The Jubilee Year “should be a time of renewal, a time of liberation and a time to turn once again to God’s mercy,” said the Local Ordinary of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Johannesburg.

In his Saturday, February 01 homily during the inauguration of the Jubilee Year of Hope Cardinal Stephen Brislin invited the people of God “to pause, to reflect on their faith lives, to renew their commitment” and “to put their lives at the service of God and of people.”

Cardinal Brislin who was recently appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cape Town identified “three very practical ways” to concentrate on, in the coming months, namely the sacrament of reconciliation, commitment to service and to deepening of one’s faith.

As the Catholic church in Southern Africa commemorated the 10^th anniversary of the beatification of Blessed Benedict Daswa on February 01, Cardinal Brislin referred to the South African martyr as “a person who served God faithfully and offered up his life rather than commit sin.”

He said, “Sin binds us and makes slaves of us,” and “the more we become accustomed to certain sins, the more we lose our freedom.” Cardinal Brislin called on the people of God “to be liberated from one’s sinfulness,” and to “seek forgiveness from God” and to “seek forgiveness from others when we have hurt them or failed them in some respect.”

“It is not enough to ask God to forgive us”, he added, “this we must do, and we must use the opportunity of the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) to put right our relationship with God.”

The 68-year-old Cardinal encouraged the people of God to practice forgiveness and to include those who may have hurt them in their prayer and to ask God “to bless them and protect them.”

Cardinal Brislin reminded the faithful gathered at the Cathedral of Christ the King of “how Jesus on the Cross,” forgave his murderers, and how St Stephen “also forgave those who stoned him, and undoubtedly Blessed Benedict Daswa” who “also prayed for his killers at the time of his death.”

“Our Lord, together with these saints and many others like them, show us the path to liberating ourselves by being able to forgive,” he added.

In the February 01 homily, the newly installed Archbishop of Johannesburg highlighted the Jubilee Year of Hope as an opportunity to “recommit ourselves to service.”

In an “individualistic and self-serving” world where “money has become the god of people… we are called to be those who are willing to serve through self-sacrifice, not seeking our own gain, but leaming generosity not only material generosity, but a generosity of spirit, a generosity of saying yes to God, and a generosity towards our neighbour who seeks our time, consolation or help,” he said.

He referred to the Jubilee Year as an opportunity to “deepen our faith, to draw from the wells of salvation, the wells of grace.”

Cardinal Brislin went on to encouraged the people of God to follow the example of “Blessed Benedict Daswa… a generous man (who) was a dedicated father and husband, a teacher who had the concerns of his students in his heart, a catechism teacher who spread the faith and guided young people to know and serve God…a man of integrity, a man who had good values and good morals.”

In his concluding remarks, Cardinal Brislin called on the faithful of Johannesburg Archdiocese to “return to honesty, to justice, to fairness,” and to teach “children to do the same.”

He urged the faithful to “reach out to those who are suffering and to those who are in need,” and to use the Jubilee Year as a time to be “truly renewed, re-energized and liberated to serve God freely and to serve his people with open hearts.”

Also, in attendance during the inauguration of the Jubilee Year was Archbishop Emeritus Buti Joseph Tlhagale OMI. At the end of Mass representatives from the eight deaneries received the Jubilee candle, symbolizing the light of faith and hope.