Homily delivered by Fr. Roger Champoux, SJ on the occasion of Sr Mari’s Golden Jubilee Celebration
It seems to be the Jubilee Season! I got curious and tried to find out about this word “jubilee” when we “jubilate” and celebrate. When did we learn to “jubilate”?
The term comes from Hebrew and refers to the horn of a ram, which was used like a trumpet to mark important Jewish celebrations. And if you are also curious, you will find the word “jubilee” in the Book of Leviticus (chapter 25), yes, Leviticus, not the most interesting book of the Bible! The Jubilee was actually an amazing invention of Israel.
It was first of all related to creation: it came after “seven times seven years,” which makes 49 years, something like the fullness of time. It was meant as a feast for the people, especially the poor. The people were to blow the trumpet in the whole country on that Day of the Great Forgiveness and proclaim “liberation for all the inhabitants.” They were to recall not only the gift of Creation but also the liberation from slavery in Egypt and do various things to restore peace and justice in their Land.
This is what Jesus is alluding to during his opening SONA in the Temple of Nazareth: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me (the Spirit of Creation and Re-Creation evidently), he has anointed me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, (…) to proclaim a year of favor (grace) from the Lord.” This is the Jubilee Year, the Good News, the Year of Grace and Freedom, the time of the Kingdom…
Even if in reality, that famous “Jubilee Year” may not have been really celebrated as it was intended, it is important to remember that it was a reminder not only of the gift of Creation but also of the gift of freedom granted by Yahweh to His people—freedom from oppression, from poverty, from injustice, from all forms of evil. It is a celebration of God’s active presence in the life of His people and a reminder that we have to live accordingly, in gratitude and in service. And this liberation, from Egypt and slavery, brought along the gift of the Promised Land. The Jubilee brings with it a grandiose vision of God’s Love for us and of his Dream for us.
How far are we from Sr. Mari’s Jubilee?
Her jubilee, all our silver and gold and platinum and sometimes diamond jubilees, are small and simple, but they belong to a much bigger story, the presence of God in our lives and history. And today, we honor the gift of Mary, a simple girl in her family and culture but a great gift for us and for our human family. It is her birthday today: one more child born into the world… simple and poor and unknown… But she was to have a major role in God’s dream for us: to let him be even more the “Emmanuel,” the God with us, the God like us who spoke our human language.
Every little jubilee re-opens our minds not only to our own stories, simple as they are, but to the presence and action of a loving God who is always finding ways to bring us to Him and to one another. It happened to Mary, it happened to Mari, it happens to each of us. Each one of us has a little part to play in this Great Drama of Holy History, and we “jubilate” with gratitude when we remember this. So our jubilees belong to a much bigger story, from the gift of creation to the gift of Jesus and the Kingdom, and of course, of his Mother, our Mother too.
No wonder we “jubilate” in a Jubilee: we remember, and we are filled with gratitude. And we renew our desire to be of the Great Dream of God for each ad everyone of us.
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Roger Champoux SJ
Cenacle Retreat House
8 Sep 2022