Our Lady's Garden
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Jubilee Year of Mercy
The Jubilee year has begun!
Cry aloud and Celebrate
If you do not understand this whole "jubilee year" stuff, you are not alone.
Let's learn together and prepare to receive the Graces God is pouring out
at this special time.
For those of us who lived during the pontificate of John Paul II,
Jubilee years may seem normal
but they are not.
Jubilee Years are a big deal and should speak to us like the star that attracted the attention
Magi and set their feet on the journey to worship the newborn king.
Biblical History - The Jubilee year - The 50th year. This was a big deal in the Old Testament and we should take note. The 50th year is the year that follows 7x7 years. That last year before everything was restored, yes . . . restored. (See Leviticus 25:10) Things were put back as they were supposed to be. Slaves were set free, family land went back to the family and debts were forgiven. To not abide by the jubilee was to disobey God and the result was captivity. That is a big consequence. Just like hebrew slavery in Egypt, sometime we in our action enslave ourselves and we need Our Savior.
In the Christian tradition, the first Pope to declare a jubilee year was Pope Boniface in year 1300. The jubilees that followed were at different spans of time seeming to appeal to the idea that everyone should experience a year of jubilee but that the difficulty of life and the short life span made 50 years unavailable to the average person. Consistent was the theme of "opening the doors" to pilgrims, encouraging a return to sacramental life especially confession and the granting of a plenary indulgence for those meeting the particular criteria.
The Great Jubilee - 2000
Pope John Paul II called for A Great Jubilee in anticipation for the year 2000. The prayer was as follows:
Blessed are you, Father, who, in your infinite love, gave us your only-begotten Son.
He became our companion on life’s path and gave new meaning to our history,
the journey we make together in toil and suffering, in faithfulness and love.
By your grace, O Father may the Jubilee Year be a time of deep conversion and of joyful return to you. May it be a time of reconciliation between people, and of peace restored among nations,
a time when swords are beaten into ploughshares and the clash of arms gives way to songs of peace.
Father, grant that we may live this Jubilee Year docile to the voice of your spirit, faithful to the way of Christ. Father, by the power of the Spirit, strengthen the Church’s commitment to the new evangelization and
guide our steps along the pathways of the world.
To you, Almighty Father, be praise and honor and glory now and for ever.
Amen
During The Great Jubilee, Pope John Paul II called on countries to forgive the debt of other nations. There was an especially strong call for 1st world nations like the United States to forgive the debt of 3rd world nations. Consider the blessings that would have come had leaders of the world headed the Pope's call. Read the Jubilee Bull of John Paul II by clicking on the following link- https://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/JP2JUBIL.HTM
Additionally, Pope John Paul II asked forgiveness and mercy for the Church and the individuals represented by the Church in the errors and evils during Christian history. Documentation indicates that Pope John Paul II was anticipating the blessing awaiting the Church and her people from the early years of his pontificate.
An Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy
Images Pope Francis Opening the Doors of the Jubilee of Mercy
Left - Opening the door at Saint John Latern Center - Saint Peter's Basilica Right - Holy Door at Bangui Cathedral
Prayer for the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy
To read the
Misericordiae Vultus
BULL OF INDICTION
OF THE EXTRAORDINARY
JUBILEE OF MERCY
Click the link below-
Lord Jesus Christ,
you have taught us to be merciful like the heavenly Father,
and have told us that whoever sees you sees Him.
Show us your face and we will be saved.
Your loving gaze freed Zacchaeus and Matthew from being enslaved by money;
the adulteress and Magdalene from seeking happiness only in created things;
made Peter weep after his betrayal,
and assured Paradise to the repentant thief.
Let us hear, as if addressed to each one of us, the words that you spoke to the Samaritan woman:
“If you knew the gift of God!”
You are the visible face of the invisible Father,
of the God who manifests his power above all by forgiveness and mercy:
let the Church be your visible face in the world, its Lord risen and glorified.
You willed that your ministers would also be clothed in weakness
in order that they may feel compassion for those in ignorance and error:
let everyone who approaches them feel sought after, loved, and forgiven by God.
Send your Spirit and consecrate every one of us with its anointing,
so that the Jubilee of Mercy may be a year of grace from the Lord,
and your Church, with renewed enthusiasm, may bring good news to the poor,
proclaim liberty to captives and the oppressed,
and restore sight to the blind.
We ask this of you, Lord Jesus, through the intercession of Mary, Mother of
Mercy; you who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.
Amen.