Our Lord’s ministry of freeing people from Satan and from the debt of their sins, this is all a Jubilee ministry. He entrusts that ministry to his apostles, who pass it down to their successors, and the Church to this day is still about the ministry of Jubilee.
Through the sacraments, Jesus feeds us the fullness of God, with the abundance of God’s provision for us. You can understand Jesus’ whole ministry in terms of coming to restore the Jubilee.
What have you discovered in your research that may have surprised you? Did you come across anything unexpected?
Yes, I certainly did. When studying the Dead Sea scrolls, I found that amongst the scrolls, there was a prophecy from one of the Essene writers. The Essene were a first-century Jewish movement that sponsored monasteries. They were the only Jews ‘who practiced monasticism. And their monastery on the shores of the Dead Sea is what left us the Dead Sea scrolls.
In the scrolls, I discovered a prophecy concerning the Jubilee, where these ancient Jewish monks said that Melchizedek would return. He would be the anointed one of God. And he would announce an eternal Jubilee that would free everyone, or at least God’s people, from the debt of their sin and from slavery to Satan. That’s quite remarkable.
Luke, a Gentile, is aware of these expectations and is writing his Gospel in such a way that it’s very, very clear that Jesus really is the Melchizedek that people were looking for, who is ushering in this eternal Jubilee year.
Which scriptural passages help us understand the Jubilee?
Leviticus 25 shows us how Moses set up this recurring year of freedom every 50 years and how it was meant to restore Israeli society, restore the people of God to freedom and fullness and happiness.
In Jeremiah 34, we see that they did not practice it, except at the very end of their existence as an independent nation; shortly before they were taken into captivity in Babylon, they tried to practice the Jubilee one last time.
Then, in Isaiah 61, Isaiah looks to the future for the Messiah to fulfill the Jubilee. In Luke 4, Jesus announces that he is fulfilling this passage.
In Ezekiel Chapter 47, he sees the river of life flowing out of the Temple, bringing life and freedom wherever it goes. Ultimately, we see that image come back at the cross in John 19:34, where the river of blood and water comes from Christ’s side, which is a sign of the sacraments.
He is our Temple, and the sacraments are the river of life that bring liberty, that bring Jubilee wherever they go. Those are important passages, and Daniel 9:25-27 gives a chronology for when all this will take place. It charts out the time between when God’s people return from Babylonian exile until when the Messiah would come and do all the things promised by the Jubilee.
How can we each open our hearts to the spirit of Jubilee and participate in this ongoing year of favor?
The first thing we need to do is open up our heart to the Holy Father and set aside cynicism and criticism. We need to embrace the Jubilee year with a spirit of childlike trust, just as Jesus says, because the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like children.
We should lean into traditional Jubilee practices. One is more frequent reception of the sacraments. Second is pilgrimages. And third is indulgences.
Pilgrimages have been part of the Jubilee ever since those first Israeli servants were released on the first Jubilee year. They sounded the ram’s horn on the Day of Atonement and then the freed servants started walking home.
Pilgrimage is always a going home, even if it’s to a place that we’ve never been before — we are going to a place where God has made his home. Some popular homes of God on Earth are Rome, where the Holy Father’s successor, Peter, has his home, and the Holy Land, where Jesus made his home. There will be local places set aside by dioceses and bishops for pilgrimage, as well. I encourage every Catholic to make at least one pilgrimage during the Jubilee year.
Lastly, indulgences really help in the spiritual life and have a biblical basis. The Jubilee is all about freedom from bondage. It makes sense to try to free the faithful departed who are in purgatory in this year of freedom and release.
What are some of the gifts of the Jubilee, and how can we live them out?
The gifts of the Jubilee are forgiveness, freedom, family and fullness.
For forgiveness, the Jubilee year is a great time to practice forgiveness in our own families, in our own circles of acquaintances. It’s a great opportunity in 2025 to spend some time with an examination of conscience and see if we’re holding a grudge or a resentment or an unresolved anger towards anyone in our life, and then make that interior act of forgiveness, and then also exterior acts to express to that other person that we have forgiven them.
Regarding freedom, we should appreciate the sacrament of reconciliation and make more frequent use of it. We should see it as an experience of liberation where we’re freed from our bondage, from our habits, addictions and disordered desires through the sacrament. Finally, I think the Jubilee year is a great time for us to work on our relationships within our families, especially for parents. There’s a great practice of having a Jubilee Day as a family where you make it clear that your children can come to you and tell you anything, and there will be no consequences for it.
Fullness is the idea of learning to trust in God’s providing for us. One great way we can live fullness is observing the Sabbath. Taking up traditional practices of resting, spending the day with family, enjoying Sunday dinner together, and making space for prayer and spiritual reading on the Lord’s Day can be a great way to lean in to the Jubilee year.
