Nostra Aetate

As a Catholic, I am fortunate to have a group of close friends who happen to be Jewish.  I’ve known Robert for more than 20 years.  The friendships I now share with Cathy, Patricia and Diane started when they welcomed me to sit in on their weekend Mah-Jongg game.  While I feel socially connected to them, I can’t help feeling a spiritual bond.  Perhaps that’s because that’s because our Catholic liturgy has its origins in Judaism.

The story of Passover, as told in the book of Exodus, is in many ways the foundation of our liturgy. Passover celebrates the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.  The story speaks of the covenant relationship between God and God’s people and God’s unfathomable faithfulness.  We believe this covenant is renewed and fulfilled in Jesus Christ and we express this renewed covenant in our liturgy by using elements from the Seder, a Jewish ritual feast held to commemorate the Passover.  The prayers of blessing that are said during the Seder form the basis of our Eucharistic Prayers. The food and drink consumed during the Seder, unleavened bread and wine, are the primary food and drink of our Eucharistic meal. 

The covenant relationship that began between God and the Israelites, and was renewed in Jesus is a model for all human relationships.  But the Church has not always shared a good relationship with non-Christian religions, specifically with the Jewish people.  For one thing, the Church had long held that the Jews were responsible for the crucifixion.  This was partly due to the negative connotations in the New Testament, in particular the gospel of John, which describes “the Jews” as the enemies of Jesus.   This is one reason Pope John XXIII placed the Church’s relationship with the Jews on the agenda of the Second Vatican Council.   He wanted the Council to discuss and to respond to the anti-Semitism which led to the Holocaust.  The Council ultimately approved a compromise statement in a document called Nostra Aetate.  In that document, the Council stated that the Jewish people as a whole did not bear responsibility for the death of Jesus and it decried any forms of anti-Semitism.  The document was a new starting point in the Church’s relationship with the Jews.   On Wednesday, October 28, exactly 50 years to the day Nostra Aetate was promulgated, Archbishop Gregory and Rabbi James Rudin will celebrate the anniversary of the declaration at the Ferst Center for the Arts at Georgia Tech, beginning with a reception at 6:00pm.  Nostra Aetate means “In our Time.”  Let us pray that renewed relationships with all people will happen in our time.  

Welcome the Children

Some of my earliest memories are of being in church at Mass.  We had no cry room at St. Vitus in New Castle, Pennsylvania, and therefore Mom had no choice but to keep my older brother and me in tow.  I don’t remember everything, but I am certain that like typical kids, my brother and I squealed and squirmed and fought with each other during Mass.  But Mom didn’t give up.  Her determination to bring us to Mass had a huge impact.  I may not have understood everything that happened during Mass, but those experiences cultivated and nurtured the seeds of my faith in a way that nothing else could.

Liturgy is a family affair.  Parents not only have the right to bring their children to church, they have a duty to bring their children to church.  According to the Church, the entire Christian community shares the responsibility to foster the faith of children.  That means welcoming them to Mass.   Kids will be kids.  Their tiny bodies are full of energy that prevents them from being still.  They will wriggle and occasionally wail.  That’s their job.  The parent’s job is to model the behavior they expect from their children, to participate fully in the liturgy and to engage their children in singing the songs and praying the prayers.  The job of the Christian community is to be patient, to be tolerant and to be willing to help, remembering that we too were once children.  A smile or a word of encouragement sends a strong message to parents and their children. It says “We welcome you here.” It says “We are a family.” 

Jesus had a lot to say about children. In recent Sunday Gospel proclamations, we heard how Jesus sees the smallest among us:

Whoever welcomes a child such as this for my sake welcomes me … Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  Mark 9:37, 10:14

This Saturday, October 17^th, we welcome the children in a special way with a youth-led liturgy.  Children will lead our worship by serving as greeters, lectors, and music leaders.  Let us welcome all of our children, as Jesus did, with open arms.  They are the future of the Church.