Jubilee Year 2025: From the Point of View of a Confessor

[1] Jubilee means joy for being freed from many things that enslave the person (e.g. anger, frustrations, fear, etc.) but above all from sins and their consequences. Liberation from sins and their consequences results in “giubilo” (i.e. rejoicing). Jubilee points always to rejoice in Christ - the Liberator and Redeemer.

[2] Sin is a reality that enslaves man and it has many forms like anger, frustration, fear, and anxiety. These are the most frequent I hear in the sacrament of Reconciliation. They hinder the person from rejoicing in God. So let’s peep into these forms of sin.

[3] Anger is the most dominant sin being confessed. For some anger becomes a habit or an addiction, it enslaves the person. A person desires to be better but finds himself in a contrary situation and he gets angry. The bad situation confronts the best intention. Usually, anger becomes a mode of responding to this confrontation. Anger begets perfectionism. A person believes that everything should be in order but in reality, perfectionism is an illusion. Man as a constituted creature is imperfect.

[4] The loss of loved ones (death of a son, father, or friend) may trigger someone to get angry with God. Why? He believes in a powerful and good God but why did He let the beloved die? Why does God allow evil things to happen? A young man seeks to comprehend why his best friend was murdered before him while pleading for his own life but in vain. This young penitent keeps on asking why God let it happen. Since he cannot comprehend, he gets angry. He seeks to comprehend but he fails and he gets angry. Anger is a result of man’s failure to comprehend God’s will.

[5] Another example, a wife and mother is crying because her husband abandoned her and her children after 36 years of marriage. He left her for a younger lady. Similarly, in pain of loss, man seeks to understand and asks “Why?”. Man wants to understand hoping the pain will vanish. However, the reason may partly grasp but cannot fully comprehend it because between a human mind and the mystery of God is the abyss of incomprehensibility.

[6] The question of “human why” is within the “God-Man’s why” of Jesus on the Cross “My God, my God why have you forsaken me (Mk 15:34)”. There was no answer at that moment. It came on the third day - the Resurrection. So, man’s why without a response is within the why of Jesus Christ.

[7] Lastly, the limitations of our understanding are the cause of man’s anger. He wants to understand fully yet only a part he can. He cannot accept his limits.

[8] Frustration is the niece of anger. There is frustration because of expectations. A mother expects the healing of her daughter but instead, she dies. She becomes frustrated and angry with God. A frustrated person asks the same question “Why?” Why God did not do either this or that? At the bottom is why God did not do what I wanted. Why God does not conform to my expectations? Man wants a God who fulfills his wishes or expectations. Indeed, man acts like god imposing his expectations on the Christian God. I find it very difficult to deal with such a penitent because he has formed already a negative image of God. How do I deal with this kind of penitent? I usually ask the person, what do you want God to do for you and why? He can answer right away the first part of the question, but the second part is hard to answer. Why? Because the “why” unveils the person’s egoism. It goes back to why God does not do what I want. A frustrated person usually withdraws from the life of the Church as a form of protest against God.

Did Christ experience frustration? Yes, he did. Matthew chapter 16 shows his frustration with his disciples’ failure to grasp what he was pointing to them (ex., that he is the sign, that he is the messiah). Yet, Jesus did not let his frustration take precedence over his mission, doing the Father’s will. The challenge to a frustrated man is to rise above his frustrations and seek the will of God at any cost.

[9] Fear and Anxieties. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (cf., Vulg. Prov. 1:7). However, a sinful fear paralyzes the person to move into a new life. Fear is a lack of trust in God as the sovereign Lord of history.

[10] There is a saying that goes, “Let us cross the bridge when we arrive there.” Many people cross the bridge before they arrive at its foot. Consequently, it causes them a lot of useless anxieties. I see the image of Peter, who was about to sink (cf., Mt. 14:30), as a good example of an anxious person. Before he was looking to Jesus as the center of his focus. However, looking around he noticed the big waves, he became anxious and began to sink. Anxiety about daily problems puts down the person but much more those imaginaries.

[11] Had Jesus experienced fear and anxiety? Yes, he did. Mark 14:34 and Luke 22:44 show how Jesus was distressed upon his impending death to the point of shedding sweat and blood. Yet Jesus always put the primacy of the Father’s will before his own (cf., Lk 22:42). Our fear and anxiety are within the fear and anxiety of Jesus. He understands very well our fear and anxiety.

[12] A Pilgrimage of Hope reminds us that the Cross of Christ sanctifies every suffering. The Cross is an instrument of salvation, not the end. His resurrection is the triumphant final act of God. The Jubilee Year points to the Cross as our Joy in Christ. He is walking with us in our pilgrimage in this world, which is why our pilgrimage is a Pilgrimage of Hope.