Seder Meals Are Not Catholic Practice

During a past Lent, I shared a seemingly innocuous and informative post about the Jewish practice of Seder during Passover. The resulting confusion and charges of antisemitism bewildered me. The catalyst? A video, Seder Meals violate the First Commandment, from the blog of a priest.

Strong Reactions

Below are some of the questions posed by readers the next day:

“This post only breeds anti-Jewish thinking and does not allow Catholics to ponder the roots of our faith, the richness of our heritage. Jesus longed to eat this meal with us and Judas did not participate at all, which tells us something.”

“I think if you are of Jewish heritage then it is not sinful to celebrate the Passover.”

“I’m confused. I grew up with a Jewish mother and a Christian father. We celebrated everything. Christmas and Hanukkah as well as occasionally Passover (it’s a lot harder to pull off successfully, so we didn’t do it every year). I was technically Jewish before I was baptized 5 years ago. I still like keeping some of our Jewish traditions alive, and teaching my kids about them as part of our history and heritage. We are actually planning to drive 4 hours tomorrow to go to my rabbi uncle’s house for Passover so my kids can experience a REAL Passover. This is something sinful? My family is expecting us. Should we cancel? Go to confession? If we have honest Jewish heritage, is that different?”

Passover Question and Answer

In order to address these concerns, listen as Father explains in the presentation audio cited above. In the same vein, Saint Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae queried, “Were the ceremonies of the Old Law, the Mosaic Law, ceased at the coming of Jesus Christ?”

The answer? Yes, the Old Law was completely fulfilled and updated, so to speak. It is important to note that, when dealing with the worship of God, our external actions must correspond with our internal beliefs. This can be further illustrated by our actions when in the Divine Presence, the Rubrics followed by priests and presenting our best selves when attending the Holy Sacrifice of Mass. With adherence to the prescribed gestures and behavior of our Faith, we exemplify our deeply held belief in God and His Church.

You are invited to click  Catholic Life In Our Times to further explore the Old Law, the New Law, and a discussion of Seder.