18.3.11

Faith of Our Fathers...

I love this story...

"Rabbi Moshe de Sassov gathered his disciples in order to tell them that he had finally learned to love his neighbor. They all thought that he had had a divine revelation, but Moshe denied this. 
     - In fact - he said - this morning when I went out to do some shopping, I saw my neighbor, Esther, talking to her son. She asked him:
     "Do you love me?"
     The son said yes. So Esther went on:
     "Do you know what makes me suffer?"
     "I've no idea," replied the son. 
     "How can you love me, if you do not know what makes me suffer? Try to quickly find out all the things which make me unhappy, for only then will your love be impeccable."
     And Rabbi Moshe de Sassov concluded:
     - True love is that which manages to avoid unnecessary suffering."

You see, my friends... there is a lot that we can learn from the faith of our fathers. The stories of the Jewish people are ones that we should learn and embrace. At the announcement, we heard... 'Honor thy father'. The Jewish people, by all definitions of the word, are our fathers in faith. we can not keep separating ourselves from them the way we have been. The only difference between us is that we believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah while the Jewish people are still awaiting the one who is to come. Their sufferings, my brothers, are our sufferings. We mustn't believe that they are not.

I have a brother in my community who is a convert from Judaism to Catholicism. It is a true gift to hear this man speak of the traditions of his childhood. To know that we believe in the same God. That we all await the second coming.

My brothers, let us be ready. Every day, we are one day closer. As it is written, 'So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.'(Mt 25:13).

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