The Story of the Bible in 2000 Words
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Pope Francis has called for the year of 2025 to be a jubilee year, The Year of Hope. This is the second jubilee year in his time as pope. The first one was The Year of Mercy back in 2015.
For Catholics, the word jubilee means to announce with a ram’s horn (Hebrew) or to shout (Latin). A jubilee year is a year of remission or universal pardon of one’s spiritual and material debts through making pilgrimage. By crossing through the threshold of certain designated holy doors pilgrims will be given "indulgences" - the eradication by the Church of the spiritual debt arising from sin.These ‘pilgrims of hope’ are to complete their spiritual journey by making a good confession in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is rooted in scripture. "Thou shalt sanctify the fiftieth year," we read in Leviticus 25:10, "and shalt proclaim remission to all the inhabitants of thy land: for it is the year of jubilee."
These glad tidings will begin to be proclaimed at this year's Christmas Eve, December 24, 2024 when the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica is opened, and ends on January 6, 2026, when the Holy Door is closed.
It was Jesus who broke down the barrier of sin and the walls around our human hearts. In his death and resurrection, he flung open the doors to a new, redeemed order of the world. All we have to do is cross the threshold from sin to the new life that he offers. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Mt 7:7-8.
The Holy Doors at Saint Peter’s basilica are convered with 16 panels that depict the key scenes of the story of the bible related to sin and redemption. They are cemented shut and covered with a brick wall from the inside so that they cannot normally be opened. They are the first doors to be opened as the Holy Father used to say, "Open unto me the gates of justice" while striking the door with a silver hammer three times to break this brick and mortar seal in a ceremony that begins the Jubilee Year. Like Moses striking water from the rock, the spiritual efficacy of the ceremony is based on the faith of the Church.
Some of the bricks are decorated and inscribed with prayer intentions to be offered through the decades up until the next jubilee. Other holy doors will be opened at the Rome basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul Outside the Walls. For pilgrims who cannot travel to Rome, bishops around the world are expected to designate their cathedral doors as thresholds into reconciliation, indulgences and other events intended to strengthen and revive faith.
In Bible times the people were promised a reprieve during the jubilee year…The land would have an extra year of rest, and families would return to their original properties. Wars were to be ended. Israelite slaves would be liberated. Debts would be forgiven. Some prisoners were freed. They were to eat banquets from what their land produced. It was a festive and holy yearlong celebration for all the people, especially the poor and oppressed.
The story goes that there was a holy man, a type of mystic, who took the radical step of leaving his homeland (America) for the holy house of the Virgin Mary located in Loreto Italy. There he became a hermit attending Mass daily sometimes more than once. A stranger in a strange land, he spent his days and nights in prayer and fasting surrounded by his spiritual books. As a hermit and a mystic he had premonitions which he shared with a priest. One of those premonitions was about Donald Trump, who at that time in the 1980’s was a New York real estate mogul and democratic socialite exuding decadence, egoism as a symbol of American materialism. What was startling from his vision was that God had a special plan for Trump to be a future leader who, like Saul to Paul, would call the people of America back to God in a way that would have a severe ripple effect that would awaken and renew the whole world. There's also a jubilee year connection (see below)...
The following is a summary of a video that Father Giacomo Capoverdi, a priest in Rhode Island, made in which he recounts his encounter with Tom Zimmer, the Hermit of Loreto and their mutual friend Dr. Curran…
“Seventeen years ago I was talking to Dr. Claud Curran about my upcoming trip to Rome. He said, ‘Father get on a train and go north to Loreto. I'll pay’. In Loreto there’s an important site, the House of the Incarnation. Archeologists have studied the house and have declared that it is truly a 1st century house from Nazareth, with pollen indigenous to Nazaraeth etc.. The legend is that it was transported by angels to Loreto Italy to escape the Muslim invasion.
Dr. Curran went on to say, ‘There’s a guy named Tom Zimmer. A man who is a lay person. Who decided to go to the House of the incarnation to pray and become a hermit. He stayed in the basilica built around the house day and night. He was a fascinating man. I went up to Lorteto.
When I arrived in Loreto, I looked for Tom and found him, frail and old, leaning up on a fence rail. I asked him in English, ‘Are you Tom?’ He said, ‘Yes’. I sat on the floor next to him. He was a beautiful soul, holy, creator of a prayer book called ‘Pieta’ which sold over 10 million copies. He taught me alot. Later, when I returned home, I spoke to Dr. Curran again and he said, ‘Do you remember that guy, Tom Zimmer? In the 1980’s I (Dr. Curran) was talking to Tom and Tom said there’s a man in the future that's going to lead America back to God. I asked, ‘Who?’ He replied, ‘Donald Trump’. Dr. Curran said, ‘You mean the New York playboy? That guy?’ Tom replied, ‘Believe me he is the man’. At that time Pope John Paul II declared a jubilee year (Jubilee of Salvation) and opened the holy doors. When they were ready to close the Vatican they made bricks that could have an inscription. People could purchase the bricks to have their prayer intentions inscribed. All the intentions on the bricks were prayed at every mass at the Vatican. Tom Zimmer donated a brick with the name inscribed, Donald J. Trump. He did that because he wanted those masses in the Vatican to be said for him because he knew that he was going to be a great leader. I firmly believe that what Tom Zimmer predicted has been fulfilled”
Pope Francis in his written statement (Bull of Indiction) stressed two aspects of the jubilee: hope and forgiveness, he ended by referring to a motto, Spes non confundit, or “Hope does not disappoint.” To put it in the words of president Trump who has his own motto for this new term, ‘Promises made, promises kept’.
Some of the jubilee-like promises that Trump has made are as follows…
Restore American manufacturing.
Cut taxes.
Eradicate human trafficking (slavery) and drug trafficking.
Clear out government corruption and waste. Drain the Swamp.
End wars. "I just want to stop the world from killing itself!" - DJT
Deport violent criminal migrants.
Seal the border.
Pardon victims of lawfare.
Cut back on government overreach and government regulations.
During the next four years the United States is set to celebrate its 150th anniversary, 1776-2026. Plans for the yearlong celebration began during Trump's first term. According to the website, America250: On July 4, 2026, our nation will commemorate and celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The journey toward this historic milestone is an opportunity to pause and reflect on our nation’s past, honor the contributions of all Americans, and look ahead toward the future we want to create for the next generation and beyond.
In his video announcement, President Trump said he will convene a White House task force to coordinate a year-long festivities beginning Memorial day 2025 - Independence Day, July 4 2026. There will be a Great American State Fair in Iowa to showcase the glory of every state and to build patriotism and pride. Millions and millions of visitors from around the world will come. There will be major sporting contests for highschool athletes from every state. An executive order will be drawn up to create a national garden of American heroes (a statuary park). We will Invite people from around the world, statesmen and world leaders to celebrate. Religious communities will pray for our nation and for our people. We will be rededicating ourselves as one nation under God.
This will all take place right in the middle of the 2026 FIFA World Cup held in America and carry over into the 2028 Olympics set to take place in Los Angeles during the final year of Trump’s new term. Such a confluence of world-wide celebration centered in the U.S.A. during any one presidency is unprecedented. It will be an opportunity for Trump to step out of the political binary of partisan infighting and assume the world stage as a big and bold unifier of the people in the USA and beyond.
With the results of this landslide election America has spoken. Trump has a clear mandate. He has made promises. Our hope is that throughout this four year reprieve, what some are calling an American Jubilee, a bright beacon of hope will shine on the American story which continues to embody the promises of endurance, triumph, liberty, justice and peace. Trump earned the support of nearly 60 percent ofCatholic voters. Our collective hope is that America will become great…again.
I am a life-long Catholic, husband, dad, teacher and former football coach. I've been teaching the Catholic Faith to young men, religious educators and catechists since 1998. My academic background, MA is in Theology and Catechetics. Email: gary@apexcatechetics.com
