Thinking about this little article: AUDI, ISRAËL: Jewish Feasts in the Propers of the Traditional Roman Rite and a post on Facebook by Peter Kwasniewski (copied below) on the topic of the fulfillment of the Old Law... *
It's shocking how willing modern Catholics are to jettison the Jewish heritage of the faith, in both the rites of worship and the strict duty to teach and obey the Ten Commandments, the bedrock of morality -- while often repeating the slur that those who love Tradition are guilty of antisemitism.
There are wicked people everywhere, of course, but how could traditional Christianity itself be anything other than reverent towards the Jews, in principle? It's all very odd, since I have noticed that it's the Novus Ordo that, by design and practice, ignores continuity and flattens typology, as if the Jewish heritage is of so little value that it can easily be superseded.
Even with the inclusion of the Old Testament readings in the new Mass, this is so; we have less contact now with the Psalms overall, we have relegated liturgical prayer (other than the Mass) to the few, and as the first link I post here demonstrates, we have lost connection with the memory of Jewish feasts.
Overall, the primacy of the moral law grounded in love for God and neighbor -- fallen man's struggle for goodness, for virtue in the light of eternity -- has been replaced with something entirely different, something less demanding that ends up changing the nature of the good itself, first by diluting it and then by doing away with it altogether. Adultery, theft, lying -- these things are becoming positive goods in the new dispensation. Does that sound hyperbolic? What about acceptance of LGBT politics in our dioceses, promotion of unjust taxation for economic redistribution by our bishops, prelates using "trans pronouns" to refer to people appropriating the opposite sex? What are all these things but transgressions against God's immutable laws?
When I'm feeling rhetorical, I ask when was the last time you heard a sermon (in the Novus Ordo) on the Commandments that explains them along with their non-negotiability? Now that Pope Francis has bestowed his trademark incoherence on the Decalogue and its importance to life, saying (albeit without authority) that he observes them but "not as absolutes," I don't want to hear any answers.
In Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict says -- gently, without argumentativeness, but with ample grounding in Scripture -- that Our Lord embodies the Torah and came to fulfill the Law. He also demonstrates that the Beatitudes express this central reality and must be interpreted in its light. But today's prevailing theology is antinomianism; our leaders in general want to separate goodness from truth, redefining both to suit a worldly urge.
Pope Benedict engages in a fraternal way with the thoughts of Rabbi Jacob Neusner, and agrees that when Jews reject Christianity it is because they are rejecting this claim, made by Himself: that Jesus is the Law, that worship is now to be directed to His Person as "the heart of the Sabbath." It is the choice of some, represented by the rich young man in the Gospel who knew so much about the Law but went away sad after being invited to follow Him, to reject this challenge, one sealed by the sacrifice of Calvary. We can hope, pray, and offer witness that they might turn back after all.
But for Christians to tinker with the whole of salvation history, presented and preserved as a unity, is beyond scandalous.
Reading the following passage from Fr. Nicholas Gihr made me realize yet again the fundamental break in consciousness that has taken place between the old (traditional) paradigm and the new (basically postconciliar) one.
The old paradigm is that the Church is the fulfillment of Israel, the inheritor of its revelation and religion, and its public worship will be the incarnational transposition thereof. Therefore, all that Israel did, prayed, built, loved, will necessarily find its correspondence in Christianity, only *moreso*. For the new paradigm, in contrast, there is a rupture between priestly sacrificial temple worship and the supper-table fellowship of friends who have been released from the bonds of cultic religion, which is shown to be fear-based superstition.
Are we not seeing a major recrudescence of Marcionism among churchmen, as regards both the moral law (believers are loosened from the strict observance of the Ten Commandments) and divine worship (we build simple comfortable everyday spaces for our symbolic suppers, rather than engaging in all that Jewish stuff)? In this light I think the pope's approach to the Decalogue fits well with the motu proprio TC...
Anyhow, check out this passage from Gihr:
"The Lord Himself promised that in the New Law He would fill the house of God with His glory, and with a far greater glory than was that of the old Temple of Jerusalem (Agg. 2:8–10). Now, if the people of Israel 'in the simplicity of . . . heart have joyfully offered all these things' (1 Par. 29:17) to build unto the Lord of hosts a magnificent temple, how much more should the highly favored children of the Church make every effort and exertion duly to honor the God and Savior concealed in the Sacrament, since He, out of love for them, so graciously and so benevolently abases Himself on the altar.
"Splendor and wealth of ornament serve, therefore, in the first place to glorify God, and secondly to promote the edification and salvation of men. When precious vessels and vestments are used in the celebration of the divine service, then the Christian faithful are in a more striking and lively manner impressed with the sublimity and adorableness of the mysteries celebrated; those present find themselves lifted up above the common, daily life, penetrated with a holy awe and reverence for heavenly things, more devoutly and seriously disposed, edified in heart, and refreshed in mind. For this reason the Church also celebrates her divine worship with more pomp in order to awaken and foster in the faithful the utmost esteem and reverence for the marvelous mysteries of Christ’s sacrifice.
"His temples are the most beautiful of artistic edifices and the richest and most splendid of buildings; His altars are of precious stones, His tabernacles are masterpieces of artistic carving; His sacred vessels are of gold and silver, adorned with gems; His altar-cloths and corporals are of fine and clean linen, ornamented with embroidery. As the king is surrounded by his courtiers, here Christ is surrounded by the images of His saints; He is served by priests and ministers in festive garments, amid the splendor of lights, the beauty of colored flowers, and the sweet perfume of incense, amid melodious chants, the harmony of the organ, and the ringing of bells.”
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Dogmatically, Liturgically, and Ascetically Explained (Herder, 1949), 264-65.
*Re: Old Testament readings at Mass: it's startling for someone used to the Novus Ordo pattern to hear, on the Feast of the Assumption, the "epistle" (Lesson) from the book of Judith!
Thank you for sharing the article. Much to think about!
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