When Neutrality is Immoral: Israel, Hamas, and Christian Moral Equivalence
The Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem have responded to the October 7 Hamas massacre in Israel and ensuing war in Gaza with posture of moral equivalence, suggesting that both parties in the conflict share equal blame and equivalent moral responsibility for the consequences of their actions. Intellectually, this is an easy path to take. But is it morally right?
The Spiritual Life: Sacrifice – Path to Communion
The mystery of Christ’s sacrifice--our Paschal Lamb--is at the heart of the Christian faith. But the biblical notion of sacrifice is obscure to most people today. What does Christ’s sacrifice really mean? And how do the sacraments—especially Reconciliation and the Eucharist—manifest the Lord’s sacrifice? The sacrifices of the Old Testament help us to gain insight into these questions.
Jewish Oral Law and Catholic Sacred Tradition
I like to say that studying Judaism made me Catholic. Many years ago, I was a zealous, anti-Catholic evangelical Christian living in Jerusalem and active in the Messianic Jewish movement. Messianic believers are eager to rediscover the Jewish Jesus and the Jewish practices of the Early Church before it became tainted and compromised—so they say—with gentile beliefs and practices.
A Tale of Two Christian Universities
Franciscan University and Azusa Pacific University Reveal two radically different models of Christian higher education: while one is solidly rooted in the Bible and Christian tradition; the other is increasingly influenced by radical progressive ideas and in danger of losing its Christian identity.
The Bad News and the Good News: Original Sin and the Gospel Message
The doctrine of original sin is an essential component of the Christian faith. If catechists don’t explain well the nature, effect, and consequences of original sin, they will find it very difficult not only to address the major moral issues of our day, but also to effectively communicate the Gospel.
The Eucharist in its Jewish Context
Although the Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life,” many Catholics are unfamiliar with its rich Old Testament and Jewish background. In this article, we will look at four aspects of this background: the king-priest Melchizedek, the Passover, the manna, and the bread of the Presence.
If I Forget You, O Jerusalem…
Catholics for Israel welcomes and applauds the decision of US President Donald Trump to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to relocate the American Embassy there.
Israel, the Church, and Election
God has tied His saving and redemptive concern for the welfare of all men to His love for the people of Israel. Only those who love the people of Israel can love the God of Israel. Israel is thus God's first-born, most precious in His eyes. -- Michael Wyschogrod (1928-2015)
A Temple is a seat of Divine Presence. In Judaism, there are two Temples, one for the dimension of time, the Sabbath, and one for the dimension of space, the Temple in Jerusalem. Christianity adds a third, the Son of G-d incarnate in the nature of man.
The four holidays of this coming holiday season correspond to the events of Holy Week and the Ascension. They are a figure of the great salvific events which mark the last days of Jesus’ human presence in this world. The Christian Jew participates in those saving events, and immerses himself in the Christian mysteries of salvation as he celebrates the Jewish holidays.
….In the meantime, Israel retains its own mission. Israel is in the hands of God, who will save it “as a whole” at the proper time, when the number of the Gentiles is complete….the evangelization of the Gentiles was now the disciples’ particular task….
The New Temple will be erected when Judaism and Catholicism will be united to proclaim the only Word of God and the only one Messiah, to sing the only Glory of God that shines in all works performed in both Judaism and Catholicism, in the great works of mercy and in the great works of judgment for the sins of men. So the Nations will know that the true living God is among His people, living in His Temple, which is the Church of Jesus Christ.
Can we get a good idea of who is the Jewish Messiah from the Old Testament and the Jewish writings? Study the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament in the light of Jewish apocryphal literature, the Aramaic targums, the Midrash, the Talmud, medieval Jewish Bible commentators, and the Zohar.
I have recently returned to Jerusalem after an absence of seven months abroad. During this time, I had many conversations with Catholic friends about Judaism. To many of them it seems incredible that most Jews still "don't get it" that the Messiah has come. The present reflection is addressed to Christians who wish to better understand the rationale for the Jewish rejection of Jesus and of the Church and wish to try to see the perspective from the "other side."
