Feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori

Today, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of St. Alphonsus Liguori, the founder of the Redemptorist Congregation.
Today, we also read of Leviticus 25. It is very meaningful indeed because we find a whole chapter of Leviticus talking about redemption. Redemption of our brothers has been a duty stipulated in the Torah.

Leviticus 25 begins with the concept of the Sabbatical Year (Leviticus 25:2-7). It is a very appropriate idea for this over-developed modern world. The concept agrees with the modern idea of sustainable development.
but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the LORD; you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.
What grows of itself in your harvest you shall not reap, and the grapes of your undressed vine you shall not gather; it shall be a year of solemn rest for the land (Leviticus 25:4-5).
Nowadays, we enjoy a lot of convenience at the expense of our future generations. We are draining out natural resources more quickly than Mother Nature is able to replenish. Therefore, the concept of Sabbatical Year is very appropriate in reminding us that the earth and its resources belong to God. We are not owners but stewards. The earth has a vitality of her own. She cannot give out non-stop to satisfy our needs and she needs time to refresh herself.

Then Leviticus 25 continues with the concept of the Jubilee Year (Leviticus 25:8-17). It is a wonderful idea because everything begins anew. Everything belongs to God. For our needs, He has divided the land as inheritance among the children of Israel. They grew crops and ate the produce. When the population increased and the society developed, transactions of land would take place. But actually, the land belongs to God, not to the "owner" of that piece of land. Therefore, transactions of a piece of land are only transactions of the entitlement to the "ownership" of that piece of land. There is a limit to the duration of an entitlement and Leviticus sets it to fifty years.
The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with me (Leviticus 25:23).
The Jubilee Year starts the clock ticking. Your entitlement to the ownership of that piece of land is measured by how far away you are from the next Jubilee Year. In other words, the "value" of your piece of land would decrease annually. When the Jubilee Year arrives, the "original" owner may come to reclaim the ownership of that piece of land for FREE.
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 (Leviticus 25:10).

Under what condition would the selling of a piece of land take place? What would the selling and redeeming conditions be?
If your brother becomes poor, and sells part of his property, then his next of kin shall come and redeem what his brother has sold.
If a man has no one to redeem it, and then himself becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it,
let him reckon the years since he sold it and pay back the overpayment to the man to whom he sold it; and he shall return to his property.
But if he has not sufficient means to get it back for himself, then what he sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the year of jubilee; in the jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property (Leviticus 25:25-28).
Therefore, when a man became poor, he was allowed to sell part of his land. Leviticus stipulates that the next of kin of this man had the obligation to redeem this piece of land for him. If later, the man had sufficient money to redeem it himself, he should redeem it with LESS money, according to the number of remaining years until the next Jubilee Year. If he could wait, he would get it back FREE in the Jubilee Year.
What if the buyer of the land himself became poor, would he be allowed to "re-sell" the piece of land to a third person who was not the next of kin of the original owner? Does Leviticus stipulate the selling and redeeming between two parties only?
Of course, the socio-economic background at the writing of Leviticus might not be commercially active enough for such transactions to take place. Therefore, a class of teachers of the law came into existence to interpret these regulations as time changed.

Not only was the liberty of ownership, but also the liberty of slavery proclaimed in the Jubilee Year. This is the beauty of the spirit of the Jubilee Year, redemption and liberty. A slave and his children would also obtain their freedom in the Jubilee Year.
There were three situations. First of all, among Israelites. Israelite slaves must be freed in the Jubilee Year.
And if your brother becomes poor beside you, and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave:
he shall be with you as a hired servant and as a sojourner. He shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee;
then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his own family, and return to the possession of his fathers (Leviticus 25:39-41).
Secondly, Gentile slaves might be owned and passed on as inheritance to children forever.
As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are round about you.
You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their families that are with you, who have been born in your land; and they may be your property.
You may bequeath them to your sons after you, to inherit as a possession for ever; you may make slaves of them, but over your brethren the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another, with harshness (Leviticus 25:44-46).
Lastly, Gentile masters must free their Israelite slaves in the Jubilee Year if their kindred were not able to redeem them (Leviticus 25:47-54).
And if he is not redeemed by these means, then he shall be released in the year of jubilee, he and his children with him (Leviticus 25:54).
Why were there such a discrimination against Gentile slaves? Leviticus gives the following justification.
For to me the people of Israel are servants, they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God (Leviticus 25:55).
Exodus was a liberation of all Israelites from the slavery in Egypt. It was a Jubilee for them. From then on, they became the servants of God and they were only allowed to serve other masters for no more than 50 years. Reasonable, hur?

Dear Lord, we all have our bosses to serve, but You are the Boss of bosses, the Lord of lords. We are pleased to serve You because You know us thoroughly and have won our hearts. May we dedicate all that You have given us to serve Your will. Amen.