New Good Friday Prayer for 1962 missal

[AlexV]

Let’s also not forget that some places have used the 1962 Good Friday since 1989. Almost 20 yrs., and nary a peep out of Abraham Foxman and his cronies.

This tempest in a teapot is mostly over the fact that Benedict XVI is a German from the World War II era. What the Polish pope did in 1988 (i.e., allowing the 1962 Good Friday) didn’t cause a single article of news.

I’m still waiting for these geniuses in the Anti-Defamation League to check out the 1962 Breviary. Lots of nice passages from Gregory, Leo, Ambrose, that make the “perfidious Jews” stuff from Good Friday look like a love letter to Tel Aviv.

 

[markadm]

Let’s also not forget that some places have used the 1962 Good Friday since 1989. Almost 20 yrs., and nary a peep out of Abraham Foxman and his cronies.

And some people never stopped!

I’m still waiting for these geniuses in the Anti-Defamation League to check out the 1962 Breviary. Lots of nice passages from Gregory, Leo, Ambrose, that make the “perfidious Jews” stuff from Good Friday look like a love letter to Tel Aviv.

Oh, I hope not; I want my Breviary left alone!

 

[Neil_Anthony]

I would like to point out that the Good Friday prayers in the OF still call for the conversion of the Jews to Christ. First, there is a specific prayer for those who do not know Christ. Second, in the prayer for the Jews, it says:

"Listen to your Church as we pray that the people you first made your own may arrive at the fullness of redemption. "

The only way for the Jews to arrive at the fullness of redemption is to come to accept Christ.

So, even in the ordinary form, post Vatican II, we still pray for the Jews to come to know Christ. We just do it in a humbler way.

Edit: My personal favorite of the three is the new revision of the 1962 prayer. It doesn’t obfuscate what it’s saying like the OF prayer, but I think it is more humble and sensitive.

Isn’t the prayer in the TLM more reflective of the duty of the Church. To call all men to conversion?
The prayer in the OF is more reflective of an attitude expressed by Cardinal Kasper which calls for no conversion.
Only one of these prayers can be right.

The National Council of Synagogues and
The Bishops Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, USCCB
August 12, 2002

bc.edu/research/cjl/meta-elements/texts/cjrelations/resources/documents/interreligious/ncs_usccb120802.htm\

"The Roman Catholic reflections describe the growing respect for the Jewish tradition that has unfolded since the Second Vatican Council. A deepening Catholic appreciation of the eternal covenant between God and the Jewish people, together with a recognition of a divinely-given mission to Jews to witness to God’s faithful love, lead to the conclusion that campaigns that target Jews for conversion to Christianity are no longer theologically acceptable in the Catholic Church.“

"More recently, Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Commission for the Religious Relations with the Jews, explained this practice. In a formal statement made first at the seventeenth meeting of the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee in May 2001, and repeated later in the year in Jerusalem, Cardinal Kasper spoke of “mission” in a narrow sense to mean “proclamation” or the invitation to baptism and catechesis. He showed why such initiatives are not appropriately directed at Jews: The term mission, in its proper sense, refers to conversion from false gods and idols to the true and one God, who revealed himself in the salvation history with His elected people. Thus mission, in this strict sense, cannot be used with regard to Jews, who believe in the true and one God… Therefore, and this is characteristic, there exists dialogue but there does not exist any Catholic missionary organization for Jews.
From the point of view of the Catholic Church, Judaism is a religion that springs from divine revelation. As Cardinal Kasper noted, "God’s grace, which is the grace of Jesus Christ according to our faith, is available to all. Therefore, the Church believes that Judaism, i.e. the faithful response of the Jewish people to God’s irrevocable covenant, is salvific for them, because God is faithful to his promises… Nonetheless, the Church does perceive that the Jewish people’s mission ad gentes (to the nations) continues. This is a mission that the Church also pursues in her own way according to her understanding of covenant. The command of the Resurrected Jesus in Matthew 28:19 to make disciples “of all nations” (Greek = ethnē, the cognate of the Hebrew = goyim; i.e., the nations other than Israel) means that the Church must bear witness in the world to the Good News of Christ so as to prepare the world for the fullness of the kingdom of God. However, this evangelizing task no longer includes the wish to absorb the Jewish faith into Christianity and so end the distinctive witness of Jews to God in human history.
Thus, while the Catholic Church regards the saving act of Christ as central to the process of human salvation for all, it also acknowledges that Jews already dwell in a saving covenant with God. The Catholic Church must always evangelize and will always witness to its faith in the presence of God’s kingdom in Jesus Christ to Jews and to all other people. In so doing, the Catholic Church respects fully the principles of religious freedom and freedom of conscience, so that sincere individual converts from any tradition or people, including the Jewish people, will be welcomed and accepted.”

 

[stmaria]

=Neil_Anthony;3286527]I would like to point out that the Good Friday prayers in the OF still call for the conversion of the Jews to Christ. First, there is a specific prayer for those who do not know Christ. Second, in the prayer for the Jews, it says:

"Listen to your Church as we pray that the people you first made your own may arrive at the fullness of redemption. "

So, even in the ordinary form, post Vatican II, we still pray for the Jews to come to know Christ. ** We just do it in a humbler way. **

I have never heard of any Jewish organization complaining about that prayer in the OF. I don’t believe that they consider it to be a call to conversion. Yet they have complained about the prayer in the TLM. And I don’t think Cardnial Kasper thinks conversion is necessary either.

The National Council of Synagogues and
The Bishops Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, USCCB
August 12, 2002

bc.edu/research/cjl/meta-elements/texts/cjrelations/resources/documents/interreligious/ncs_usccb120802.htm

“From the point of view of the Catholic Church, Judaism is a religion that springs from divine revelation. As Cardinal Kasper noted, “God’s grace, which is the grace of Jesus Christ according to our faith, is available to all. Therefore, the Church believes that Judaism, i.e. the faithful response of the Jewish people to God’s irrevocable covenant, is salvific for them, because God is faithful to his promises”…
Nonetheless, the Church does perceive that the Jewish people’s mission ad gentes (to the nations) continues. This is a mission that the Church also pursues in her own way according to her understanding of covenant. The command of the Resurrected Jesus in Matthew 28:19 to make disciples “of all nations” (Greek = ethnē, the cognate of the Hebrew = goyim; i.e., the nations other than Israel) means that the Church must bear witness in the world to the Good News of Christ so as to prepare the world for the fullness of the kingdom of God. However, this evangelizing task **no longer includes the wish to absorb the Jewish faith into Christianity **and so end the distinctive witness of Jews to God in human history.”

 

[Neil_Anthony]

Wow, I just read that link. I was hoping your quotes were out of context but I see that they aren’t. This sounds really wrong to me. I don’t believe that its the teaching of the Church, it sounds like heresy!?

Edit: The Cardinal had to qualify this statement a few days after it was released and explain that it didn’t represent the position of the USCCB:

Cardinal William H. Keeler of Baltimore said Friday that a document made public August 12 represents the state of thought among the participants of a dialogue that has been going on for a number of years between the U.S. Catholic Church and the Jewish community in this country.

Cardinal Keeler, the U.S. Bishops’ Moderator for Catholic-Jewish relations, said that the document, entitled Reflections on Covenant and Mission, does not represent a formal position taken by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) or the Bishops’ Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs (BCEIA). The purpose of publicly issuing the considerations which it contains is to encourage serious reflection on these matters by Jews and Catholics in the U.S. These considerations provide a basis for discussing both the similarities and the significant differences between the Christian and Jewish understandings of the call given by the one God to both peoples.

 

[DustinsDad]

Chris Ferarra’s take on the prayer change is positive:

A Papal Masterstroke: Pope’s Good Friday Prayer Reinforces Infallible Church Teaching

 

[Like]

Come on folks, some of you need to get a life! If you don’t think pope Benedict has the authority to change a prayer said in the Mass, then I suggest you are in the wrong Catholic Church.

A prayer said 1(one) day out of the whole year!

 

[latinmass]

Come on folks, some of you need to get a life! If you don’t think pope Benedict has the authority to change a prayer said in the Mass, then I suggest you are in the wrong Catholic Church.

A prayer said 1(one) day out of the whole year!

Does it matter how often the prayer is said? Can the Pope change the Apostles Creed also? Or just some prayers? I don’t know, but history has taught us, and the Church teaches that Popes are not perfect, and knowledge of Tradition, doctrine, as well as canon law is essential in making these decisions. Not, that Popes do not have this knowledge, but do make mistakes, and it is up to all of us to know our faith when making decisions.

 

[stmaria]

Come on folks, some of you need to get a life! If you don’t think pope Benedict has the authority to change a prayer said in the Mass, then I suggest you are in the wrong Catholic Church.

A prayer said 1(one) day out of the whole year!

Of course the Pope can make minor changes to a prayer And this is what he has done and Jewish organizations still don’t like it. But why isn’t this prayer also imposed on the Ordinary Form? Shouldn’t that Good Friday Mass also pray that Jews be "enlightened’ and “acknowledge Jesus Christ?”

Let us pray also for the Jews.
May our God and Lord **enlighten **their hearts, so that they may acknowledge Jesus Christ, savior of all men.
Let us pray.
Let us kneel.
Arise.
Almighty and everlasting God, who desires that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of truth, mercifully grant that, as the fullness of the Gentiles enters into Thy Church, all Israel may be saved. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen

 

[JMMK]

Exactly, the knowledge of the truth is Christ as Lord and Savior. So it still calls for their conversion. If you notice in the news, many Jewish communities are still upset by it. It seems that using positive rhetoric rather than negative rhetoric to say the same thing isn’t enough, but that they wanted our faith changed. That’s never going to happen.

I was personally surprised when I heard that Pope Benedict XVI changed it. After some thought, I think I understand. We are still praying to God to bring all people, especially the Jews, to conversion. Yet, if we use harsh language they will take offense and harden their hearts to our message. That’s like praying to God for good health and then intentionally eating bad clams.

He hasn’t changed the message, he hasn’t changed the faith, he’s just trying to be polite.

As an aside, no one should’ve complained in the first place. I really wouldn’t have wanted to be in the Pope’s position on this one at all. Change it and seem like a liberal/coward/fraud/heretic or leave it be and portray the whole church as bigoted/close-minded/anti-semitic and so on. I pray for him.

 

[Rachele_Ann]

After some thought, I think I understand. We are still praying to God to bring all people, especially the Jews, to conversion. Yet, if we use harsh language they will take offense and harden their hearts to our message.

This is a great way to think of it… thank you JMMK.
After the initial shock, I think I’m done whining about it. We are still praying for Jews to be brought into redemption through Christ. You are right JMMK it is not like Pope Benedict changed the faith. Thanks again for the enlightening post.

 

[Dauphin]

I don’t understand why we’re allowing the Jews to pick through our liturgies and edit our prayers. I don’t understand why the Holy Father has capitulated to political pressure, when he’s never before shown a tendency to do this. I accept the revision, but I’m shocked that something as sacred as the Good Friday liturgy is considered fair game for efforts to appease Jews and make them feel better about rejecting the Church.

 

[Neil_Anthony]

I don’t understand why we’re allowing the Jews to pick through our liturgies and edit our prayers. I don’t understand why the Holy Father has capitulated to political pressure, when he’s never before shown a tendency to do this. I accept the revision, but I’m shocked that something as sacred as the Good Friday liturgy is considered fair game for efforts to appease Jews and make them feel better about rejecting the Church.

Let’s assume that he genuinely wants to please God with the wording of the prayer and is rewording it to make it less likely to be a stumbling block, and to be more humble. So it wasn’t outside pressure, but perhaps humble consideration of an outside opinion.

 

[Walking_Home]

Let us not deceive ourselves into believing changing the prayer is going to “soften” some peoples hearts. Some will not be satisfied until we turn our back on Christ and proclaim that he is not who He is — therefore there is no need for conversion.

adl.org/PresRele/VaticanJewish_96/5220_96.htm

 

[latinmasslover]

As I recall, the Gospels show Jesus soft on the sinners who wanted to convert but weren’t “allowed” because of some self-rightous pharisees. What I don’t remember (someone please correct me if I’m wrong) is Jesus softening His attitude for those who didn’t care to change or who absolutely refused. How is going the pagan way more pleasing to God?

 

[otjm]

The Masses said throughout the year have specific readings and prayers etc. to focus on the specific day or feast. Holy Week is no exception. The prayers and readings for Good Friday speak to the exact events of that exact day of the Passion almost 2,000 years ago. To change them for pc reasons is very sad. The new prayer in the OF of may they grow in the love of His name? They reject Him as our savior. This day in our Church history is why the original prayer is so accurate. The truth will never change of all needing to repent and be baptized, even if many these days rationalize that the truth is to harsh. “You brood of vipers.”

Please show thaqt it is a change due to political correctness.

The Jews did not kill Christ; a select number of them did. St John, in his Gospel, was writing to a specific group, who understood who he meant as thegroup he was writing to were not that far removed from the Crucifixion. Over time, his use of the term “Jews” was applied far more widely than how he was using it. Christ’s comment about the brood of vipers was to the Pharisees, and not even to all Pahrisees if you read the Gospel accoutns accurately.

You seem unable to distinguish between those who are presented Christ clearly and accurately and reject Him, and those who reject what they presume to be Christ, but is a false image of Him. You are right that truth can be harsh; but it is also true that truth can be harshly presented; you might take a look at what Proverbs has to say about that.

 

[otjm]

I don’t understand why we’re allowing the Jews to pick through our liturgies and edit our prayers. I don’t understand why the Holy Father has capitulated to political pressure, when he’s never before shown a tendency to do this. I accept the revision, but I’m shocked that something as sacred as the Good Friday liturgy is considered fair game for efforts to appease Jews and make them feel better about rejecting the Church.

The Jews did not edit our prayer; the Pope did.
Given the fact the he is considered one of the most brilliant theologians alive today, perhaps he had a reason that you don’t see. Are you suggesting he needs to give you a reason for what he does?

 

[latinmasslover]

Please show thaqt it is a change due to political correctness.

The Jews did not kill Christ; a select number of them did. St John, in his Gospel, was writing to a specific group, who understood who he meant as thegroup he was writing to were not that far removed from the Crucifixion. Over time, his use of the term “Jews” was applied far more widely than how he was using it. Christ’s comment about the brood of vipers was to the Pharisees, and not even to all Pahrisees if you read the Gospel accoutns accurately.

You seem unable to distinguish between those who are presented Christ clearly and accurately and reject Him, and those who reject what they presume to be Christ, but is a false image of Him. You are right that truth can be harsh; but it is also true that truth can be harshly presented; you might take a look at what Proverbs has to say about that.

The whole point of Vatican II was to make the Church “politcally correct,” though the more common phrase is “updating the Church with the times,” but more accurately “helping Christ see the light of truth.”

Are you saying that the Church for the first 1900s was competely naive of what you’re saying, the Saints and Popes and Councils, and that God granted this great illumination during the strung-out sixties where the only “truth” is “to each his own?”

 

[latinmasslover]

The Jews did not edit our prayer; the Pope did.
Given the fact the he is considered one of the most brilliant theologians alive today, perhaps he had a reason that you don’t see. Are you suggesting he needs to give you a reason for what he does?

I’d like a reason for why a certain pope felt it necessary to have mistresses…

 

[otjm]

Does it matter how often the prayer is said? Can the Pope change the Apostles Creed also? Or just some prayers? I don’t know, but history has taught us, and the Church teaches that Popes are not perfect, and knowledge of Tradition, doctrine, as well as canon law is essential in making these decisions. Not, that Popes do not have this knowledge, but do make mistakes, and it is up to all of us to know our faith when making decisions.

You are right; it is up to all of us to know our faith. And when we have one of the most brilliant theologians in the Church as our leader, perhaps it behooves each and every one of us to put our pride aside and listen to what he says; I suspect that there are not too awfully many out there who know the faith better than he does.