Originally published at Southern Cross
By Christina Bagaglio Slentz
The year 2025 marks several momentous occasions in time.
We will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ “Laudato Si” encyclical in May, inviting us to reflect upon our efforts to care for our common home. This teaching of our faith draws heavily upon the Franciscan tradition. At the heart of this tradition is St. Francis of Assisi’s “Canticle of the Creatures,” a song composed near the end of the saint’s life, praising God through all of creation and recognizing our common kinship with all the world. This year is the 800th anniversary of this composition, certainly a cause for great rejoicing.
Finally, our Church practice of observing a jubilee year will take place in 2025, beginning in Rome on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 2024.
Pilgrims of Hope
The word “jubilee” comes from the ancient Hebrew word for a ram’s horn, which was blown to signify the start of a jubilee year, known as “the year of the Lord’s favor,” announced every 50 years as a time of emancipation and restoration. Prisoners were granted freedom, debts were canceled, the poor were given land, and the people and the land were allowed to rest as fields were left fallow.
