The Jubilee is soon going to open in France. Your Eminence knows that in that country Jubilees are celebrated by means of missions, which means that they preach twice daily for a full month wherever the Jubilee is being made.
Letter to Cardinal Pacca, 7 January 1826, EO 13 n. 52
“Jubilee” refers to the biblical concept of a time of renewal of the individual and of society (Leviticus 25:10-12). In the time of Eugene the Church had an ordinary jubilee every 25 years, which had a plenary indulgence attached to it under certain conditions. It was a time of renewal and aimed at personal conversion. 1825 was a year of jubilee in Rome, and then in the rest of the world it was observed from 1826-1827.
This was a golden opportunity for the Oblates to gather people and to accompany them on the journey of deepening their faith and ongoing conversion. The Oblates were to be fully involved in the dioceses where their communities were. Thus Eugene insisted that the jubilee preaching be given priority over other commitments.
Do not commit yourself, very dear Father, for any mission from now on until the Jubilee in the diocese of Nimes. Father Marcou and Father Guibert have the utmost need to work at it. One must leave them the little time which remains for that while urging them not to do anything else but study and composition.
Letter to Pierre Mie, 19 October 1825, EO VI n. 201
“We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.” Nelson Mandela
Today’s posting presents me with the image of starting each day as if it was a jubilee. Those first waking moments when (for the most part but not always) I find myself singing, the song one that I somehow recognize but do not always consciously know the words to. This past year I notice that I have begun immediately upon waking to say The Lord’s Prayer followed by the Hail Mary. It has become (for me) the perfect vehicle for greeting God, letting go of everything that divides me from God, others and all of the universe, and then asking God to give me all that I need for that moment, for the day. A new beginning. Then my daily rituals and prayer coming together, born out of or with this very beginning.
Frank has written “This was a golden opportunity for the Oblates to gather people and to accompany them on the journey of deepening their faith and ongoing conversion. The Oblates were to be fully involved in the dioceses where their communities were.” Even this is but a part of our way of life, of our daily lives. However we live as members of the Oblate family we begin with God, with our daily giving of ourselves totally to God and then moving out, gathering around us our families, our community, our colleagues and our friends and walking together on our respective journeys. We are all members of communities within communities and our daily involvement must be full, even with those whom we struggle. We are a people, a community set apart while at the same time being fully a part of.
Walls crumble under the weight of this love, lines become blurred and erased. Richard Rohr spoke of us becoming conduits – we are – for each other. Each day I am given the opportunity to start again, celebrate a little jubilee and then go out and celebrate a grand jubilee with the world.