RBWords

    "How odd of God to choose the Jews.  But odder still are those who choose the Jewish God and reject the Jews."  The first part of that quotation is occasionally heard but the second half seems to be forgotten.  Anti-semitism is a terrible sin and has led to horrifying consequences such as the deliberate slaughter of six million Jews in Nazi Germany.  At the Second Vatican Council, the Church condemned and continues to condemn anti-Semitic prejudice.  The council document Nostra Aetate and subsequent supporting documents clearly indicate that anti-Semitism is incompatible with Christianity.  Jesus, his family and all his disciples and St. Paul were all Jews!

     The first scripture for today is taken from the Book of Deuteronomy which represents a reform of Jewish life in Israel in the time of King Josiah.  The passage today is a broad narrative of God's plan of salvation and the concept that the Jewish people were a chosen instrument in that plan.   The complicated political history of the Middle East since the time of Abraham must not blind us to that theological fact.  Both Christianity and Islam have roots in Judaism.  Although Jesus had difficulty with the Jewish authorities of his time which led to his crucifixion, we cannot use that fact to reject Judaism as our Church and many Christians did in the past.  The Old Testament is as much the Word of God as the New Testament.  The scripture from Deuteronomy today and any day reminds us that God's choice includes Jews, Christians and Muslims (and anyone else God chooses).  Our task is to be faithful to the path Jesus set for us and recognize where that path has come from.  AMEN