Jubilee Year of Mercy

Tuesday December 8, 2015 marks the beginning of the Jubilee Year of Mercy – which will run for a full year until its closing on the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe: November 20, 2016. I am so excited about this year for two BIG reasons:First, my husband and I experienced a major life-altering conversion during the Jubilee Year 2000, so I understand first hand just how powerful the graces are that flow during these Jubilee Years.Second,  after spending nearly 20 years away from the Lord and His church wandering through life in darkness, I have also experienced the healing and transformative power of God’s mercy.  Of all the attributes of God, his Mercy is the one that I call upon the most frequently. It is through God’s Mercy that I have come to profoundly encounter all his other attributes: love, goodness, power and beauty.  What is a Jubilee Year?The celebration of a Jubilee Year dates all the way back to the Israelites who celebrated on ever fifty years as a time of universal pardon.  Leviticus 25:10 instructs the Israelites to: “Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you…”Pope Boniface the VIII convened the celebration of the first Catholic Jubilee in the year 1300 and during this year, pardon for sin could be received “by visiting the city of Rome and the venerable basilica of the Prince of the Apostles”. With a few exceptions a Jubilee Year has been celebrated by the Church every 50 years since 1450. Each Jubilee Year has been a time of grace, renewal and conversion for the whole Church. For more info on the origins of the Jubilee Year visit Catholic Encyclopedia (source for all the above)When was the last Jubilee Year?The last Jubilee Year was