Twenty-four years ago Pope St. John Paul II closed the holy door and concluded the Great Jubilee. This did not mean that we are no longer jubilarians. Rather, it means that the greatest of all jubilees was over, and we should accept the grace for our lives to be perpetual jubilees. Jesus promised us this grace when He began His public ministry. The Spirit of the Lord was upon Him “to proclaim liberty to captives” and “to announce a year of favor from the Lord” (Lk 4:18, 19). Baptized into Christ, we are perpetual jubilarians.

Each Christmas we sing: “Angels we have heard on high” and ask the question: “Shepherds why this jubilee?” As we continue the jubilation of the Christmas season, let us rejoice in a new Pentecost in which the Holy Spirit frees us and renews the face of the earth (Ps 104:30). “With joy” let us “draw water at the fountain of salvation” (Is 12:3). Let us join Mary, magnifying the greatness of the Lord and rejoicing in God our Savior (Lk 1:46-47). May the jubilation of Christmas launch us into a jubilee year of freedom, justice, salvation, reconciliation, and restoration. Be a perpetual jubilarian in Christ.

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