By Jessica Baustian, Juicy Ecumenism. (Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons)
[J E Editor’s note: the below piece is part of a series of articles by Catholics addressing antisemitism. Read Simone Rizkallah’s article on Catholic-Jewish relations here, and join us in Washington, D.C. on November 19 as American University scholar Pamela Nadell speaks on her new book Antisemitism, An American Tradition, which recounts the story of animus towards Jews across our nation’s history.]
We are watching. And we are hurting.
Some of us entered the Catholic Church believing that we had found a home. We believed Catholicism would allow us to embrace Christ without being asked to despise the people from whom we came. We value our heritage, and we see ourselves in the earliest Christians.
I know this because I am one of them.
Sixteen years ago, I became Catholic. I came from a Jewish background, and when I entered the Church, I was welcomed with open arms. I never felt that I had to be ashamed of where I came from in order to belong. Instead, I came to understand more deeply how profoundly Jewish the roots of my Catholic faith are.
I remember sitting in the Immaculate Conception Chapel at Mount St. Mary’s University, overwhelmed by the realization that the God who split the sea before my ancestors was now coming to me in the Holy Eucharist. The prayers I had learned in Hebrew school suddenly seemed to make sense as I encountered my Savior before me.
Jesus was Jewish. Mary was Jewish. The Apostles were Jewish. The Scriptures we call the Old Testament are the Scriptures of Israel.
For me, becoming Catholic did not mean turning my back on my Jewish heritage. It meant seeing that heritage through Christ.
After becoming Catholic, I gave myself wholeheartedly to the Church, teaching theology to hundreds of students. It was one of the greatest joys of my life to teach salvation history and Church history—to see the fulfillment of my Jewish faith in Catholicism and share that understanding with my students.