The first reading is fascinating to me. In the fiftieth year the trumpet is to sound. That reminds me of what happened when the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai and gave the people his commandments. The sound of the trumpet was deafening. And when is the trumpet to sound that the year of jubilee has begun? On the Day of Atonement, the day in which the high priest enters through the veil into the Holy of Holies and, appearing before God, offers sacrifice for his own sins and the sins of the people. Then there is to be a proclamation - liberty for all inhabitants! This is the year of freedom. The year is sacred, holy, to the Lord.
In the year of jubilee people were to rest. There was to be no sowing or reaping. God would make sure that everyone had plenty left over from the year before. Relax. Praise God. Don’t fret. Also during this year, all sales of land were null and void and people went back and repossessed their ancestral property. God had parceled out the promised land and that land would always belong to the people to whom he gave it. You could sell it. But everyone knew that the sale was only good until the jubilee year. So, if there were forty-nine years left until the next jubilee, you could get more for your land. If there were only nine years left until the next jubilee, you got a lot less. God warns the people against defrauding one another by charging more than their land was worth.
What does this say to me, a disciple of Jesus living long after the time of this old Mosaic statute? Jesus proclaimed the year of the Lord. In that year the sick would be healed, demons cast out, the dead raised, and the good news proclaimed to the poor. We live in the year of jubilee, my brothers and sisters. The trumpet has sounded. The Lord has descended in the flesh. The Day of Atonement occurred on that Good Friday of our Lord’s passion. We have been set free. Jesus invited us to come to him and rest from our labors. Those who hear the word of God and live return to their ancestral home, the house of the Father. We are part of the Body of Christ and Jesus promised to prepare a room for us in his Father’s house. From God we came and to God we go. Blessed be the name of God.
On this passage the great English saint, the Venerable Bede, said:
In the law the fiftieth year was ordered to be called the year of jubilee, that is, “forgiving” or “changed.” During it the people were to remain at rest from all work, the debts of all were to be canceled, slaves were to go free and the year itself was to be more notable than other years because of its greater solemnities and divine praises. Therefore by this number is rightly indicated the tranquility of greatest peace when, as the apostle says, at the sound of the last trumpet “the dead will rise and we shall be changed” into glory. Then, when the labors and hardships of this age come to an end and our debts, that is all our faults, have been forgiven, the entire people of the elect will rejoice eternally in the sole contemplation of the divine vision. And that most longed-for command of our Lord and Savior will be fulfilled: “Be still, and see that I am God.”
Amen.
George Butterfield
I served as the Legal Reference Librarian at the Creighton University Law School Library from August, 2007, until August of 2017. I also taught Legal Research to first year law students and Advanced Legal Research to second and third year law students. In August of 2017 I took the position of Director of Evangelization and Catechesis for the St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Edmond, Oklahoma, and served in that capacity until Covid hit and the church staff was cut in half. Recently I took a position with the St. Gerald Catholic Church in Omaha, Nebraska, and my wife and I moved back to the Omaha suburb of Papillion.
My wife, Deb, and I have been married since 1970. She grew up in Oklahoma City and I migrated south from southwestern Pennsylvania. God has blessed us with three children, four living grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. I spent the first thirty years of our marriage as a minister so our family moved a lot. We have lived in several states, including Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, and California.
I enjoy walking, reading, listening to audio books, playing with my Pekingnese, Max, my Maltese-Schnauzer, Blaise, and seeing my grandkids grow up. I am a Catholic deacon, having been ordained by Archbishop George Lucas on May 5, 2012.
There is nothing to compare with reflecting on scripture. I feel privileged to participate in these daily reflections. Although we don’t know whether or not St. Francis ever said it, one idea associated with him is that we preach the gospel always and, when necessary, use words. May these reflections be gospel words, good news, of our gracious Lord Jesus Christ.
