Paul addressed the people in these words: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral law and was zealous for God, just as all of you are today."
Saint Paul is sometimes blamed for the separation of Christianity from Judaism. It's an argument founded on a weak reading of the New Testament. A stronger case can be made of Saint Paul's ferocious love of his Jewish people and his heart-breaking effort to win them to the Way which had been revealed to him. Certainly his relationship with them is complex and sometimes tormented. While he believed with all his heart and soul in Jesus Christ, the split was inevitable. And, evidently, God's will.
Insulated as I am in the Catholic Church and among the Franciscan friars, I have not known any Jews personally; nor have I even met very many. But I have encountered antisemitism among Christians and Catholics and been appalled by its naked evil. To despise Jews is to despise Jesus, Mary, the Apostles, and the God of the Jewish people. To hate Jews is become an enemy of God; it invites upon oneself all the catastrophes that are described in the Old Testament.
After one recent encounter with antisemitism, I realized, were the Jews to disappear from the Earth, Christianity would perish. And all hope for humanity would be lost as nuclear night or environmental darkness descended.
In today's reading from Acts 22, we can see that Saint Paul's knowledge of God went far beyond the bible. He was heart and soul, flesh and blood, Jewish to the core and that was how he knew Jesus; as one Jew to another. He was compelled to announce the Gospel to the gentiles and more than equipped to do so by his formation and education. He'd grown up in the gentile city of Tarsus and spoke fluent Greek as well as anyone in the Roman empire. (It was the language of the empire.) But he could not and would not forget his Jewish identity. In fact, he boasted of it.
Saint Jerome famously said of Jesus, "Ignorance of the scriptures is ignorance of Jesus." We might say the same about Saint Paul. No one can read his writings without being directed back to the Hebrew Scriptures; no one can ponder his writings without studying the Old Testament prophets, sages, psalms, and historical books.
But familiarity with Saint Paul also reminds us, if the Word of God is contained in the Bible, it is not contained by the Bible. Knowledge of God's word is knowing Abraham and Sarah, Moses, David, Solomon, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the apostles and disciples, the martyrs, confessors, and virgins; and -- yes -- Judas Iscariot. They are our people. No one among us can be despised by one who embraces Jesus of Nazareth.
Saint Paul had a temper which was known well to his friends and enemies. Some of his unfortunate remarks about the Jews are recorded in scripture but they are the utterances of a man whose heart is breaking for love of them.
Which of us has not said awful things to and about people we dearly love? Were anyone, after hearing my story, to say to me, "Your father was a terrible man!" they'd incur my wrath. "How dare you?"
We should pray, each one of us, that we might be as deeply immersed among, and as passionately in love with the People of God as Saint Paul. We should insist that my identity is Christian and my ancestors are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And I love them as I love the Lord God.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.