Word to the Wise
Saturday, November 4, 2017 - Saturday in the 30th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rom 11:1-2a, 11-12, 25-29 and Luke 14:1, 7-11]In respect to the Gospel, they are enemies on your account, but in respect to election, they are beloved because of the patriarch. For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. [Romans]
NOVEMBER 4 ST. CHARLES BORROMEO
These words of St. Paul are very important. I would urge the Beloved Congregation to read all of chapters 9 through 11 in the Letter to the Romans in order to understand the relationship between Jews and Christians on the level of their fundamental relationship to God.
St. Paul's credentials as a Jew were impeccable, as he clearly states a few lines ahead of the above quote. He was even a Pharisee, a zealous observer of the law of Moses. But, as he notes, the failure of Jews to accept his preaching about Jesus does not mean that they are rejected by God, "for the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable." The gifts and call are represented by Abraham and the covenant.
It is for this reason that the Church rejects efforts to evangelize or proselytize Jews and in the Second Vatican Council document, NOSTRA AETATE, rejects anti-semitism as a sin.
St. Paul's anguish about his fellow Jews arises from his conversion to a new way of seeing how God works salvation, that is, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This, however, does not mean that God has rejected the covenant made with Abraham. Jesus himself was a Jew and he is the fulfillment of all the law and the prophets, whether or not this is recognized by anyone else. The roots of our faith are in Judaism and an appreciation of this can deepen our own commitment to Jesus. AMEN
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