Is there a connection between Judaism and Catholicism?

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pamflute

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I have been studying the Catholic faith for about two years now and still seem to have many questions! My background is primarily Baptist and Presbyterian but I have been interested in Messianic Judaism as well. We have an orthodox Messianic synagouge in this area that I have visited several times and I hope to also go there again in the near future. I am looking for a faith that ties into the Jewish roots of Christianity and Catholicism seems to be the closest one. Is this the wrong way to look at it? Some Protestant apologists I have read say that you shouldn’t look at a Jewish-Christian connection but should look for a New Testament church, whatever that means (and I’m not sure I know what that means anymore!) It would seem to make sense that Jewish ideas would have carried over into Christian worship but did the new covenant get rid of all of that? Is there a connection or not?
 
Christianity developed from and is the ultimate fulfillment of Judaism. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) explains, “When she delves into her own mystery, the Church, the People of God in the New Covenant, discovers her link with the Jewish People, the first to hear the Word of God. The Jewish faith, unlike other non-Christian religions, is already a response to God’s revelation in the Old Covenant. To the Jews belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ; for the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.

“And when one considers the future, God’s People of the Old Covenant and the new People of God tend towards similar goals: expectation of the coming (or the return) of the Messiah. But one awaits the return of the Messiah who died and rose from the dead and is recognized as Lord and Son of God; the other awaits the coming of a Messiah, whose features remain hidden till the end of time; and the latter waiting is accompanied by the drama of not knowing or of misunderstanding Christ Jesus” (CCC 839-840).

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