Today is Monday of Holy Week, 2010. Our Palm/Passion Sunday Eucharist at church was awesome. As we Christians travel with Our lord towards His fate on Calvary, I cannot help but to recall that today marks the Jewish Feast of the Passover.
As a Christian with Jewish heritage on my Mom’s side the Feast Of the Passover has always held a special double meaning for me. Not only did Our Lord Jesus Christ institute the Eucharist at this meal so long ago, it brings to mind that we Christians ALL share a common heritage with Jewish people. My ties to the Jewish faith & culture might be stronger than most thanks to my unusual geneology{ Irish Roman Catholic & Russian Jewish} but since Christ was also born of a Jewish woman, we Christians are tied to our Jewish siblings in faith. For this Christian woman with Jewish heritage, the Feast of the Passover is a powerful reminder of the common ancestry we have as ” people of the Book”.
This year in EfM my Old Testament studies bring me not only closer to Our Lord Jesus Christ, but also to the lives , times & the faith of the community into which He was born. Not only is Year One of EfM teaching me more about my Christian heritage, but it is giving me an understanding of the faith of my Jewish kin. Wow.
I read with sadness about the most recent suicide bombing over in Russia. My heart aches for all those lost.
It is hard to remain hopeful that the world will ever reach a state of ” shalom’, not when there is widespread oppression of certain ethnic & other minority groups. Althought I did not come of age as a Jewish person, my heritage is something of which I am proud. as someone with “mixed” ancestry: I am even more committed to doing MY part to bring people who do not agree about much of anything to converation together. It is up to all of us, but especially we younger Americans to take charge & start educating ourselves & other abo folks who are ” not like us”. Prejudice breeds mistrust, mistrust leads to oppression & oppression can lead to terrible violence.
Yes, as a Christian I * do* believe in a social Gospel. But to me part of a social Gospel is working towards understanding of & the equality of those in any & all minority groups.
