It symbolises completeness.
We come across it first in the Book of Genesis when God rested, after he had completed the work of Creation.
God’s people were asked to observe the sabbath rest as a reminder that they are made in the image of God. Every seventh year was a year when the land was allowed to rest so that it could recover its fruitfulness.
In much the same way the Jubilee was a kind of super-sabbath. After seven times seven years (forty-nine years) the fiftieth year would be a Jubilee. As a sign of thanksgiving to the Lord, slaves would be set free, debts would be cancelled, property that had been sold in a time of poverty was to be returned to its original owner.
In the Christian tradition the focus Jubilee is placed on forgiveness and reconciliation; on restoring right relationship. In recent times the Popes reduced the time span between Jubilees to every twenty five years. This, unfortunately, makes us lose sight of the original significance of the number seven, but the intention was that people might be able to participate in it more than once in a life-time.
This year, Pope Francis has chosen Hope as the theme for the Jubilee. Hope is much more than wishful thinking. It is a well-founded confidence that our deepest needs will be fulfilled.
Pope Francis recognises that hope is sometimes very fragile because of the darkness and the negativity that we experience in the world around us and sometimes in our own personal circumstances. In the midst of all of that, however, “Hope is grounded in the certainty that nothing and no one may ever separate us from God’s love.” (Spes Non Confundit)
Quoting St Paul, Pope Francis assures us that hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts, through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (See also 2nd Reading, where St John encourages us to “think of the love God has lavished on us by letting us be called God’s children.”
Pope Francis chose the Feast of the Holy Family as the day for the opening of the Jubilee of Hope in every Diocese around the world? This is the family into which Jesus was born; Jesus who shares our human condition and invites us to share in the life of God.
But the hope that Jesus brings, is only made possible because of the working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Mary and Joseph. From the first moment of Mary’s pregnancy this little family lived through some very difficult experiences, but they stayed together and supported one another in being what God had called them to be.
You could say that they are the first to experience the virtue of Christian Hope, because they knew that the Holy Spirit of God was working in them.
Sometimes it can be easier to see the shadows and the darkness, and to become focussed on what is wrong with the world and what is wrong with people. Sometimes we focus too much on what is lacking in ourselves, and we fail to see the beauty and the goodness there is in us as children of God whom he loves.
Our Jubilee of Hope is an invitation to each one of us to have confidence in our own future, because the Holy Spirit has been poured into our hearts, and because we are the children of God. Hope rejects negativity; it is the opposite of despair.
You are probably familiar with the expression: “See it, be it!” or to put it another way, “If you can’t see it, then you can’t be it.”
Pope Francis, in dedicating this Jubilee Year to the theme of hope, is inviting us first of all to look for the signs of Hope in ourselves, in those around us, and in the world in which we live, and then, because we have seen the hope, to become ourselves signs of hope for one another.
What will give us Hope?
a) Think about your own family. It is probably not perfect, but can you look for what there is in it that gives you hope? Does it give you hope that somebody is prepared to commit his or her life to you, to walk with you and to stand by you in good times and bad? What kind of hopes do you have for your children? Does their very existence give you something to hope for? It is the same for the Church, and one sign of hope we have today is the baptism of Rosie Leah who will be presented to you at the end of this Mass.
You can be sure that the hopes of your children are very much tied up in their relationship with you.
Your mission as a family may be different in some respects from that of the Holy Family, but Pope Francis wants you to know that the same Holy Spirit who was the power for love and life in the Holy Family, is also present and active in your family. That may be a good place to start thinking about the Jubilee of Hope.
b) Forgiveness is one of the traditional themes of Jubilee. The first place where we learn to forgive and to accept forgiveness is in our own families.
The fear that we might not be forgiven is the enemy of hope. But the confident knowledge that forgiveness is always there for us is a powerful sign of hope and it makes new beginnings possible. May the Jubilee be a year when all of us learn to forgive and to accept forgiveness.
c) In spite of the decline in religious practice, many people today find hope in the Word of God, in the Liturgy, in the community of the Church. Religious art and music help to nourish that hope. Could we take the opportunity this year look a little more deeply at how that hope could be nourished and how our Parishes could become signs of hope for others.
d) As Pope Francis comments, there are many other signs of hope, in the world and in creation, which can also be found if we look for them. We can be inspired, among other things, by
• the many people who, in this troubled world, dedicate their lives to the service of peace and justice
• the many people who dedicate their lives to healing
• the volunteers who do meals on wheels
• the fact that in a time of enormous change and uncertainty, the sun sets in the evening and rises again in the morning; the tide goes out and it comes back again.
If we can open our eyes and our hearts to the signs of hope that are all around us, then perhaps we can begin to be signs of hope to others and especially to those who see no hope.
This is what our Jubilee is about, and it begins today.