It is the end

Of the Jubilee Year

The much hoped-for year

Of restoration

And reconciliation

With fasting, penance and prayer

And with pilgrimages

To holy shrines

Of indulgence

We have marked

The 2000^th anniversary

Of the birth of Jesus

But at the end

Of the Jubilee Year

Israel and Palestine

Are at war

In spite of our jubilee devotion

The holy land is boiling

And back at home

We have not given our land

A Sabbath rest

Religious conflict

And ethnic strife

Armed robbery

And political banditry

Economic deterioration

And social decay

Abject poverty

And conspicuous consumption

Is this what the Jubilee means?

Lord how do we celebrate

Christmas 2000

In this manner?

Why don’t you stretch your hand

Your powerful hand

And heal our land

Restore our hope

And revive our joy

To end the jubilee year!