But the full impact of God's favor upon them comes fifty days later on the Day of Pentecost. Their spirit-filled life of Easter-redemption is activated and empowered, when they are baptized in the Holy Spirit. The change, begun three years earlier, is complete. Fearful men and women are transformed into fearless witnesses of the salvific plan of God for the world. They had initially fallen in love with Jesus, but seeing his weakness and powerlessness before his accusers, they became fearful for their own lives. The Easter appearances shored up their faith and brought them into the renewal of a deeper love relationship with Jesus. The event of Pentecost stirred them into fiery witnesses and evangelists, who were willing to give their very lives for him.
We need only recall one instance among many. The apostles were told by the Sanhedrin not to speak about this Jesus. To impress upon them the seriousness of this admonition, the leaders “had them flogged, ordered them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, and dismissed them. So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.” (Acts 5:40-41)
The Incarnation has impacted our lives as well. This is how St. Augustine stated it: “You would have suffered eternal death, had he not been born in time. Never would you have been freed from sinful flesh, had he not taken on himself the likeness of sinful flesh. You would have suffered everlasting unhappiness, had it not been for this mercy. You would never have returned to life, had he not shared your death. You would have been lost if he had not hastened to your aid. You would have perished, had he not come.”
The Great Jubilee is not a mere commemoration of the Incarnation, but a renewing experience of that mystery-gift in our own lives today. What took place in time in Mary's womb by the power of the Holy Spirit"the Word became Flesh and dwelt among us" has happened at a given moment of time in each of our lives in baptism. The year of the Lord's favor began personally and individually in each of us in the waters of baptism. The Spirit overshadowed us, the Father adopted us and Jesus redeemed us. This great favor of the Lord in our lives was never meant to be a past experience but a present grace- reality impacting us in a unique and powerful way.
True to our fallen human nature"even after our personal year of favor in baptism"we have not always remained faithful to the plan of God: our salvation. We have not followed Jesus' example and resisted temptation to the point of shedding blood. We have not grown in holiness and love. The seeds of God's Word have not always fallen on good soil in our lives. We have allowed and even welcomed the Evil One to sow seeds, which have grown into weeds of selfishness and pride, hate and non-forgiveness, doubt and non-trust, greed and division.
Individually and collectively, we have continued the journey of Israel. Even though they were the chosen people of God by divine appointment and divine covenant, they strayed again and again, seeking to be fulfilled outside of relationship with God. In his mercy, Yahweh would send judges and prophets to remind the descendants of Abraham of the favor God bestowed upon them in his covenant. He would call them back to restoration through repentance. When they would not heed, God would chastised them first. Then when they recognized their need for God and his love for them and cried out to him, he would restore them.
In remembrance of God's many favors to them, they were told to keep holy each week the Sabbath day or seventh day as the Lord's Day, to keep each seventh year as a sabbatical year, to keep each fiftieth year as the Jubilee Year. The Sabbath day, the Sabbath year and the Jubilee Year were times “dedicated in a special way to God.” “This fiftieth year you shall make sacred by proclaiming liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when every one of you shall return to his own property, every one to his own family estate” (Lev 25:10)
For the Old Testament people, the Jubilee pointed both to the past favors of God and the promised future favor of the coming of One who would establish the Messianic Kingdom. For us the New Testament people, the Jubilee points to the fulfillment of that promise in the person of Jesus, who through the Paschal Mystery has imparted God's greatest favor to the world. In the words of John Paul II, “All Jubilees point to this 'time' and refer to the Messianic mission of Christ, who came as the one 'anointed' by the Holy Spirit, the one 'sent by the Father.'”
