Advent & the Year of Jubilee begin December 1
By Robert Fontana
You may have missed this from the Vatican with all the fuss over the American elections in the news, but 2025 has been declared a YEAR OF JUBILEE! The custom of declaring a Jubilee Year dates back to Pope Boniface VIII in the 13th century. Boniface was not known for his holiness. Although he did not use the word “Jubilee,” he invited European Christians to journey to Rome to the place where Peter and Paul were martyred – the journey was praying on their feet, for the forgiveness of sin.
The biblical reference for a Jubilee year is Leviticus 25:10: “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.”
Jubilee 2025 begins on December 1, the first Sunday of Advent. Pope Francis writes,
“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; that is why I have chosen as the motto of the Jubilee, Pilgrims of Hope. This will indeed be the case if we are capable of recovering a sense of universal fraternity and refuse to turn a blind eye to the tragedy of rampant poverty that prevents millions of men, women, young people and children from living in a manner worthy of our human dignity.
Here I think in particular of the many refugees forced to abandon their native lands. May the voices of the poor be heard throughout this time of preparation for the Jubilee, which is meant to restore access to the fruits of the earth to everyone.
As the Bible teaches, “The sabbath of the land shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves and for your hired servant and the sojourner who lives with you; for your cattle also, and for the beasts that are in your land, all its yield shall be for food,” (Lev 25:6 – 7)
The spiritual dimension of the Jubilee, which calls for conversion, should also embrace these fundamental aspects of our life in society as part of a coherent whole. In the realization that all of us are pilgrims on this earth, which the Lord has charged us to till and keep (cf. Gen 2:15), may we never fail, in the course of our sojourn, to contemplate the beauty of creation and care for our common home. It is my hope that the coming Jubilee Year will be celebrated and experienced with this intention too. Growing numbers of men and women, including many young people and children, have come to realize that care for creation is an essential expression of our faith in God and our obedience to his will. (https://www.iubilaeum2025.va/en/giubileo-2025/lettera-di-papa-francesco.html)
We “Pilgrims of Hope” are being invited to pray on our feet! Pope Francis is inviting us to leave our homes and, if possible, go to Rome to pray at the tombs of the great saints Peter and Paul. And if you can’t go to Rome, go to a shrine of your choosing closer to you. Consider, especially, the diocesan Cathedral. (Lori and I are pictured below walking on the pilgrimage route to the great cathedral of Santiago, Spain.)
He invites us to leave our homes quite aware of the traumas afflicting our world. He writes about becoming pilgrims of hope without turning a “blind eye” to the millions of people suffering from intense poverty, refugees fleeing their homelands, and even the earth which is also suffering from the degradation of human exploitation. We go on pilgrimage to be transformed, to step away from what has been our normal way of doing things, and to place ourselves on a path to hear the Gospel anew. We will meet new people, have new prayer and liturgical experiences, and feel the soreness of our feet as we walk, perhaps a great distance like the 500 miles of the Camino de Santiago, or perhaps only 500 feet from the tour bus to St. Peter’s or your local cathedral or shrine.
In whatever manner we step out in pilgrimage during this Year of Jubilee, the purpose is to conform our lives more closely to the life of Jesus so that we can return home better prepared to evangelize, to share the good news of God’s love, in word and deed. Evangelization is not a “four-letter” word! Catholics resist it because we are terrified God is going to ask us to go door-to-door like the Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses or stand on the street corner like an evangelical preacher. Here’s what St. Peter says in the letter that bears his name (1 Peter 3:15 – 16):
…sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence…
Lori and I did a pilgrimage walk from Florence to Assisi to reflect upon the lives of saints Francis and Clare, to be inspired by their example in following Jesus. It brought us closer to each other and closer to God. It has born fruit in deepening our commitment to help migrants at the border. This Advent we will be welcoming our first migrant family from El Paso at our newly forming parish Welcome Circle. May you find the pilgrimage path that will draw you closer to God and deepen your commitment to evangelize in word and deed.
