THE JUBILEE SPIRIT

Fr. Luke A. Veronis

Everyone likes something new. We all love to have new beginnings! Well, this week September 1st marks the beginning of our new ecclesiastical year. The Church gives us a new beginning - not simply a new page on the calendar, but a new opportunity to ask ourselves: How will we live this new Church Year? What will we do differently in our lives? Will we allow God to do something new and beautiful  in us?

As we begin the new Church Year, we will hear the Gospel story of Jesus entering the synagogue in Nazareth after his baptism and 40 days in the desert, and the beginning of His public ministry. He takes the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and reads aloud, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And then Jesus does something remarkable. He closes the scroll. He gives it back to the attendant. He sits down. And as everyone is looking at Him, He boldly proclaims, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Today. Not someday in the future. Not eventually or when you die. Today!

Jesus is telling the people of Nazareth, and telling each of us, that the promises of God have arrived. The Messiah has come. The long-awaited salvation of God is now present in the world.

The Year of Jubilee has arrived. The passage Jesus reads from Isaiah points back to the Old Testament idea of the Jubilee, which meant that every fifty years, Israel was supposed to celebrate a year of liberation, restoration and renewal. Debts were forgiven. Slaves were released. Land was returned. Every fifty years, Israel was commanded to hit reset. Not because people had earned it, but because God wanted His people to remember, on a regular rhythm, that they belonged to Him and not to their debts, their captivity, or their darkness. People were given a new beginning.

It was a radical reminder that God's people were never meant to live forever trapped by their past. There was always the possibility of a new beginning.

Of course, the Year of Jubilee in the Old Testament was pointing toward something much greater. The ultimate Jubilee is the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who came to not simply restore property but to restore people. Jesus wasn’t interested in cancelling financial debt alone but to forgive our deepest debt of sins and transgressions. He didn’t want to only release people from physical slavery but liberate humanity from the bondage to sin, death, despair and the powers of darkness.

And Jesus walked into that synagogue and essentially said, The Jubilee has arrived! I am the long awaited Messiah, the Anointed One who will usher in the Kingdom of Heaven here and now! And this Good news is for the poor. Freedom to prisoners. Sight to the blind. Liberty to the oppressed. The year of the Lord's favor.

This is what Jesus offers to the world. Not a future heaven for after we die but a taste of the Kingdom of Heaven here and now! Every day we choose whether we want to live under His reign in this kingdom, or we choose to live in the darkness and confusion of this fallen world.

This is why the Church places this Gospel at the doorway of her new year. We don't begin the year with our own resolutions about who we're going to become. We begin by hearing, once again, who Jesus already is and what He has already done. Every new year of the Church is really just another invitation to let that Jubilee spirit land on us fresh: “Good news to the poor, freedom to the captives, sight to the blind, liberty to the oppressed, and the favor of the Lord.”

Into a world where people are anxious, divided, angry, confused, lonely, and carrying burdens no one else knows about, Jesus comes and proclaims, “I have come to bring good news. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Come into my joy!”

One of the greatest misunderstandings about our faith is that the Christian message is primarily about what happens after we die. Of course, we believe in eternal life and heaven. We believe in the resurrection of the dead and that death is not the end.

Yet, our Lord didn’t come to tell us about a future heaven. He said “The Kingdom of God is at hand!” He invites us to live under His reign now. When we pray “Your Kingdom come,” we mean “Let Your Kingdom come into my life right now!”

May God’s peace enter our hearts and His love enter our relationships; Let His forgiveness replace our resentment and His mercy replace our judgment. Let His truth replace our confusion and His light overcome our darkness. Let His joy overcome our despair and His presence overcome our loneliness.

This is what it means to live a life in Christ. Every time we forgive someone, we taste the Kingdom. Every time we choose love instead of hatred, we taste the Kingdom. Every time we show mercy instead of judgment, we taste the Kingdom.

Every time we pray, worship, receive Holy Communion and open our hearts to Christ, we taste the Kingdom. Every time we serve someone who is suffering, we taste the Kingdom. Every time we bring hope to someone who has lost hope, we taste the Kingdom.

This is the jubilee spirit that begins now.

Let’s not turn Christ’s Good News into bad news. Don’t make Christianity sound like a long list of things you can’t do. While Christ’s message certainly calls us to repentance and radical change, the Gospel begins with good news.

God became one of us and entered into our darkness. He seeks the lost and heals the wounded. He forgives sinners and raises up the fallen. He welcomes the outcasts and the marginalized. He defeats death and opens the gates to paradise.

This is good news!

This week, our country mourned the death of Dolly Parton. She was known not only for her extraordinary music, but also for her generosity, warmth, humor and ability to bring joy to people.

One saying I loved of hers was, “If you see someone without a smile, give them yours.” This spirit reflects the good news of our faith. When we meet someone discouraged, give them some encouragement. When we meet someone lonely, give them companionship. When we meet someone grieving, give them your presence. When we meet someone angry, give them patience. When we meet someone who has fallen, give them a hand. When we meet someone who has lost hope, give them hope.

If we see someone without a smile, give them yours. If we meet someone who has forgotten what the Kingdom of God looks like, let them see it in us.o, let’s return back to the beginning of another ecclesiastical year. We don’t know what joys and challenges, what blessings and struggles we will face. There will surely be baptisms and weddings, as well as tragedies and funerals. But whatever this coming new church year brings, we know one thing for sure – Christ is with us proclaiming “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me bringing good news to the poor, setting captives free, giving sight to the blind, liberating the oppressed, and proclaiming the year of the Lord's favor."

May we always act as ambassador’s of Christ light and joy, love and mercy, hope and good news.

The Jubilee has begun. The Messiah has arrived. The Kingdom of God is here and now.

“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in our hearing.”