The following story first appeared in the Winter 1999 Glenmary Challenge.
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Jubilee Spirituality
A Fresh Approach to Spiritual Growth for the New Millennium
By Father John S. Rausch  

When vast numbers of people pop champagne corks and celebrate history's calendar turning 2000, a small but significant number of parishioners in Glenmary parishes will emerge from Masses or Holy Hours greeting one another as ministers for the new millennium. Holy Redeemer Church in Vanceburg, Ky., plans a Holy Hour around midnight, for example, and both St. Bernard Church in Gate City, Va., and St. Francis de Sales Church, Idabel, Okla., envision a three-hour program including prayer and the Eucharist.

While the world throws a millennial party of abandonment, many in the Church will prayerfully seek God's help in changing the harsh social and economic realities that oppress people throughout the world.

Pope John Paul II has declared the year 2000 a jubilee year—a sacred period for justice, prayer and grace. In his proclamation Tertio Millenio Adveniente, the pope links the Old Testament notion of a jubilee year restoring justice to Israel with the renewal of faith today. "The social doctrine of the Church...is rooted in the tradition of the jubilee year," he says (#13).

Leviticus 25 contains the core teachings of the jubilee year which seeks to turn patterns of oppression into pathways for new beginnings. From the Leviticus text theologians have identified four basic themes that epitomize jubilee spirituality: fallowness of the land, forgiveness, liberation and justice. Although Leviticus was written for an agrarian society with a tribal culture, the spirituality wrapped in the four concepts offers today's Christians a fresh approach to spiritual growth and the renewal of society.

Fallowness of the Land

Every Monday Glenmary Father Rollie Hautz hikes. The Appalachian Trail snakes through North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia near Father Rollie's parish. Since he hikes five to seven miles each time, he estimates he has carried his ironwood walking stick nearly 3,000 miles in 10 years.

"Hiking really clears my head," he says, "and you get deep religious experiences, too." Once after climbing a ridge, he and a friend celebrated Mass under an immense tree. After Communion, as they sat meditating on the majesty of the mountains and the beauty of creation, a flock of more than 100 birds filled the tree and sang their Communion hymn.

"You know someone had to create this world," he reflects. For Father Rollie a day off spent appreciating creation renews his spirit and deepens his love for the Creator.

"Let the land keep a sabbath for the Lord. For six years you may sow your field...during the seventh year the land shall have a complete rest, a sabbath for the Lord" (Lv 25:2-4). To an agrarian society, fallowness of the land insures fertility for future harvests. To contemporary Christians acknowledging the reality that humanity is "dust and breath" (Gn 2:7) and allowing the "human land" to lie fallow, brings balance and perspective for work and life.

Americans now work 163 hours more per year-an extra month-than 25 years ago. They spend 10 to 12 fewer hours per week with their children. Jubilee spirituality challenges Christians to practice a personal sabbath.

Every few months Father Bob Poandl spends a weekend ministering to married couples through Marriage Encounter and Retrouvaille. Marriage Encounter helps couples rediscover the mystery of the other, strengthen communication skills and deepen the awareness of God in their marriage. Retrouvaille, French for "rediscovery," encourages couples to give their troubled marriage another chance.

"Some couples come away from Retrouvaille so excited because they might really have communicated with each other for the first time in months," reflects Father Bob. "For us priests, this ministry gives us a chance to look at our own commitment."

Fallowness of the land extends beyond the renewal of a personal sabbath to include a communal dimension like weakened relationships. Discounting the quick fix, fallowness allows space for healing and growing with others.

Fallowness also addresses the economic patterns and structures of society. Suppose most of the mountains were strip-mined or the trees were dying from acid rain. Suppose to survive, farmers had to use larger amounts of pesticides and herbicides that ran off to pollute rivers. And suppose low wages forced most people to work two jobs, so they had no leisure. How would creation survive? How would the human spirit be renewed?

A number of Glenmarians have helped promote a pastoral message by the bishops of Appalachia, At Home in the Web of Life, that discusses sustainable communities. "We seek the path of sustainable community based on the oneness of land and people," the bishops wrote. They call for sustainable economics that respects people, creation and communities. Protecting the environment and affirming the dignity of all workers will bring a social transformation to economics and business so creation and the human spirit can find renewal—another aspect of fallowness.

Forgiveness

The Sacrament of Reconciliation stands as a jewel of Catholic practice. Everyone knows the relief of absolution. More difficult is the forgiveness of self and the acceptance of life's burdens.

The experience of aging, sickness and other limitations beg a certain self-acceptance for spiritual growth. One Glenmarian disabled a few years ago now realizes his accident occasioned his deeper sense of prayer and the discovery of his monastic side. In the spirit of forgiveness, jubilee spirituality transforms life's disappointments through self-acceptance, letting go and recognizing everything—health, property, life—belongs to God.

"The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine...you must permit the land to be redeemed" (Lv 25:23-24). The jubilee year for the ancient Israelites meant canceling monetary debt so ancestral lands could return to the original owners. This meant the possibility of starting over. The Lord's Prayer, an eminently jubilary prayer, asks "forgive us our debts (trespasses) as we forgive our debtors (those who trespass against us)."

On Saturday mornings for nearly four years Father John Marquardt has served the Howard McLeod Correctional Institute, Atoka, Okla., as volunteer Catholic chaplain. The facility houses 400 medium security inmates who represent a fraction of the nearly two million incarcerated persons in the United States.

The dozen inmates who celebrate Mass and reconciliation with Father John say this opportunity helps them find reconciliation with God and the people of God, even while in prison. Father John has experienced the joy of one Catholic convert and the return of nearly a dozen other inactive Catholics to the faith. He brings forgiveness into the lives of those cut off from community and offers reconciliation.

When the social fabric is torn by racism, however, jubilee forgiveness demands structural changes—in addition to personal forgiveness—to mend the rip. A racial shooting in Todd County, Ky., in 1995 occasioned two responses by the community. First, the ministers of the county including Glenmary Father Tom Charters initiated the Fifth Sunday Service. The churches of Todd County convene for a joint Sunday evening service in every month having a fifth Sunday. If held in a white church, the preacher will be black—and vice versa.

The gatherings have been held continuously for four years. Last January when the service coincided with the Super Bowl, 265 people attended the service in the auditorium of the middle school!

On a second front, the Multicultural Diversity Committee of the Todd County school system is also working at structural change. Over the past four years it has sponsored various programs on race sensitivity including "Undoing Racism."

"I've never been in a place that was doing so much in a public manner to face racism," Father Tom says. Jubilee forgiveness seems to be taking hold in Todd County.

Liberation

"Proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants" (Lv 25:10). These words appear on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia as a reminder of why the colonists fought the Revolutionary War. From a faith perspective, they remind believers that God liberated the Hebrews from the slavery of Pharaoh in the Exodus event. In both cases we who have been freed are challenged to liberate others.

How many in society suffer from addictions, especially alcohol! One Glenmarian, sober since 1982, recognizes his spirituality grows from his brokenness. His spirituality deepens each day with the Serenity Prayer: "God, grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and Wisdom to know the difference." Alcoholics Anonymous and the 12-step model liberated him over the past 17 years and helped him find his way back home to himself.

For those born into poverty, computer skills offer another path for liberation. Father Bob Bond repairs old computers and donates them to after-school programs for needy kids in Andrews, N.C. "I put math, reading and spelling programs on the computers hoping the children will get beyond playing games and learn the programs," he explains. Kids who master the programs and show a genuine interest can "earn" their own computer—something their families could not afford. "Let my people go" (Ex 5:1) in this instance translates into helping people gain the skills to earn their livelihood in this technological economy.

Jubilee spirituality also supports workers who are struggling for their rights. Father Neil Pezzulo, while a seminarian three years ago, helped 300 poultry workers with their strike against Case Farms, Inc., in Morganton, N.C. Worker grievances included unsafe working conditions, disrespect for workers and refusal to bargain collectively. For example, 90 whole chickens a minute passed by workers who cut them up with knives. This dangerous line speed resulted in repetitive motion injuries and cuts. Father Neil coordinated a food pantry and oversaw communal meals for striking families.

Liberation in the economic world means that every worker is freed from oppressive conditions and has the right to earn a livelihood with dignity. In short, everyone is treated as a son and daughter of God.

Justice

"The earth is the Lord's and all it holds" (Ps 24:1). Jubilee justice studies the ways of living in the world with respect to God, creation and others. Since God owns everything and wants everyone to enjoy a dignified life, jubilee justice lays down a simple rule: find out what belongs to others and give it back.

Reducing the use of energy cuts pollution and preserves the environment for the common good. Limiting TV addiction lessens the desire for frivolous consumption and saves resources. Giving alms to the needy recognizes the claim of the poor on superfluous wealth and counters greed. Jubilee justice recognizes the limitations of material goods and seeks to share things so everyone has enough.

Glenmarians are called to live simply. Each expresses this simplicity in his own way.

One Brother purposely lives without air conditioning in summer and wears sweaters around a cool house in winter. Each night he sleeps on a floor mat, not a bed. Another Brother watches little TV, spending his down time appreciating nature. A third Brother gives away his entire allowance by the end of the month to friends in need.

Ascetics? Perhaps. But maybe they are practicing a sense of solidarity with two-thirds of the world who go without and have little choice.

Brother Tom Sheehy builds houses with Habitat for Humanity in Georgia. The program involves the community by channeling volunteer efforts in the service of neighbor, with the low-income Habitat homeowner contributing 500 hours of labor as "sweat equity" in lieu of a cash down payment. Habitat for Humanity stresses the idea of partnership--that people, homeowners and volunteers, are partners to achieve a common goal. "They all give and receive something," says Brother Tom. This giving and receiving in community epitomizes jubilee justice.

When the relationship involves only taking and controlling, however, jubilee justice demands people of faith stand against the patterns of violence in the world. The School of the Americas (SOA), operated by the United States to train military officers for Latin America, teaches methods for torture, murder and blackmail. At least two SOA manuals declassified in 1996 equated democratic, nonviolent and electoral campaigning with terrorist activity. In El Salvador alone, SOA graduates have been linked with the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero, the murders of four U.S. churchwomen in 1980, and the murder of six Jesuits, their housekeeper and her daughter in 1989.

Last November a dozen Glenmarians joined 7,000 demonstrators at Fort Benning, Ga., calling for the closing of the School of the Americas. The spirituality of jubilee justice addresses the structures that hold people down, that make life intolerable, that keep people from becoming fully alive as God's children.

The jubilee themes of fallowness, forgiveness, liberation and justice call for an ethical practice that begs a response on the personal, communal and structural levels. As the jubilee year begins, certain phrases focus this type of spirituality: "time for...time with...giving back...release from...free of...return to...allow for." These phrases stand in contrast to words heard more frequently in circles of commerce: "greed...indifference...loser...tough luck...get your own...I'm first."

In Tertio Millenio Adveniente Pope John Paul II writes: "The jubilee year was meant to restore equality among all the children of Israel, offering new possibilities to families which had lost their property and even their personal freedom" (#13). For peasants around the world, land represents life and dignity. For many Americans in a sophisticated economy, dignity comes from respect, fair play and reverence for the consistent ethic of life.

Each Christian is called to respond uniquely and communally. But, ultimately, jubilee spirituality calls all believers to deepen their faith and, with the Holy Spirit, renew the face of the earth.