Nattasha prays with us on the biblical themes of rest, return and renewal in this Year of Jubilee. May we take this moment to pause in prayer, to rest in the presence of Jesus and to allow Him to renew our hearts and minds. As we turn our gaze toward the Lord, may we rediscover the peace that flows from His promises and the joy of beginning again in His grace.
Transcript
Hi, my name is Nattasha, I’m Director of Youth and Young Adults at Archdiocesan Ministries. Chances are you’ve seen these images around churches and parishes this year. These are announcing the Year of Jubilee of 2025. It’s a year where, as a Church, we’re called to be intentional in our prayer and we’re invited into celebrations and pilgrimages that happen throughout the year. But the tradition of Jubilee isn’t something as recent as our own Church’s history, but it goes back thousands of years beforehand. When the law was first given to Moses and to the people of Israel. In Leviticus 25, God said, and in the fiftieth year, call a jubilee. And among all the things that would happen in that year, there were three really strong themes that came forward. The first was rest. And in the Year of Jubilee, the very land itself had to rest, not just the people, they could not sow, they could not plant, they could not work the ground. But their practice was that in the crops beforehand you would store up the storehouses and between those supplies and what the land would naturally produce was plenty for the people to be sustained. But the land itself had to rest. The second was return, that a call would go out in the Year of Jubilee, and when people heard the call, they knew that they had to return to the land of their father. They had to go back from where they were from across the country, and return to the place of their ancestors, of their tribe, and to be with their family. And the third, new beginnings. But in that era, slavery was a common thing. And if you had fallen into debt and you could not sell your livestock or your crop had failed and you could not repay your debts, then you had to repay it with your life and with your servitude. And if that was not enough, if your debts were still greater, then your children, your family would be brought into slavery as well. But in a Year of Jubilee, debts were forgiven. The slates were wiped clean, and those who were brought into slavery due to debts were given their freedom. Rest, return, renewed. Let us pray on those three themes today.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
O Lord, so many of us at this time of year just have our eyes on summer holidays, a time to give rest to our bodies, and to our minds. But as Saint Augustine said, our hearts are restless until they rest in You. So Lord, let our hearts and our spirits find rest in Your presence. Return as the people of old who had to return to their families. Let us hear the call in our own hearts, today in this moment. Called to return to the Father’s embrace. To the One who loved us first and the One who loves us most. And renew. Lord, Your grace is freely given. Your mercy is never ending. So let us be renewed by this, be renewed by Your spirit to go out and to live the gospel today, to be Your hands, Your feet, and to bring Your love into our world today. Rest. Return. Renewed. All Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, a world without end. Amen.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
God bless.