 "... I am the door of the sheep." We have begun a Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church. It began on Christmas Eve when Pope Francis knocked on the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica and it was swung open as a symbolic gateway to encourage believers to enter into a spirit of renewal, that is, a period of opening our hearts to God anew. The symbolism is based on the words of Jesus who said He is the door, or the gate. (John 10:7) Thus ‘opening the door’ is an invitation to enter into Jesus’ heart in a deeper way by recognizing and then letting go of what impedes our growth in the spiritual life. The concept of ‘jubilee’ is first found in the Old Testament when the people would release others from debts and spend the year with renewed attention given to God. As it was originally intended, this Jubilee year is also meant as a time of focusing upon God, and as a response to His grace, reflecting His love and mercy in our actions. In a word, it is a time of conversion, which basically means a change of heart to be more aligned with that of God. Therefore, in this Jubilee Year we are called to examine our relationship with God and renew our commitment to Him through greater participation in the Sacraments, prayer, and reflection.  ...day of rest....to focus on worship of the Lord This process of a year of Jubilee is one which is meant to enhance growth in our spiritual lives, that is, to root out the distractions and learn to rely more on the Lord. Perhaps this is why from the beginning the Lord instituted the concept of jubilee as something to be repeated regularly. The roots of jubilee are found in the Creation account when God rested on the seventh day. (Genesis 2:1-3) This type of resting is so important to God that He placed it within the 10 Commandments. He said we must keep the sabbath holy, which means that the sabbath is to be a day of rest from other tasks so that we focus with less distraction on worship of the Lord. (Exodus 20:8-11)* Later, God instructed the people to celebrate a sabbatical year every seven years; after seven repetitions of the seven-year cycle, the 50th year was considered a jubilee year. (Leviticus 25) Without going into detail, the basic concept was about “release, restoration, and reconciliation:” release of servants, restoration of the fields, and reconciliation with those with whom we had become estranged.** The jubilee was an important lesson from God who was basically directing His people to act as He does. In other words, the very graces He offers, (to be healed, or released from our slavery to sin, to restore our relationship with Him, and the mercy He offers through forgiveness of our sins), are what He wants us to offer others as well. In short, this is what conversion is meant to be: a response of love.  an opportune time to immerse in the mercy and grace from God Our participation in the year of Jubilee is rather critical for ourselves and for the world. Let’s be clear: the world has always been complicated, the tempter has always tempted, and sin has always been at odds with God’s grace. The Jubilee year, then, is an opportune time to immerse in the mercy and grace God offers so that we may have a change of heart, and therefore make a graced response. By immersing in Jubilee, our actions and behaviors will be transfigured is some way, a sign of our love and gratitude to God, and the result of God’s grace. If we do not participate in the spirit of jubilee this year, we risk missing an important opportunity for growth in holiness; that is, we risk not having our hearts transfigured to be more like His. If our hearts are not changed, the world will not change. But if we do accept the gifts of His grace by letting our hearts be more conformed to His, we will be stronger in the battle against all that works against goodness. The good news is that if we ask Him, God will give us the grace we need for our growth, and we will discover a greater sense of peace and joy as we live within the world such as it is.  so that God is the center of everything we do Conversion is an ongoing process. How magnanimous of God to offer His grace and mercy to us! Thus, we can (and should) renew our commitment to the Sacraments as sources of His grace, develop a deeper commitment to prayer, and reorder our priorities so that God is the center of everything we do. It is a time of asking God to reveal the attachments that distract our attention away from Him so we can let them go. It is a time of falling more deeply in love with Him, of growth in humility so that our one desire is to please Him and to grow closer to Him. During this Jubilee let us also resolve to respond to the daily opportunities for service that present themselves. If we immerse ourselves within it, this Jubilee year can be a time in which the conversion of our hearts, fueled by God’s grace, will empower us to act with greater love than we ever thought possible. St. Thérèse of Lisieux once said, “To pick up a pin with love, can save a soul.”*** As she indicates, we are not called to unrealistic or impossible tasks; small steps and simple acts are all we need so long as they are done with love. Therefore, if all we can do is pick up a pin, let’s do it for the Lord, and always do it with love.  on the seventh day, He rested May we accept the graces God offers by participating in the Jubilee Year! May we allow the process of conversion to take place within our hearts! And may we be empowered by grace so we might be a conduit of God’s transformative love in the world! Let us meet in the Heart of Jesus! Peace!
©Michele L. Catanese * “Remember the Sabbath day – keep it holy. Six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God. You shall not do any work, either you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your work animal, or the resident alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8-11) It is interesting that the Lord elaborated on this commandment more than any of the other 9! (If you notice, there are three verses in the Creation story which show God detailing the day of rest. Therefore, it certainly is obvious that rest and worship mean a lot to God.) ** Daniel Esparza named the three aspects of jubilee in an article in Aleteia entitled A Quick Guide to Pilgrimage in a Jubilee Year. https://aleteia.org/2025/01/05/a-quick-guide-to-pilgrimage-for-the-jubilee-year?utm_medium=email&utm_source=sendgrid&utm_campaign=EM-EN-Newsletter-Daily-&utm_content=Newsletter&utm_term=20250105 *** Found in the Yellow Notebook, conversations St. Thérèse had as she lay dying in the last year of her life. Images: 1. My photo; a holy door at St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, Italy. 2. Painting; Gardeuse de vaches, Eragny. (Cowherd, Eragny) by Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) 3. Icon; El Buen Pastor, by Fr. William Hart McNichols. If you are interested in purchasing a copy you can find it at fineartamerica.com/featured/el-buen-pastor-188-william-hart-mcnichols.html 4. My photo; the sky in New Mexico. 5. Mosaic; God the Father resting after creation. Palatine Chapel, Palermo, Sicily, Italy. Note: In compliance with GDPR rules, I wish to make it clear that I do not gather any information on any of my readers at any time. Comments are closed.
|
Heart Speaks to Heart
|
RSS Feed
