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Editorial

JUBILATE DEO


“And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty...” (Lv 25:10)


New beginnings are times of possibility and times of decision. As the world looks toward the 21st century, Christians prepare to open the door to the new millennium with the Great Jubilee. In the spirit of Leviticus 25 we wait upon the holy and hear the call to let the land lie fallow...to forgive...to proclaim liberty.


This issue of SIDIC tells of the transforming power of Jubilee. It helps us sense the power of God’s spirit hovering over the chaos of the challenges being bequeathed by the 20th century to the next millennium. A 1974 issue of SIDIC, on Holy Year and Biblical Jubilee, spoke of reconciliation and renewal of life. This issue helps us realize that, twenty-five years later, we are seeking deep metanoia and forgiveness in the desire for a transformed humanity and a healed world.


Our writers help us enter the heart of the world with its profound cry for Tikkun Olam...for healing...for mending. Emilio Baccarini in Jubilee and the Future Generations indicates that the violation of our natural environment is placing into jeopardy the very future of humanity on earth. Bishop Kamal-Hanna Bathish warns of fanaticism and religious extremism and poignantly asks for a ‘healing of memories’ that the children of Abraham may come to rejoice together in Jerusalem with one spirit and one voice. Fr. Bizon’s account of Catholic-Jewish relations in his country refers to Brazil’s impoverished children and experiences of persecution and abuse, while Fr. Cantalamessa’s 1998 Good Friday homily speaks of the work still to be done to destroy the walls of hatred constructed by Christianity’s misinterpretation of its Scriptures.


In the midst of this troubling and challenging chaos, The Pilgrimage in the Great Jubilee reminds us that we are part of a human family which has always walked in search of new goals - a pilgrim family with a deep desire for love, truth, justice and peace. Rabbi Michael Graetz helps us understand that, in Judaism, the Torah concept of pilgrimage is to go to a known designated place to see and to be seen by God. Baytee (My Home) is the ‘home of prayer’ to which all nations are invited to stream. (cf. Is 56:7)


In The Christian Millennium in Jewish Historical Perspective Rabbi Michael Signer keeps us aware that for some ‘nations’ the year 2000 does not have the same meaning it has for Christians. To help the Christian world celebrate the reality that peoples, cultures and faith traditions chart the holiness of time in many different ways, the article on Calendars presents a brief overview of how the Jewish and Christian faith traditions measure and celebrate time.