Catholic Jews?

[k4evans1]

I was reading the Old Testament the other day and a bunch of rules were given regarding different holidays that were to be celebrated. usccb.org/nab/072911.shtml I’m guess I’m wondering why we don’t celebrate these days now as Catholics… Matthew 5:17 says that Jesus did not come into the world to destroy the law. Jesus was a Jew. I guess I’m wondering why we stopped celebrating these Jewish feasts, rules, etc. and didn’t just turn into Jews who happen to believe that Jesus was God. I hope I explained my question clearly and can’t wait for feedback!

 

[runningdude]

I read an interesting fact (disclaimer: on Wikipedia), that while the Jews are the Chosen People, they don’t necessarily claim to be the only people that that God entered into a Covenant with. Thus we as Gentiles have entered into our own covenant based on Jesus Christ!

So, for the most part, we don’t celebrate Jewish holidays out of respect for the unique relationship that God chose to have with the people of Israel.

 

[meltzerboy]

I was reading the Old Testament the other day and a bunch of rules were given regarding different holidays that were to be celebrated. usccb.org/nab/072911.shtml I’m guess I’m wondering why we don’t celebrate these days now as Catholics… Matthew 5:17 says that Jesus did not come into the world to destroy the law. Jesus was a Jew. I guess I’m wondering why we stopped celebrating these Jewish feasts, rules, etc. and didn’t just turn into Jews who happen to believe that Jesus was God. I hope I explained my question clearly and can’t wait for feedback!

I believe that, from the Christian perspective, following Mosaic Law (Torah) is unnecessary for Christians because Jesus is regarded as the embodiment of the Law for both Jew and Gentile (non-Jew). Thus Jesus fulfilled the Law rather than abolishing it. It was not thought necessary for Gentiles to first convert to Judaism and then follow Jesus, although I believe this issue of prior conversion was debated in the early Christian era, and there were in fact Jewish Christians. But since Jesus created the New Covenant for all people, this Covenant supersedes the Old Covenant, which was designed only for the Jewish people. Under the Old Covenant, Gentiles were not bound (or even permitted) to follow most of Mosaic Law, but instead Noahide Law. Still, there are Jewish Catholics and Messianic Jews today, many of whom consider themselves Jewish (even though most Jews who do not belong to their group do not consider them Jewish) and do follow many rituals and moral practices from the Torah. How Catholicism regards these Jewish Catholics and other Jewish Christians may be divided, in that some Catholics feel they may be judaizing Christianity too much, while other Catholics appreciate their keeping many Jewish rituals which are connected to the Catholic faith.