ok, so im considering applying to a seminary to help me discern better for a year or 2. most of my concerns i talked over with my spiritual director, but there is one thing thats a little to personal to discuss in great detail with him. My dad is Jewish and i never talked about religion with him or my other Jewish family ever. Me and my dad never really got along, but i have a good relationship with the rest of my family. and i was wondering, just how am i going to tell him i want to enter a seminary? should i tell my family members i get along with first?
There are many aspects to consider here:
(1a) Did your father marry a Catholic?–if so, can he reasonably expect you to forfeit any claim to your maternal heritage?
(1b) If both of your parents are Jewish, its easy to understand their qualms with your acceptance of a different faith/culture.
(2) Are they religious or simply culturally Jewish? If they are religious, did they try to help you practice your religion fully?
If they/he are/is simply (a) ‘cultural Jew(s)’ you might want to emphasize that Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular–as you may have gathered–is a remarkably Judeo-centric enterprise. The Jewish contributions to Christianity are impossible to ignore: from God’s own earthly family, to the Apostles, and beyond.
The Archiepiscopal see of Paris, the city that is spiritual capital of the Church’s ‘eldest daughter’, was held by a Jewish person (
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Marie_Lustiger) for ~24 years. Many Jewish priests serve in many traditional groups: among them the SSPX, the Dominicans, the Canons Regular of New Jerusalem (which is headed by a Jewish person, a Fr. Oppenheimer, I believe:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canons_Regular_of_the_New_Jerusalem). Even during the foulest era of anti-Semitic hysteria (the Iberian Inquisition), many prominent churchmen had Jewish roots. Moreover, the clerical occupation is one of the few areas–outside of academia and the rabbinical occupation, of course–where an abiding fascination with Judaica and Hebraist studies are well-rewarded and sought after.
If it is only a cultural barrier separating you from your father’s good graces, just give him a short history lesson, to help make him aware of the authentically Jewish benefactors of our Faith. If this is not enough, tell him that he can’t arbitrate ‘What is Jewish-enough’ vs. ‘What is not Jewish-enough’ anymore than the Lubavitcher Rebbe can. There are probably
many Jews who could take one look at him and criticize his lifestyle up and down, calling it ‘frei’ and ‘goyisch’. That’s why Jesus said early on that the nit-picking
and back-biting over how pious (or ‘frum’
) our observance is keeps us from God more than anything.
I would encourage you to explain these things to your father, and humbly ask for his blessing before moving ahead. Also, it is important that you discuss these things with your
spiritual confessor, because he will know your case better than anyone here and will be able to offer fatherly advice–even if your own father won’t.
Good luck on your path, and many blessings!
