Word to the Wise
Saturday, July 20, 2019 - Saturday in the 15th Week in Ordinary Time
[Exod 12:37-42 and Matt 12:14-21]Since the dough they had brought out of Egypt was not leavened, they baked it into unleavened loaves. They had rushed out of Egypt and had no opportunity even to prepare food for the journey......This was a night of vigil for the Lord, as he led them out of the land of Egypt; so on this same night all the children of Israel must keep a vigil for the Lord throughout their generations. [Exodus]
The story of the exodus continues in the first scripture for daily Eucharist, and we can see the impact of the exodus event on our lives as Catholics and on the lives of our Jewish brothers and sisters.
The first thing to note is the unleavened bread. Those of us who have ever attended a "Seder meal" have tasted the "matzos" bread that is served at that meal. This is unleavened bread in memory of the exodus. But that memory is continued in the use of unleavened bread in the Latin rite of the church at our celebration of the Eucharist. We especially commemorate this on Holy Thursday, when we celebrate the establishment of the Eucharist by the Lord and we continue to do this in memory of him as he commanded. This echoes what is said in Exodus about keeping vigil for the Lord for generations to come. Jesus underwent his own "Exodus" [Lk 9:31] and we celebrate this each time we celebrate the Eucharist and use unleavened hosts.
All of this should help us to know more deeply the roots of our faith in Judaism and reject any sign of anti-Semitism, which is a rejection of God's own plan of salvation! AMEN