, who is often referred to as “the evangelist of mercy” and who the Italian poet Dante called the “narrator of the meekness of Christ”. There are many well-known parables of mercy presented in the Gospel of Luke: the lost sheep, the lost coin, the merciful father. The concept of the Jubilee Year comes from ancient Hebrew tradition. It was celebrated every 50 years and was meant to restore equality among all of the children of Israel, offering new possibilities to families which had lost their property and even their personal freedom. In addition, the Jubilee Year was a reminder to the rich that a time would come when their Israelite slaves would once again become their equals and would be able to reclaim their rights. “Justice, according to the Law of Israel, consisted above all in the protection of the weak.” The Catholic tradition of the Holy Year began with Pope Boniface VIII in 1300. He had envisioned a Jubilee every century from the year 1475 onwards, in order to allow each generation to experience at least one Holy Year. The ordinary Jubilee was to be celebrated every 25 years; however, an extraordinary Jubilee may be announced at any time for events of particular importance. There have been 26 ordinary Holy Year celebrations with the last one held in the year 2000. The last extraordinary Jubilee was proclaimed by John Paul II in 1983 on the 1,950th anniversary of the Year of Redemption – the year Jesus died. The Catholic Church has added a more spiritual significance to the original Hebrew Jubilee. It is a general pardon, open to all, and the possibility to renew one’s relationship with God and neighbor. Thus, the Holy Year is always an opportunity to deepen one’s faith and to live with a renewed commitment to Christian witness. With the Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis focuses attention upon the merciful God who invites all men and women to return to Him. The encounter with God inspires in one the virtue of mercy. To be continued …
Source: news.va