L
LPS
Guest
I had this reading today and it really made me smile. Sometimes non-Catholics challenge me about “why” Catholics do certain things, and holy water seems to bother them as some sort of “voodoo ceremony.”
My response is simply that if you realize that the disciples were practicing jews, it really comes as no surprise to learn that many of the things within the Catholic church have been adapted from jewish custom and ceremony. I know we are in new testament times, not old – yet that thread of consistency from Moses to the Catholic church is really so cool to me.
Num 19:9 Then let a man who is clean take the dust of the burned cow and put it outside the tent-circle in a clean place, where it is to be kept for the children of Israel and used in making the water which takes away what is unclean: it is a sin-offering.
Num 19:10 And he who takes up the dust of the burned cow is to have his clothing washed with water and be unclean till evening: this is to be a law for ever, for the children of Israel as well as for the man from another country who is living among them.
Num 19:11 Anyone touching a dead body will be unclean for seven days:
Num 19:12 On the third day and on the seventh day he is to make himself clean with the water, and so he will be clean: but if he does not do this on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean.
Num 19:13 Anyone touching the body of a dead man without making himself clean in this way, makes the House of the Lord unclean; and that man will be cut off from Israel: because the water was not put on him, he will be unclean; his unclean condition is unchanged.
Num 19:14 This is the law when death comes to a man in his tent: everyone who comes into the tent, and everyone who is in the tent, will be unclean for seven days.
Num 19:15 And every open vessel without a cover fixed on it will be unclean.
Num 19:16 And anyone touching one who has been put to death with the sword in the open country, or the body of one who has come to his end by a natural death, or a man’s bone, or the resting-place of a dead body, will be unclean for seven days.
Num 19:17 And for the unclean, they are to take the dust of the burning of the sin-offering, and put flowing water on it in a vessel:
Num 19:18 And a clean person is to take hyssop and put it in the water, shaking it over the tent, and all the vessels, and the people who were there, and over him by whom the bone, or the body of one who has been put to death with the sword, or the body of one who has come to his end by a natural death, or the resting-place was touched.
Num 19:19 Let the clean person do this to the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he is to make him clean; and after washing his clothing and bathing himself in water, he will be clean in the evening.
Num 19:20 But the man who, being unclean, does not make himself clean in this way, will be cut off from the meeting of the people, because he has made the holy place of the Lord unclean: the water has not been put on him, he is unclean.
Num 19:21 This is to be a law for them for ever: he who puts the water on the unclean person is to have his clothing washed; and anyone touching the water will be unclean till evening.
Num 19:22 Anything touched by the unclean person will be unclean; and any person touching it will be unclean till evening.
My response is simply that if you realize that the disciples were practicing jews, it really comes as no surprise to learn that many of the things within the Catholic church have been adapted from jewish custom and ceremony. I know we are in new testament times, not old – yet that thread of consistency from Moses to the Catholic church is really so cool to me.
Num 19:9 Then let a man who is clean take the dust of the burned cow and put it outside the tent-circle in a clean place, where it is to be kept for the children of Israel and used in making the water which takes away what is unclean: it is a sin-offering.
Num 19:10 And he who takes up the dust of the burned cow is to have his clothing washed with water and be unclean till evening: this is to be a law for ever, for the children of Israel as well as for the man from another country who is living among them.
Num 19:11 Anyone touching a dead body will be unclean for seven days:
Num 19:12 On the third day and on the seventh day he is to make himself clean with the water, and so he will be clean: but if he does not do this on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean.
Num 19:13 Anyone touching the body of a dead man without making himself clean in this way, makes the House of the Lord unclean; and that man will be cut off from Israel: because the water was not put on him, he will be unclean; his unclean condition is unchanged.
Num 19:14 This is the law when death comes to a man in his tent: everyone who comes into the tent, and everyone who is in the tent, will be unclean for seven days.
Num 19:15 And every open vessel without a cover fixed on it will be unclean.
Num 19:16 And anyone touching one who has been put to death with the sword in the open country, or the body of one who has come to his end by a natural death, or a man’s bone, or the resting-place of a dead body, will be unclean for seven days.
Num 19:17 And for the unclean, they are to take the dust of the burning of the sin-offering, and put flowing water on it in a vessel:
Num 19:18 And a clean person is to take hyssop and put it in the water, shaking it over the tent, and all the vessels, and the people who were there, and over him by whom the bone, or the body of one who has been put to death with the sword, or the body of one who has come to his end by a natural death, or the resting-place was touched.
Num 19:19 Let the clean person do this to the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he is to make him clean; and after washing his clothing and bathing himself in water, he will be clean in the evening.
Num 19:20 But the man who, being unclean, does not make himself clean in this way, will be cut off from the meeting of the people, because he has made the holy place of the Lord unclean: the water has not been put on him, he is unclean.
Num 19:21 This is to be a law for them for ever: he who puts the water on the unclean person is to have his clothing washed; and anyone touching the water will be unclean till evening.
Num 19:22 Anything touched by the unclean person will be unclean; and any person touching it will be unclean till evening.