Judaism, Passover and what we call Easter

[concerneduser]

Can someone relate Passover and Easter in terms of early celebrations of the resurrection of Christ. Can you explain what passover is and where it comes from? Is it ordered by God or is it simply something that we observe such as Easter and Christmas but whose observations are never specifically instituted in the bible to celebrate every year. And from what I heard, isnt every mass a “little easter” as Jesus at the Last supper during Passover took the bread and wine and proclaimed it to be him and asks us to repeat this. Therefore acting like he and the Eucharist are the new covanant that we celebrate the ‘passover’ of every mass on sundays. And we simply focus on this as a specific day we call Easter when the entire mass celebrates this aspect of the Eucharist and the resurection instead of only towards the end of mass. Does this sound right? Can you explain the old covanant and passover with the new covanant and Easter. I think i’m making a connection here with my understanding but it is a bit foggy.
Thanks for your help so much !!!

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

You might want to look at the first reading for the Mass on Holy Thursday:

Reading 1
Ex 12:1-8, 11-14

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
"This month shall stand at the head of your calendar;
you shall reckon it the first month of the year.
Tell the whole community of Israel:
On the tenth of this month every one of your families
must procure for itself a lamb, one apiece for each household.
If a family is too small for a whole lamb,
it shall join the nearest household in procuring one
and shall share in the lamb
in proportion to the number of persons who partake of it.
The lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish.
You may take it from either the sheep or the goats.
You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month,
and then, with the whole assembly of Israel present,
it shall be slaughtered during the evening twilight.
They shall take some of its blood
and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel
of every house in which they partake of the lamb.
That same night they shall eat its roasted flesh
with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

"This is how you are to eat it:
with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand,
you shall eat like those who are in flight.
It is the Passover of the LORD.
For on this same night I will go through Egypt,
striking down every firstborn of the land, both man and beast,
and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt—I, the LORD!
But the blood will mark the houses where you are.
Seeing the blood, I will pass over you;
thus, when I strike the land of Egypt,
no destructive blow will come upon you.

“This day shall be a memorial feast for you,
which all your generations shall celebrate
with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution.”

 

[OnceLostSoul]

You might want to look at the first reading for the Mass on Holy Thursday:

Reading 1
Ex 12:1-8, 11-14

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
"This month shall stand at the head of your calendar;
you shall reckon it the first month of the year.
Tell the whole community of Israel:
On the tenth of this month every one of your families
must procure for itself a lamb, one apiece for each household.
If a family is too small for a whole lamb,
it shall join the nearest household in procuring one
and shall share in the lamb
in proportion to the number of persons who partake of it.
The lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish.
You may take it from either the sheep or the goats.
You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month,
and then, with the whole assembly of Israel present,
it shall be slaughtered during the evening twilight.
They shall take some of its blood
and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel
of every house in which they partake of the lamb.
That same night they shall eat its roasted flesh
with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

"This is how you are to eat it:
with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand,
you shall eat like those who are in flight.
It is the Passover of the LORD.
For on this same night I will go through Egypt,
striking down every firstborn of the land, both man and beast,
and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt—I, the LORD!
But the blood will mark the houses where you are.
Seeing the blood, I will pass over you;
thus, when I strike the land of Egypt,
no destructive blow will come upon you.

“This day shall be a memorial feast for you,
which all your generations shall celebrate
with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution.”

And from what I heard, isnt every mass a “little easter” as Jesus at the Last supper during Passover took the bread and wine and proclaimed it to be him and asks us to repeat this. Therefore acting like he and the Eucharist are the new covanant that we celebrate the ‘passover’ of every mass on sundays.

Every Jew who partakes in the celebration of the Passover has to eat the flesh of the roasted lamb with unleaven bread and bitter herbs.

Similarly, every Christian who partakes who partakes in the celebration of the Holy Mass (“a lilttle Easter”) should eat the flesh of the unblemished Lamb of God, but in the form of unleaved bread (communion host) with love and joy!

When Jews celebrate the Passover, it’s a re-enactment of the original Passover night in Egypt and not just mere ‘rememberance’ as they are supposed to gird their loins, and eat like those who are in flight with sandals and staff in the hand.

In like manner, when Christians celebrate the Holy Mass, it’s a re-enactment of Christ’s Passion and cruxificion on Calvary. Christ died once and for all to save us from sin (Rom 6:10) and His sacrifical death is re-enacted in every Mass which is the perfect sacrifice prophesied by Malachi a few centuries before Christ.

*For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, my name is great among the nations; And everywhere they bring sacrifice to my name, and a pure offering; For great is my name among the nations, says the LORD of hosts. * (Mal 1:11, NAB)

The Mass is always celebrated everywhere through the whole world every day of the year and not just on Sundays. Somewhere throughout the day, from the rising of the sun to the setting of the sun, there’s always a Mass being celebrated.