Jubilee - A Year of Favor

Homily for Saturday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

The name “Leviticus” was given to the third book of the Pentateuch by the ancient Greek translators because a good part of this book deals with concerns of the members of the tribe of Levi; namely, the tribe of priests.

The book mainly treats cultic matters. We read many descriptions of various sacrifices and offerings. There are also rules about ritual purity and holiness. As we read yesterday, there is also material that relates to the celebration of the liturgical feasts of Judaism. However, the book is also interested in behavior. For instance, the Jews were forbidden to engage in idolatrous worship. It is also interested in how the children of Israel treat one another. Finally, there are also rules about the land that each of the tribes receives from God. The goal of the laws is not merely legislative. For the most part they cohere as a system and attempt to inculcate a way of life in the book’s hearers and readers. In addition to these concerns, Leviticus, comprising as it does the center of the Pentateuch, carries forward the narrative of Exodus.

The passage that we read today concerns itself with the notion of Jubilee, sometimes called the year of favor of the Lord. You might remember that the Gospel of Luke records that Jesus read a passage from the prophet Isaiah as he began his ministry in Capernaum. He tells those who are listening to him read that one of the tasks that God has given him is “to announce a year of favor of the Lord.” This year was meant to be an extensive forgiveness of debt. The land that was originally given to that particular family was to be returned if, for any reason, they had sold it or if another Israelite had taken it from the family. All monetary debt was to be forgiven. Slaves were released from their servitude. These injunctions were based upon the biblical notion that God had created the entire world and its possessions, giving each person a portion for his own or for his family. Returning it to that family was seen as a way to atone for any misdeeds that had been done between families. This was to take place at the time of the Day of Atonement, one of the feasts of which we heard yesterday. Unfortunately, this particular issue enjoined upon the people of Israel was never observed. Human greed simply stood in the way of such forgiveness.

Some may think that this kind of atonement does not apply to us today, but we know that all Scripture teaches us appropriate behavior and ethical treatment of our neighbor. While the specifics of this kind of repayment may not apply, it is important that we realize the preeminence of forgiveness in our life as followers of Jesus and worshipers of the One God. God has, indeed, created enough to satisfy the needs of any individual. Grasping for more wealth simply does not fit into the mind of the Creator because these obligations teach us that when one person has too much, another person goes without.