Word to the Wise
Friday, October 30, 2015 - Friday in the 30th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rom 9:1-5 and Luke 14:1-6]"They are the children of Israel; theirs the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is oer all, God blessed forever. Amen." [Romans]
When I was growing up in Natchitoches, LA, i was aware that prominent citizens of my hometown were Jewish. To me, at that time, it meant only that they went to that "church" like Catholics, Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians, etc.. I was vaguely aware that there was (and still is) a Jewish cemetery in town. The nearest synagogues were either in Shreveport or Alexandria. Anti-semitism was not a feature of my religious landscape. But when I went to college in New Orleans, I learned how pervasive anti-semitism is. My first friends in the dormitory were Jewish guys with whom I played bridge (too much!). I also started hearing comments from New Orleans kids who showed typical social anti-semitism.
I entered the Dominican Order in 1964 and really began my first serious acquaintance with the scriptures. The Second Vatican Council was going on and a document called NOSTRA AETATE was published that rejected anti-semitism as a feature of Catholic theology and ministry. Subsequent documents of the official magisterium have also reminded Catholics that Jews are not to be the subject of "conversion" efforts. The basis for all this is to be found not only in the Old Testament, but in St. Paul's words quoted above. Jesus was a Jew, and so was St. Paul. St. Paul agonized over the rejection of Jesus as Messiah by his fellow Jews, but he also accepted God's choice of the Jewish people as the roots of our faith. We must never forget this. Nor should we ever forget what anti-semitism did to the Jews of Europe in the Holocaust.
Centuries of prejudice are not eliminated easily, but we (and our Jewish brothers and sisters) have to keep working to overcome any prejudice on either side. Religious faith is ill-served by antipathy. AMEN
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