Pope Pius XI stated that all Christians are "spiritual Semites." Pope John Paul II said that the Jewish people are our "elder brothers in the faith." While all Four Gospels frequently connect to Jewish religious experiences, St. Matthew particularly shows that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Patriarchal promises to the Israelite nation.
During Lent, this connection to this Jewish heritage is particularly evident on Holy Thursday. On this holy night, Our Blessed Savior shared the Last Supper with His disciples. Because of the immense significance of the Last Supper, Catholics need to understand the origin of this meal. This meal is the first Mass in the New Covenant, which the Council of Trent will call the "Unbloody Sacrifice of Calvary."
Since Passover is central to understanding Judaism, knowledge of the Passover meal is important for Catholics to understand our own faith.
The children of Israel settled in Egypt because of a terrible famine in Canaan. After they had become numerous, the Egyptian Pharaoh feared their power and enslaved them.
After brutal years of slavery, Moses appeared before Pharaoh and told him to free the Jews. Thinking this foolishness, the Pharaoh punished the Israelites even further. Moses confronted the Pharaoh and told him that God would send plagues on Egypt if the Jews were not freed. When Pharaoh continued to refuse, the terrible plagues descended upon Egypt.
The last plague, the death of the first born, happens on the night of Passover. Moses gives the Israelites specific instructions for their last meal in Egypt. They are to eat unleavened bread, bitter herbs, and an unblemished lamb. Afterwards, they are to take blood from the lamb and spread it on the lintel of their doors. When the angel of the Lord "passes over" Egypt, the blood of the lamb will save their first-born children.
When the last plague ends, Pharaoh drives all the Jews from Egypt. The Passover meal, or Seder, commemorates this night.
Fishman places the Seder meal in a contemporary setting, but includes all the main elements of this critical historical event. Readers will learn why matzah (unleavened bread) is used, what the purposes of the bitter herbs are, and the importance of the paschal lamb. She shows the Jewish elders sharing the cups of wine in remembrance of the Jews suffering and being delivered from slavery.
The author also discusses the joyful nature of the Passover meal. On this night the Jewish people passed from slavery into freedom.
When Catholics read about the Seder meal, they will easily understand the symbols connected with the supper. In the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, unleavened bread is changed through transubstantiation into the Body and Blood of Our Blessed Savior. The cup of wine is offered for the "remission of our sins." We believe that Our Lord is the perfect lamb of sacrifice offered for our redemption from the slavery of sin to the freedom of grace.
All of these reasons show why Catholics need to know about the Jewish celebration of Passover and the Seder meal. By using symbols knowledgeable to all Jews, Our Lord Himself becomes the perfect Lamb of Sacrifice. Throughout the New Testament, the sacred writers repeatedly make this connection. By understanding the Seder meal, all Catholics can better understand Pope John Paul II’s admonition that the Jewish people are "our elder brothers in the Faith."
The Mass has its origins in the Passover meal. In the New Covenant pronounced on Holy Thursday, Our Lord transforms this Seder meal into the magnificent banquet of His Body and Blood. Because of this, Catholics can only fall down on their knees and cry out "Praise to You Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory."
