Ellsworth

2025 is a Catholic Jubilee year.
As a non-religious person, who attended a Jesuit University, I learned the basics about the theory.

Originally Posted by Summary

In the original Jewish tradition, every one hundredth year was a Jubilee year.
Debts within society were forgiven, much like how Christian Doctrine forgives sin (except the debts were forgiven less frequently).*

It wasn't until the year 2024 that I put that narrow educational content into it's broadest historic context using a multi-disciplinary lens (religious, legal, psychological, sociological, economic, et cetera).
Pretend Jubilee was contained within a great society building video game, and then you might see it served a purpose for that 'moment' in time and was also part of a global growth/change progression.

From 'slavery' in Egypt, to a new 'autonomous' (religious) system that allowed for the freedom of 'commercial' risk, growth and vertical social movement while also providing stability (constraint / slow change) -- all done with reduced risk of shame/stigma from inter-generational failure due to a built in debt reset.

In many respects, the grand American experiment mirrors that path. For instance, debtor's prison was mostly removed from the system eventually, while modern bankruptcy serves a similar function of an escape clause from the claws of debt (and it's less rigid than a 100 year deadline).

What is shared above is but a snippet of the potential meaning/insights that can be withdrawn from contemplating Jubilee.
I initially scoffed at the concept, as presented to me during Jubilee at the turn of the last Millennium.
But when I eventually viewed it through a totality of context, my respect for the concept grew large.

I learned nothing about the Catholic Jubilee tradition during my time at a Catholic University, despite the fact I attended college during a major one.
I do not yet know if that's ironic or not. Someday I might figure that out.

Edited to add: Two months after making this post I realized that Catholic Jubilee could be described as involving a celebration of principles and emphasis on action/change in accordance to expressed principles. Fair to say I learned that back in college. #ContinuedReflection

*That is my non-scholarly understanding from memory.