 So a jubilee is a big deal. Has anybody here celebrated a wedding jubilee? Let's give these people a round of applause That's fantastic Anybody here celebrated two wedding jubilees. No, I don't think so Anybody here have their birthday jubilee this year? Oh, you may not want to reveal yourselves. That's okay Now I have to tell you that we have here with us this weekend or this week the expert on the biblical jubilee That's dr. John Bergzma. He's gonna give the next talk on the jubilee So what I'm gonna do this morning is I'm gonna get your toes wet Get ready for the deep dive after this So I'm just gonna introduce the idea of the biblical jubilee as As Scott mentioned last night God's teaching on the jubilee is given to us in the book of Leviticus chapter 25 and It's all part of how God Taught his people how to sanctify time You know God alone is holy he's all holy infinitely holy set apart and Yet he shares his holiness with created things So that we can understand and even partake in his holiness. So there are holy places There's a holy land There will be a holy city a holy temple and within the temple the holy of Holies and In the holy of Holies the Ark of the Covenant. So there are holy places But God also makes holy times He designates certain times so that we will learn as Scott talked about last night To sanctify the whole rhythm of our lives and learn to share in God's holiness so God made every week a holy day the Sabbath in fact the whole structure of time is the Week is structured on the basis of the Sabbath the seventh day the holy day But then there are feast days throughout the year as Scott talked about and Then there are even holy years Now to fully understand the Jubilee we have to really get the concept of the holy years Every seventh year as God teaches in Leviticus is to be a Sabbath year And that means it's to be a year of rest So every week every seven days has one day of rest Every seven years has one year of rest and That was taken in a very literal way Ancient Israel was an agrarian economy Almost everybody made their living and survived by agricultural cultivation and So to take an entire year Without plowing without sowing without reaping Called for a tremendous act of trust in the Lord the land has to lie fallow and You have to trust that God is going to provide enough From what grew in its in the previous year which you stored up and What grows in itself in the current year? So this principle of trusting that God is gonna provide even without our labor It's really a continuation of the principle of the man Immediately after the Exodus God's great act of deliverance of his people from slavery in Egypt He leads them into the desert a place where you you can't do any agriculture because there's there simply There's not enough rainfall Nothing grows or hardly anything grows God says I'm gonna give you bread from heaven I'm gonna give you mana, and I'm gonna give it to you every day enough for each day and God said to his people don't hoard it overnight Because if you do it's gonna rot So what did some of God's people do? they hoarded it overnight and It rotted and God said don't do that if you do that you're going to be disciplined But he said I'm gonna give you twice as much mana on the sixth day When you go out to collect the mana on the sixth day You're going to collect twice as much and I want you to keep it overnight that night and it's not gonna rot guess why Because I want you to rest on the seventh day. I want you to trust in me On the Sabbath even God's bakery is closed So guess what some some of God's people did? They went out on the seventh day to try to collect mana and they found none and God said oi vei These people they collect it when I tell them not to and they don't collect it when I tell them to So the point of the the mana is to teach God's people To put their absolute trust in him not in their own resources So it's that same principle That is given in the Sabbath year So it's a continuation of that principle that rule of radical trust in God And so God teaches them in Leviticus 25 when he he gives them this law the Sabbath year If you say what shall we eat in the seventh year if we may not sow or gather our crop I Will command my blessing in the sixth year So that it will bring forth fruit for three years When you sow in the eighth year You will be eating old produce until the ninth year When it's produce comes in because in this eighth year after the Sabbath year, they're sowing again And so in the ninth year They start to eat once again what they themselves have planted So God says until the ninth year when his produce comes in you shall eat the old So God just like he did on the sixth day. He gave more mana so they could rest on the seventh day God says I'm going to bless your crop in a particular way in the sixth year So that you have enough to sustain yourselves in the seventh year and you can rest and Enjoy your relationship with me and and trust in me So the point of this Sabbath year is to ensure that God's people are not going to become slaves to work They were slaves in Egypt. They knew what that was like The Egyptians didn't have a Sabbath day or a Sabbath year Every day you got to make those bricks. You got to collect straw to make those bricks and build those pyramids No rest and God is teaching people. I don't want you to live like Egyptians I don't want you to have a utilitarian mentality a consumeristic mentality like the people of this world I want you to live as my people for whom I provide and I want you to have me as your highest priority in life So thinking about that principle of the Sabbath year and the Sabbath day How do you think God feels when we treat our Sabbath our Christian Sabbath, which is Sunday It's transferred to the eighth day the day of the resurrection. How do you think God feels when we treat it like any other day of the week? We go shopping we catch up on work we You know certain things are fine to do on Sunday, especially if they're not your regular work But when we treat Sunday like any other day It wounds God's heart. I Thank God for the Christian witness of Chick-fil-A They keep the Sabbath Hobby Lobby also, I believe keeps the Sabbath and and you can imagine there is enormous pressure for them not to do that Thank God for their Christian witness You know, there's a joke about a Jew who was on the Sabbath day He was he was lounging on the beach and just enjoying the sun and the waves with his family and he noticed his neighbor who kept his shop open and He was selling his wares and he was doing his inventory and he was doing his accounts and working really hard running around and And so the guy on the beach said What are you doing and and the guy running the shop said well, you know, I I got to keep my shop going Why well if I don't keep my shop going on the Sabbath, I'm gonna be beat out by the competition Well, why is that important? Well, because I really need to make a profit. I need to build up a financial nest egg. Oh Why do you want to do that? So that someday I can just retire and relax on the beach with my family I'm doing that now So there is such a deep tendency in human hearts to Become slaves to work to make work the God of our life and to keep pursuing and pursuing and pursuing the things of this world God says slow down and Take time to be with me to be with your loved ones and to rest Now it's interesting that today in the modern era We also know that there's an agricultural reason for the Sabbath year that was kept in ancient Israel Long before the modern understanding of the need for crop rotation The soil was able to recoup its nutrients with the soil itself the land itself was allowed to rest Every seven years. So the Lord was actually teaching his people principles that he had built into creation itself Now having understood that we need to talk about the Jubilee The Jubilee year is greater than the Sabbath year The Jubilee is the year that takes place after every seven times seven years So in other words, it's a kind of super Sabbath The Jubilee is the Sabbath of Sabbaths the 50th year and it was called the Jubilee Because this year this special year that most people would only experience once maybe twice in their lifetimes Was announced at the end of the 49th year by the blowing of the yovel the Rams horn and It had a distinctive sound in contrast to the shofar which was blown in other Sabbath years and in certain other occasions and The the sound of the horn would have been a very striking sound that would recall The Israelites meeting with the Lord God at Mount Sinai Because what happened when when they met God at Mount Sinai at the top of the mountain? There was a very loud trumpet blast So the blowing of the shofar every seven years and the blowing of the yovel in the Jubilee year is a reminder Of their encounter with their God at Mount Sinai Now what did that actually sound like? Would you like to know? This is a yovel now you may have seen some you may have seen pictures of some of them that have a Curves shape like corkscrew type shape and those actually come from a gazelle in Africa They're very common today, but but this is an actual Rams horn and This was the sound blowing this was the sound that the Yovel the Rams horn would make in ancient Israel. I'm gonna blow it for you. You ready? It's a pretty striking sound, huh? All right, so now what happened in the Jubilee year when this that was announced by the blowing of the Rams horn Well the Jubilee Like the Sabbath year. It's a year of rest but it's also a year of release and It's a year of return. I'm gonna explain each of those first of all year of rest just as in the Sabbath year People in the Jubilee year take off a year from their farm labor and They let the land itself lie fallow So that means that in both the 49th year and the 50th year You are trusting God and you are not sewing or reaping But you are eating of what grows of itself and what you have stored up from previous years. So it's a permanent reminder That the most important thing in life is their covenant relationship with God He is the provider It's not by their own labor that they sustain their lives but by God's provision So it's a year of rest Secondly, it's a year of return Now what that means as Scott mentioned last night is that any Land that has been sold off During the past 50 years Gets returned to its original owner In other words if you had gotten over your head in debt, maybe there were a couple years of drought Maybe there were locusts. Maybe dad drank away the family farm things like that happened You'd have to sell your land in an agrarian economy Not to have land is to be reduced to permanent poverty If you don't have land all you can be is a day laborer and you can barely subsist So to lose your land is a really big deal But in the Jubilee year you get it back Everybody gets back their land Now as you can imagine that affected the price of land because any time anybody sold their land It's only sold for the number of years until the next Jubilee. It's really only a lease and Therefore the price of the land is affected by how far it's gonna be to the next Jubilee If it's only five years to the next Jubilee The land gets a low price because you're gonna have to give it back soon if it's 45 years till the next Jubilee It's a higher price for the land What's the point of all this The land of God's people Is not real estate. It's not a commodity to be bought and sold to be traded It's a sacred inheritance from the Lord When they came into the promised land after their 40 years in the desert The land was all distributed among all the tribes And the clans within the tribes and the families within the clans and every family got their piece of land Their piece of the holy land promised by God That they were to pass down through the generations. It's a sacred inheritance from the Lord Nobody can be permanently alienated from their land It's God's promise to his people But also it's a reminder that the true owner of the land is not the people But God himself in fact Even Israel itself understood That they themselves are sojourners in the land Ultimately the land belongs to the Lord. He's the owner It says in Leviticus 25 verse 23 the land shall not be sold in perpetuity That means only until the next jubilee For the land is mine For you are strangers and sojourners with me So God's people even though they they receive the land as an inheritance from the Lord They are God's stewards of the land. They are God's representatives That goes all the way back to the command he gave them in Genesis one have dominion subdue the earth Be fruitful multiply fill the earth Subdu it so so they are tenants To care for the land that God has entrusted to them not owners It says in the letter to the Hebrews by faith Abraham Sojourned in the land of promise as in a foreign land living in tents With Isaac and Jacob heirs with him of the same promise for he looked forward to the city That has foundations whose builder and maker is God Their stay on the land is temporary because there is an ultimate promise land That they still look forward to and so do we In fact the word for sojourn parochio Is actually the root of our word parochial and perish. That's why we're parishioners We are sojourners That means we're not citizens of this world. We are citizens of heaven the true promise land So part of the purpose of the jubilee is to remind God's people that they are sojourners with him Looking forward to that city that is to come And then finally the the third Dimension of the jubilee I spoke about rest and return and the last dimension is release Release and really that's the heart of the jubilee legislation is is release Well, what kind of release? Really two two kinds of release It says in in leviticus 25 10 You shall consecrate the 50th year and proclaim release The Hebrew word is deror deror d-e-r-o-r Release proclaim deror Throughout all the land to its inhabitants so first release of slaves All slaves who were Israelites Are to be set free in the jubilee year Now in the ancient world If you go bankrupt for the same reasons you know locus or drought or you know drank it away You don't just file for chapter 11 restructuring Start over no You probably will have to sell yourself into slavery And your wife and children as well That's what it meant to go into debt in the ancient world You know you sell your land, but then if you're still in debt you sell yourself and your family into slavery Now if you're lucky enough to have a wealthy male relative he can redeem you By paying a redemption price to your slave owner And that's great. Then you get released you get redeemed by your kinsman redeemer But if you don't have a kinsman who is well to do enough to redeem you you're stuck You're enslaved But in the jubilee year You're set free And your whole family is set free So that meant that no member of god's people Could be permanently enslaved No member of god's people could be truly owned by another Sooner or later at the next jubilee year they're going to be set free What's the point They belong to god alone because he is their kinsman redeemer When did he redeem them at the exodus? It's god who paid the price And set his whole people free from slavery in egypt So no israelite can permanently remain a slave in the jubilee year. They get set free And then there's another kind of release that is added by the legislation in the book of deuteronomy It's kind of specifying further. It's not only that slaves are released debts are released That mortgage on your second camel That jerusalem credit card wiped clean No more debt. You're out of debt No member of god's people Can be permanently oppressed like so many people are today under the weight of debt You know, that's part of the why it's a good reason to Contribute to such a wonderful university as franciscan university so that students don't graduate here Burdened under decades of student debt That's part of the jubilee principle so Whoever is in debt At the jubilee year that slate is wiped clean now The jubilee besides its theological purpose also had social implications The jubilee meant that no israelite could be permanently impoverished No elite group of people Could accumulate more and more and more of the wealth While others became poor no member of god's people could be permanently alienated From their land or enslaved It all goes back to the exodus What happened at the exodus This is what yahweh did for israel Israel was enslaved God set them free Israel was bankrupt in debt God released them from that debt israel was homeless landless God gave them a land so The jubilee Is meant to be a 50 year internal exodus A reminder a permanent reminder to every other generation of what god had done for them Israel in other words is to do for the poor What yahweh had done for them The jubilee is especially a benefit To the marginalized to the underprivileged To the enslaved to those in debt So every jubilee year is a reenactment a reliving of the exodus a reminder We were that and god delivered us. He released us. He set us free. He gave us land So we're going to do that for the poor in our midst So again It's a reminder that the people would not forget So we got to remind ourselves as christians The old testament is god's word for us too as scott so beautifully explained last night now One more reminder of the exodus Guess what kind of trumpets the seven The the priests blew for seven days as they marched around the city of jericho The first city that they were to conquer when they entered the promised land the land god had given To them that made the walls of the city fall down I have to say I after trying to learn this I have greater respect for those priests who blew this all day for seven days We'll try it again later Now here's the rub scott mentioned last night Many scholars actually doubt Whether the jubilee was ever celebrated Whether the jubilee law was ever kept in ancient israel There's actually no mention of it actually being kept in the entire old testament Oh, you think why in the world not? It's very clear this law that god gave these people is it's not ambiguous What they are to do in terms of rest release and return in the jubilee is very clear. Well I think we can understand why not if you're a wealthy landowner Do you want those highly lucrative vineyards making that fine merlot? To be absolutely shut down for two years I don't think so Do you want your your cheap labor to suddenly be gone from your profitable agricultural business? No, I don't think so. Do you want the the large prosperous farms that you acquired? Because other people had gotten into debt and you were able to buy them cheaply Do you want them returned to their original owner? No, of course not No, you want to keep growing your agribusiness It's no wonder That they didn't keep the jubilee and they ignored God's law But god had warned them As far back as leviticus chapter 26 When he warns of the consequences of not keeping the covenant God said this I will scatter you among the nations And I will unsheathe the sword after you and your land shall be a desolation And your city shall be a waste Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths As long as it lies desolate While you are in your enemy's land Then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate It shall have rest the rest that you did not have on your sabbaths when you dwelt upon it In other words, the land is going to have its rest Either by you following God's plan or by his divine discipline when you don't It's going to get its rest because you're going to be carried off captive into an alien land Well, the centuries passed The people ignored God's law His law of the sabbath year, his law of the jubilee year And the prophets began to warn about it We see it in Isaiah, Isaiah 5-8 says Woe to those who join house to house Who add field to field What does he mean? People are accumulating wealth by buying up other people's houses and fields and never giving them back in the jubilee year Who add field to field until there is no more room and you're made to dwell alone in the midst of the land In other words, people getting so wealthy. They don't even have any neighbors Their land has become so vast while others are getting impoverished. Woe to you You can see how these prophetic warnings are valid in our time Are they not? The prophet Jeremiah also warned about it The very last king who reigned in ancient Judah king Zedekiah Realized that things weren't looking so good when he saw the Babylonian empire On the rise growing in power and influence and he realized we haven't exactly been keeping God's law So he called for a jubilee He said, whoops, we haven't so much been doing this. Let's have a jubilee He called all the wealthy people to release their slaves and their debts And so they did Except that a few years later Somehow they gotten they had gotten them all back They were wealthy and powerful enough to do that And therefore the prophet Jeremiah gave them this indictment and warning Jeremiah 34 17 thus says the lord You have not obeyed me by proclaiming release Daror Everyone to his brother and everyone to his neighbor You're to proclaim release to each other Behold I proclaim to you Release to the sword Release to pestilence and to famine says the lord You haven't kept my law by proclaiming release to one another. I proclaim release To sword pestilence and famine pestilence That's another way of saying pandemic Deadly disease Contagious disease that spreads throughout the people. I proclaim release to those things Because you have not followed my ways God is saying because you went back On my word and you you've bound up your own kinsmen your fellow is right. You've bound them up with debts You've oppressed them with debts. You've bound them up even with chains as as slaves. You're going to be bound up in chains And be sent to Babylon What you sow is what you reap And so sure enough they they experienced the the bitter fruit Of ignoring god's law that he gives as a gift His commands that he gives as a gift So that we may experience life The fruit of ignoring god's commands Is to end up captive to your enemies In fact, they experienced the very opposite Of rest release and return instead of rest They got toil and drudgery Instead of release they got bondage Instead of return to their land they got exile from their land And guess who was taken off first and and and most that most of the people taken off to Babylon the elite the wealthy The ones who were primarily responsible for keeping the jubilee who had not kept it So israel had to learn the lesson of the exodus all over again and god Patiently taught them that lesson all over again And that low period after they had experienced the devastation of conquest and exile God spoke to them through the prophet isaia And he announced that he's going to do something new And this passage is incredibly important. It's one of the most important messianic passages in the old testament. It's in isaia 61 verse 1 The spirit of the lord god is upon me Because the lord has anointed me Now who's the speaker in that passage? Who who is it who is isa giving voice to in that passage the spirit of the lord is upon me The messiah He doesn't say who it is But it's but it's clearly the messiah because because the person says the lord has anointed me How many of you biblical scholars know the hebra word for anointed? messiah Mashiach in Hebrew Messiah means anointed. So this is the anointed one saying the spirit of the lord god is upon me because the lord has anointed me To bring good news to the poor He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted and to proclaim release deror To captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound to proclaim the year of the lord's favor What do you think he's referring to? the jubilee He's using that keyword release And he's speaking of the year of the lord's favor. This is a passage about the jubilee And it's saying the messiah is going to bring the new and greater jubilee the final jubilee the eschatological jubilee the true rest release and return And it goes on in that passage to say to grant to those who mourn in zion a diadem instead of ashes The oil of gladness instead of mourning The garment of praise instead of a faint spirit The messiah is going to undo all the damage caused by the The disobedience to god's law all of the consequences of miserable Capitivity and bondage the messiah is going to undo it all He's going to proclaim and bring about the true everlasting jubilee Now when isaac gives this passage Most likely the israelites the the people of juda have returned at that point from babalon But they are still being ruled by other kingdoms first the persians and then the greek empire then the roman empire so They haven't experienced yet This new exodus that isaac is talking about this new jubilee this release And isaac doesn't say when it's going to happen or how it's going to happen only that it's going to happen And so the jews held on to that promise They laid hold of that promise they trusted in in it some groups of jews took it so seriously like the the escenes that they they moved out to the wilderness to await the messiah and the everlasting jubilee Because isaac said that it's going to begin in the wilderness So they went out there to very seriously await god fulfilling his promise But by the time we get to the first century It still hasn't been fulfilled the jews are now captive to the roman empire So they're still looking forward to the the day of vindication that god was telling them about in this jubilee passage of isaac And what happened when jesus came in the gospel of luke? He begins his public ministry By going into the synagogue at nazareth And he takes the scroll of the prophet isaac And he opens it to the passage that he wants Because it's going to announce at the very beginning of his whole public ministry. It's going to announce his whole mission Guess what passage he opens to? isaac 61 the jubilee passage And he read that passage with authority Now as luke presents it he also brings in a few other verses from elsewhere in isaac So it's it's kind of a um a compilation probably of several passages that jesus read But this is the key passage isaac 61 The spirit of the lord god is upon me That's what had just happened When When did the spirit of the lord god come upon the anointed one? At his baptism We just prayed it in the first luminous mystery of the rosary, right? Those of you who are here the spirit of the lord came upon him the fulfillment is happening right now The spirit of the lord is upon me because he has anointed me That means god has made me the messiah the anointed one Why has he anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor? Literally what it says is evangelized the poor He's anointed me to evangelize the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release Daror to the captives Recovery of sight to the blind to set at liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the year of the lord's favor So jesus is saying About his whole mission. It's a jubilee mission I'm the one bringing about the promised new final everlasting everlasting eschatological jubilee We got to do this again The the the crowd in the synagogue in their ears. They heard that ram's horn as jesus was proclaiming this passage from isiah 61 Then he rolled up the scroll. He sat back down the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him That's exactly where our eyes are supposed to be aren't they? It says in the letter the Hebrews Let us fix our eyes on jesus And that's what they did. It's a kind of dramatic moment and he says today It is fulfilled in your hearing It's a stunning statement Jesus is saying my whole mission is the fulfillment of the jubilee That ultimate rest release and return That was never carried out fully in the old covenant But that isiah promised god is going to carry out No wonder they were excited So it says they all spoke well of him and they marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth and they said Isn't this joseph's son? did you notice a turn in their thoughts They're all excited. I mean wow everlasting jubilee. Wait, we know this guy Who's he he's just joseph's son They don't exactly have it right do they it's joseph's foster son God is his father They are seeing jesus in merely human terms. They don't get it They just see him as a carpenter It's just just that guy from that backwater village nazareth Well, that's the the village they're in right now. We we know him. We grew up with him We played ball with him in the street. Who does he think he is? So at first they were excited and then They start doubting and they start putting jesus In their box of their own thinking Do we do that sometimes Do we box the lord in to our own ideas? Of what he can do what he can't do They don't want to be challenged by him And so jesus began to say to them amen I say to you no prophet is acceptable in his hometown And then he he began to give them the example of elisha and elisha and he says In truth, I tell you there were many widows in the in israel in the days of elisha When the heavens were shut up and a famine came over all the land and elisha was sent to none of them But only to zaraphat in the land of syden To a widow and there were many lepers in israel in the time of the prophet elisha none of them was cleansed But only name in the syrian What's the point of bringing up these two miracles from the old testament? These were miracles that god did for Gentiles for those outside his covenant people And and both of the people jesus mentioned the widow of zaraphath and neyman the leper Had great faith and god did miracles for them So jesus mentions these two examples But then when they heard these things all in the synagogue were filled with wrath All of a sudden their excitement it just turned on a dime Into wrath and murderous fury Does that sound a little bit like Passion week, you know palm sundae exuberant celebration all of a sudden on good friday crucify him Well, what what made them so upset? They didn't understand what jesus was truly talking about what he was truly announcing A rest of the everlasting jubilee much greater than restroom farm labor labor the everlasting rest in god Who gives us everything including our salvation? We don't have to earn it by our Works by our our spiritual push-ups. It's a gift the true rest the true release Not just release from Babylonians or romans release from sin and satan That's the release. He's calling he's bringing about and return not just return to the homeland of israel But return to the true homeland to god our father To the the new garden of eden where we walk in intimate communion with god our ultimate homeland in heaven And once you understand that true jubilee that jesus proclaims you realize well, that's for Gentiles too They're not the enemy. They're not the the the oppressors that that god is just gonna Blast and destroy No, they are fellow recipients of the gift the grace of the jubilee Now What about all the injustice and the cruelty of the roman empire doesn't jesus care about that? Well, it's not that jesus is overlooking the the very real political Injustice the oppression That that people suffer on this earth So his point is not oh, it's not really that bad with the roman empire You know this that that's not really a problem at all. No jesus is saying actually your bondage Is much worse than you realized Your bondage is much deeper than the rule of the romans. It's a it's a dominion of sin that you have all been captive to You have all been under the oppression of satan. He's the true enemy It's that captivity of the heart That keeps you from your true homeland that keeps you from possessing Yahweh himself god himself who is the true homeland? and so That's the release that jesus is proclaiming Gentiles and jews are to receive it together Well, the crowd in nazareth that day is not so happy about that message And so they tried to kill him by throwing him over the hill, but he passed through their midst because his mission was not yet complete well The gospel then shows jesus actually carrying out Exactly what he had read from that passage in isiah Healing setting captive three casting demons out of people who were spiritually oppressed For giving sins pouring out mercy upon them but then The the culmination of that whole mission actually occurs On the day of pentecost Given in the acts of the apostles Now the the day of pentecost has a special connection with the jubilee Because as the jubilee is celebrated every 50th year Pentecost Is on the 50th day It's a very meaning of the word pentecost the 50th day from the Passover Sabbath and so It's on the day of pentecost The jesus's jubilee announcement of his whole mission Comes to fulfillment in every member of the body of christ And that means that the permanent Eschatological jubilee is to be lived in our lives beginning with the outpouring of the holy spirit We are to live the daily Weekly yearly permanent jubilee Now i'm gonna conclude with just um Some very simple ways we can do that We can live the jubilee as rest By honoring the Sabbath By taking time regularly not only every sunday, but at other times as well for retreat as you're doing here Enjoying friends and family Spending time with god wasting time with other people Reminding ourselves that life is not about work We can live the jubilee as release By forgiving Especially the debt of sin If any of you have come here this week With a a hurt in your heart because somebody has offended you Whether it was last week or 40 years ago Now is the time to let that debt go live the jubilee forgive Maybe some of you are even called to forgive monetary debts as well And finally we can live the jubilee as return By returning to our first love Our first love the passion for jesus that was kindled in our hearts by the holy spirit When we first met him when we were first filled with the holy spirit at our confirmation We can return to that childlike trust in god That we've experienced at some point in our lives Or if you haven't experienced it yet now is the time return to the lord your god And finally I want to mention One special jubilee that I think we have as americans A few weeks ago there was a decision of the supreme court That took place after precisely 49 years of the culture of death that legalized the killing of the most innocent and vulnerable people In our midst and that supreme court dob's decision took place on the solemnity of the sacred heart of jesus Which actually on the calendar was also the feast of saint john of the birth of saint john the baptist Who leapt in the womb for joy at the encounter with jesus? It was also the very week when the the eucharistic revival called by the united states bishop bishops began A giant stronghold of evil was broken on that day And the battle continues But we need to live the year after the 49th year is the year of jubilee And so in a particular way we need to live this year as a jubilee of life Celebrating life with rest release and return