Messias

Welcome to this short introduction to the celebration of the Holy Mass! The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life and its highest and most important prayer. In the Mass the whole mystery of our salvation is made present, and in the Eucharist we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus our Lord, who is really and truly present under the appearance of bread and wine and who gives himself to us in this great gift of love.

Can we get a good idea of who is the Jewish Messiah from the Old Testament and the Jewish writings? Study the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament in the light of Jewish apocryphal literature, the Aramaic targums, the Midrash, the Talmud, medieval Jewish Bible commentators, and the Zohar.

A study of the river flowing from Ezekiel's Temple (Ezek 47:1-12) and its underlying themes: Jerusalem and Zion as the Lord's cosmic mountain; water as a prophetic sign of eschatological healing; the Garden of Eden.  The Feast of Tabernacles and its water libation ceremony in the Temple actualized these themes and anticipated God's future outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus' words uttered during the same feast show that he identified himself with Ezekiel's temple and is the giver of the waters of life – the Holy Spirit. The eschatology of the book of Revelation and the vision of "a pure river of water of life" proceeding from the throne of God recapitulate and expand Ezekiel's vision by incorporating the other prophetic themes and Jesus' self-revelation.

Confession (or “reconciliation”) is the sacrament where Baptized Catholics receive forgiveness from God’s mercy for the offense committed against him, and are reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins. It is the place where you meet the risen Jesus, who gave the apostles - the first priests - the power to forgive sins in his name (John 20:23).

This article presents an overview of salvation history, covering creation, the fall, God's covenants with Israel and with mankind, the coming of the Messiah, and the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church which He has founded.

Are you an evangelical Christian or a Messianic Jew? What makes Evangelicalism so attractive?  What is the recipe for its success? What are the tensions and problems inherent in Evangelical Christianity?  Does Messianic Judaism provide a solution or does it add new problems? If you are an Evangelical, in which direction is your faith tending: Stagnation/unbelief, liberalism, fundamentalism, or Catholicism? What are the main stumbling blocks that keep good believers from entering into the fullness of truth?

I have recently returned to Jerusalem after an absence of seven months abroad.  During this time, I had many conversations with Catholic friends about Judaism. To many of them it seems incredible that most Jews still "don't get it" that the Messiah has come. The present reflection is addressed to Christians who wish to better understand the rationale for the Jewish rejection of Jesus and of the Church and wish to try to see the perspective from the "other side."

A short overview of the Gospel message: God loves us and wishes to give us a share in His divine life. Though we have broken His covenant by sinning, Jesus has come to reconcile us to God. He has established the Catholic Church to restore us to God and to impart to us His forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life of love.