The Mystery of Israel

Folks, a great article by Alice von Hildebrand, professor emerita of philosophy at Hunter College of the City University of New York and the renowned author of many books, published yesterday in InsideCatholic.com, on The Mystery of Israel. I've excerpted two paragraphs, but you must read the whole piece. It's a beautiful essay.

It should be highlighted that a "converted" Jew who becomes a devout Catholic and a daily communicant, far from betraying his "blood," is precisely the one who renovates it, for blood constantly needs to be renewed. One of the fundamental beliefs of both the Catholic and the Orthodox Church is that Christ is fully present in the Holy Eucharist: His body, His blood, His soul, and His divinity. On the basis of this fundamental belief, it can be claimed that the faithful who daily feed themselves on this Sacred Food receive the blood of their Savior, Who was a Jew. This leads us to the conclusion that far from "betraying their Jewish blood," Catholics of Jewish descent are not only not betraying their blood, but are precisely those who renew it at this divine source. That was the blissful conviction of Father Raphael, a Jew who converted while taking my husband's courses at Fordham and became a Carthusian. It was also the experience of St. Edith Stein. When she, with her sister Rosa, was arrested by the Nazis and on her way to Auschwitz her last words were "let us go for our people." She was "happy" to offer her life for them, a people she had always loved, but whose love increased when she became a Catholic and deeply understood the words of Christ at the last supper: "there is no greater love than to give one's life for one's friend." She did give her life for them. St. Paul gives her a guarantee that her prayer will be heard, because one blessed day the olive branch will be re-united to the tree of life. This will take place at the time of the Second coming.

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It is our claim that the Jews who gratefully accept that Christ, a Jew, is the Savior of the world and feed themselves daily on His Holy flesh and blood thrive spiritually on this holy food that now they share with the "gentiles." Indeed, as St. Paul writes, "there are no more Jews and Greeks" (Col 3:11). All of them are united in recognizing the Son of Mary, a daughter of Israel, as the Savior of the whole world. Holy communion is a "divine transfusion" that sheds light on the sublime words of Pope Pius XI: "spiritually, we are all Semites."

Please, read it all here.