At the General Audience -The Jubilee must touch the pocket

“If the Jubilee does not touch the
pocket, it is not a true jubilee”. At the General Audience on Ash Wednesday
morning, the Holy Father stated, without mincing words, that the Holy Year must
serve “to combat poverty”. To the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square on 10
February, Francis offered a historical reflection on the biblical roots of the
Jubilee as an occasion for fostering justice and sharing. The following is a
translation of the Pope’s catechesis, which he delivered in Italian.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Good morning and a good Lenten journey!

It is fitting and meaningful to hold this
Audience on Ash Wednesday. We begin the Lenten journey, and today we stop to
consider the ancient institution of the “jubilee”, an ancient custom attested
in Sacred Scripture. We find it in particular in the Book of Leviticus, who
presents it as a culminating moment in the religious and social life of the
people of Israel.

Every
50 years, “on the day of atonement” (Lev 25:9), when the Lord’s mercy is
invoked upon the whole people, the sound of the trumpet announced the great
event of liberation. In fact we read in Leviticus: “And you shall hallow the
fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants;
it shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property
and each of you shall return to his family.[…] In this year of jubilee each
of you shall return to his property” (25:10, 13). In accordance with these dispositions,
if someone had been compelled to sell his land or his house, in the jubilee
year he could regain possession of it; and if someone had contracted debts and,
being unable to pay them, was compelled to place himself in the service of the
creditor, he could return debt free to his family and regain all of the
property.

It
was a type of “general pardon”, by which everyone was allowed to return to
their original situation, with the cancellation of all debts, the restitution
of land, and the opportunity for the members of the People of God to enjoy
freedom once again. A “holy” people, where regulations such as that of the
jubilee year served to combat poverty and inequality, guaranteeing a dignified
life to all and an equitable distribution of land on which to live and from
which to draw sustenance. The central idea is that the land originally belonged
to God and was entrusted to man (cf. Gen 1:28-29), and therefore no one may
claim exclusive possession, thereby creating situations of inequality. Today we
can consider and reconsider this; each one in our heart think about whether we
have too many things. Why not leave them to those who have nothing? Ten per
cent, fifty per cent…. I say: may the Holy Spirit inspire each of you.

With
the jubilee, those who had become poor returned to having the necessities of
life, and those who had become rich restored to the poor what they had taken
from them. The goal was a society based on equality and solidarity, where
freedom, land and money became once again a good for all and not just for a
few, as happens now, if I’m not mistaken…. The figures are approximate, but
more or less 80 per cent of human wealth is in the hands of less than 20
percent of the population. It is a jubilee year — and I say this remembering our
salvation history — for converting, so that our heart may become larger, more
generous, more a child of God, with more love. I’ll tell you one thing: if this
wish, if the Jubilee does not touch the pocket, it is not a true jubilee. Do
you understand? This is in the Bible! This Pope did not invent it: it is in the
Bible. The goal — as I said — is a society based on equality and solidarity,
where freedom, land and money become a resource for all and not just for the
few. Indeed the function of the jubilee was to help the people experience
practical fraternity, made of mutual help. We might say that the biblical
jubilee was a “jubilee of mercy”, because it was lived in sincerely seeking the
good of the needy brother.

Along
the same lines, other institutions and other laws also governed the life of the
People of God, so that it could experience the mercy of the Lord through that
of men. In those laws we find indications that are valid even today, which call
for reflection. For example, the biblical law required “tithing” to benefit the
Levites, [the priests] in charge of worship, the landless, and to the poor, the
fatherless, and widows (cf. Deut 14:22-29). It provided, in other words, for
one tenth of the harvest, or of the proceeds of other work, to be given to
those who were without protection and in a state of need, thus fostering
conditions of relative equality within a people in which everyone had to behave
as brothers.

There
was also a law concerning the “first fruits”. What is this? The first part of the
harvest, the most valuable part, which had to be shared with the Levites and
strangers (cf. Deut 18:4-5; 26:1-11), those who owned no fields, thus ensuring
for them too that the land be a source of nourishment and life. “The land is
mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with me”, says the Lord (Lev 25:23).
We are all guests of the Lord, awaiting the heavenly country (cf. Heb 11:13-16;
1 Pet 2:11), called to render habitable and human the world which welcomes us.
As regards the “first fruits” the more fortunate could give more to those who
are in difficulty! So many first fruits! The first harvest not only of the
yield of the fields, but of every other product of work, of wages, of savings,
of so many things that are owned and that at times are wasted. This happens
today too. In the Office of Papal Charities so many letters are received
containing a little money: “this is a part of my wages in order to help
others”. This is beautiful; helping others, charitable institutions, hospitals,
rest homes…; also giving to strangers, those who are foreigners and
sojourners. Jesus was a sojourner in Egypt.

Precisely
in this consideration, Sacred Scripture persistently exhorts a generous
response to requests for loans, without making petty calculations and without
demanding impossible interest rates: “And if your brother becomes poor, and
cannot maintain himself with you, you shall maintain him; as a stranger and a
sojourner he shall live with you. Take no interest from him or increase, but
fear your God; that your brother may live beside you. You shall not lend him
your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit” (Lev 25:35-37). This
lesson is always timely. How many families are on the street, victims of
profiteering. Please let us pray, that in this Jubilee Year the Lord remove
from every heart this desire to have more, to exploit. That we may return to
being generous, great. How many situations of exploitation we are forced to see
and how much suffering and anguish they cause families! And so often, in
desperation, how many men end up committing suicide because they cannot manage
and do not have hope, they do not have a helping hand extended to them; only
the hand that comes to make them pay interest. It is a grave sin, usury is a
sin that cries out in the presence of God. The Lord instead promised his
blessing to those who open their hand to give generously (cf. Deut 15:10). He
will give you twofold, perhaps not in money but in other things, but the Lord
will always give you double.

Dear
brothers and sisters, the Bible’s message is very clear: be courageously open
to sharing, and this is mercy! If we want mercy from God let us begin to
practice it. It is this: beginning to practice it among ourselves, among
compatriots, among families, among peoples, among continents. Contributing to
the realization of a world without the poor means building a society without
discrimination, based on solidarity that leads to sharing whatever we possess,
in a distribution of resources founded on brotherhood and on justice. Thank
you.