On February 16, 2000, members of the Sacred Heart University community gathered for a prayer service in the University Chapel to inaugurate the Jubilee Year. A reading from the Prophet Isaiah (61:1-2) set the tone for the Jubilee Year: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight tot he blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim a year of the Lord's favor." By juxtaposing readings from the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures with reflections on contemporary life, the congregation was invited to consider the best ways for them to live out the Jubilee by remaining faithful to their Jewish and Christian roots. 

Anthony J. Cernera, Ph.D., president of Sacred Heart University, said, "The Jubilee Year is really about bringing our bodies where our hearts already are. We all want to invite God into our midst in order to experience renewal and growth." He said that he believed the University could experience this renewal if all of its members committed themselves "to greater understanding, to reconciliation and to the widening of the circles of inclusion."

The service began and concluded with the singing of the words: "Let the trumpet sound to announce the year. Let it tell God's people that their time is here. Like a living stream, let mercy flow. Like a mountain high, let justice grow. Let the reign of God from sea to sea set captives free. Cry Jubilee!"