THE TABLET
March 15, 2008

Reconciliation with the Jewish People

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

As we approach the celebration of Holy Week, there is an unfortunate misunderstanding of a new prayer to be used in the celebration of the Good Friday service according to the Missal of 1962, the latest edition of the Tridentine Mass.  Some have interpreted the new Latin prayer, composed by Pope Benedict XVI, to imply a call for missionary activity aimed at the immediate conversion of the Jewish people. Closer examination of the prayer, however, reveals a hope that in the time of God’s own choosing the Jews will be among the “fullness of peoples” who share in God’s gift of salvation which comes through Christ (Rom 11:25-26). 

The Good Friday liturgy contains a formalized Prayer of the Faithful in which we pray for various classes of people, e.g., for the unity of Christians, for atheists and for the Jewish people, whom the late Pope John Paul II called “our elder brothers and sisters in the faith.”  The prayer that most Catholics of our Diocese will pray on Good Friday, which is spoken in English and is found in the Missal of 1970, captures wonderfully the true spirit of interreligious understanding and respect that characterizes Catholic-Jewish relations since Vatican II. In that prayer we pray “for the Jewish people, the first to hear the word of God, that they may continue to grow in the love of His name and in faithfulness to His covenant.”  The priest goes on to say, “Almighty and eternal God, long ago you gave your promise to Abraham and his posterity.  Listen to your Church as we pray that the people you first made your own may arrive at the fullness of redemption.”               

The Catholic Church’s dialogue with leaders and scholars of the Jewish communities has helped us to understand more deeply that the words of our own liturgy evoke historical memories even among those who do not share our faith. Words such as “conversion” and “acknowledge Christ,” which for Catholics contain positive and life-giving meanings, may in a Jewish context call to mind old memories of mutual suspicion, forced conversion, and attacks on Jews and their houses of worship—sadly enough—during Holy Week. A distorted reading of our own sacred texts has, in the past, led to anti-Jewish persecution by Catholics and other Christians in a manner that betrayed the very principles of the Gospel of Jesus. During the Jubilee 2000, Pope John Paul II asked forgiveness from God for these sins of the Church’s sons and daughters.  In view of our renewed Catholic-Jewish relationship, which is built on friendship and mutual trust, I want to assure the faithful of our Diocese, as well as our Jewish friends, that the revised Latin prayer for Good Friday does not envision any new missionary activity aimed specifically at the Jewish people.   

Holy Week is a time of peace and reconciliation. During this sacred time we Christians enter into the most solemn celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  His death was suffered for all people of all time.  It is hidden from our eyes, and certainly mysterious, how Jesus’ sacrifice bears on the destiny of every human being who has ever lived. The meaning of his “pass-over” from death to life has been the subject of much theological discussion over the centuries. Yet one fact is certain: Jesus died for all people without exception and the merits of His saving death apply to every human being without distinction, even if a particular individual is not cognizant that God has reconciled him or her to Himself through Jesus’ death and resurrection.  

Our firm belief in Christ as the savior of all does not mean that we Catholic target any one community for conversionary activity. People can only come to faith in Christ through their own free will, and all of the Church’s missionary work respects the dignity and freedom of the human person. Our God is a God of love who wills that all be saved and come to the knowledge of Christ as the way, the truth and the life (cf. 1 Tim 2:4; Jn 14:6).  The Catholic is obliged to share this Good News with everyone, but never in a manner that is coercive or inattentive to the religious freedom of the other. As the Fathers of Vatican II said, “The Church repudiates all persecution against any man. . .she deplores the hatred, persecution, and displays of anti-Semitism directed against Jews at any time and from any source.”

In the last two weeks we have heard once again of an unjust attack aimed against innocent Jews. A 25-year-old gunman, in a fit of hatred, opened fire in a Jerusalem seminary in which young Jews were preparing for the Jewish feast called Purim. Eight youth, between the ages of 15 and 26, were killed. Our prayers and sympathy extend to the families of these victims, as our hopes are lifted up to the God of Abraham who alone can bring a just peace to Israel and Palestine, a land that has been scarred by violence for too long.

The Paschal Mystery that we prepare to celebrate during this coming week should make us ever more mindful of our responsibility to be instruments of peace and reconciliation. In years past I have had the special privilege of sharing a Passover Seder with Jewish friends here in our Diocese as a common witness to our shared hope for peace. This year, on account of the Holy Father’s historic visit to Washington and New York, as well as a pilgrimage that I am preparing to take to Lourdes with 150 faithful from our Diocese, I cannot join my Jewish friends for their sacred meal. But on behalf of the Catholic community of Brooklyn and Queens, I wish them and all our Jewish neighbors shalom and a joyous Passover.    

The passage of Jesus from death to life, begun on Good Friday and solemnly commemorated in the Church’s liturgy, was the first successful journey of “putting out into the deep.”  It is because of the victory of Jesus Christ that we are able to overcome our old prejudices and shortsightedness.  It is because of His resurrection that we can rise above the limited human understanding that we have and embrace the vision of God’s saving love for all people.  Prepare with me for Holy Week and, in a special way, join me in praying for the Jewish people, “the first to hear the word of God, that they may continue to grow in the love of His name and in faithfulness to His covenant.”