Why do catholics ignore Old Test/Hebrew feasts & holidays

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Hi. Just wondering why we (Catholics) ignore the feasts and festivals God gave to the Hebrews in the old testament? Wouldn’t the whole apostolic tradition thing mandate that we celebrate these too since Jesus and his deciples did? We don’t even give them a nod. Should we?
 
Norm_The_Robot said:
Hi. Just wondering why we (Catholics) ignore the feasts and festivals God gave to the Hebrews in the old testament? Wouldn’t the whole apostolic tradition thing mandate that we celebrate these too since Jesus and his deciples did? We don’t even give them a nod. Should we?
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I think that was pretty much settled in Acts when Peter said non Jews who become followers of Christ don’t need to be circumcised. Also I think Paul also writes that we are no longer bound by the old Law. Not sure where. Some Christians do though. I’ve seen some stuff on Catholic answers explain ways we can.
 
Because New Wine requires New Wine Skins.

Judaism is of the Old Covenant; it is the Old Wine Skin.

Christ said, “The Faith will be taken away from you and given to another nation (ethni)”. Mainly, most if not all new Christians were Gentiles with no knowledge of the festivals of the Jews. They took festivals from the New Testament, making Jesus the center of our festivals, i.e. New Covenant with New Wine Skins.

New Wine Skins means new festivals, new liturgies, new way of doing things.
 
This weekend, Catholics and almost all other Christians celebrate the Feast of Passover, called Pascha or Pesach. This isn’t as obvious in Germanic language countries, where we call it Easter instead.

Many other Catholic holidays are also “fulfillments” of the old Jewish feasts. There are some very good talks about this in the audio Bible study Feasts of Faith, which is free for download over at salvationhistory.com. You will probably realize after listening that you did know some of these connections, while others are probably long forgotten to most people except liturgical scholars. (Because most of our feasts operate on a solar calendar, while Jews keep to the lunar calendar.)

It also explains a lot about why both Jews and Catholics have a liturgical calendar, and the ancient Jewish background behind some Catholic customs.
 
Actually, the Old Testament forms of worship became the basis for Christian forms of worship (as the preceding post too said). Both have feast of Pentecost for example. The Jewish Passover feast became the basis of what occurs during the Last Supper and the mass. Saint Thomas Aquinas said some interesting things about this, saying the ceremonies, the sacrifices, priesthood and Temple of the Old Testament were types, prefigurements, of the things brought by Christ. Saint Thomas Aquinas provides the instance of the feast of Passover, when the old law was given, which gave place to the feast of Passover in the Book of Acts, on which “the law of the living Spirit was given.” (Summa Theologica, I, II, q. 103, a. 3, answer to obj 4).
 
We have a Seder at my parish every year. Its quite a popular event during Holy Week.
 
Hi. Just wondering why we (Catholics) ignore the feasts and festivals God gave to the Hebrews in the old testament? Wouldn’t the whole apostolic tradition thing mandate that we celebrate these too since Jesus and his deciples did? We don’t even give them a nod. Should we?
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Great question. In Israel, Hebrew Catholics do more than just give a nod - They celebrate the Holy Mass in Hebrew, but also keep traditional Jewish religious commandments, such as celebrating Passover, wearing tefillin, etc. In many ways, they have the best of both worlds - Catholicism and Judaism together.

In the United States, a growing movement - albeit somewhat controversial among traditional Christian denominations - has sprung up called the “Hebrew Roots Movement”, which advocates that Christians return to traditional Jewish law as outlined in the Torah.
 
It is my understanding that not even the practicing Jewish communities do not celebrate as they did 2000 years ago. There were actual sacrifices at the alter (for the forgiveness of sins) and today the forgivness of sins is done annually (Yom Kipper) without animal sacrifice on the alter.
 
Brianmcg321 said:
We have a Seder at my parish every year. Its quite a popular event during Holy Week.
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It is generally frowned-upon for Christians to hold Seder Meals, mostly because Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant. Some will say that that is a violation of the First Commandment.
 
It is my understanding that not even the practicing Jewish communities do not celebrate as they did 2000 years ago. There were actual sacrifices at the alter (for the forgiveness of sins) and today the forgivness of sins is done annually (Yom Kipper) without animal sacrifice on the alter.
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The contrary argument is that at the time, a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for some Jews was a once in a lifetime experience.
Some will say that that is a violation of the First Commandment.
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Not sure I follow - How is a Passover meal a violation of the First Commandment?
 
I come from a Jewish family, and so I attend some Jewish celebrations for their sake. However, I would not recommend that any Catholic (or Orthodox) goes out of their way to celebrate the Jewish ceremonies, if only because they are not apart of the tradition (and in fact, are part of a competing traditions of rabbis following the rise of Christianity and the destruction of the Second Temple).

If a close friend or family member invites you to a Seder, I don’t see the harm in attending. But to seek Jewish practices to “augment” one’s Catholic spiritual life can lead to forsaking the rich (and, in our view as Christians, infinitely more fulfilling) spiritual life offered by the Church.
 
Seder meals violate the First Commandment
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Don’t take this personal, but I find it appalling sometimes that any individual can post a web site and make all kinds of wild-eyed accusations and somehow it’s considered valid. The link provided is not from an authoritative source, such as the Vatican. Call me a skeptic.

How does one reconcile this accusation with Hebrew Catholics in Israel who do celebrate Passover, while still being in full communion with the Church? Are you suggesting that Hebrew Catholics are violating the first commandment as well? Pretty bold accusation.
 
From Canon LXXI:
“If any bishop, presbyter, or deacon, or any one of the list of clergy, keeps fast or festival with the Jews, or receives from them any of the gifts of their feasts, as unleavened bread, or any such things, let him be deposed. If he be a layman, let him be excommunicated”. (pg 598, of the Post-Nicene Fathers, “Seven Ecumenical Councils”.)
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There were also canons anathematizing those that are Judaizers but I have lost those references.

St. John Chrysostom gave some sermons denouncing the Jews because at that time, just like in this thread, many people were sliding into Judaism with its festivals and such. St. John Chrysostom was not really anti-Semitic but trying to preserve the uniqueness of Christianity from being Judaized. It is a fairly common error. People are enamored of the OT and then think, wow, we need to do those things.

We are under a New Covenant with new ways. The Center of Christianity is Christ, so our festivals portray Christ. I highly recommend the above link about “Seder meals violate First Commandment”. It will explain further.
 
Concerning the Old Testament feasts and holidays, St Paul said:

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a sabbath. These are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. (Colossians 2:16-17)
 
Norm_The_Robot said:
Hi. Just wondering why we (Catholics) ignore the feasts and festivals God gave to the Hebrews in the old testament? Wouldn’t the whole apostolic tradition thing mandate that we celebrate these too since Jesus and his deciples did? We don’t even give them a nod. Should we?
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The OT was types and shadows of what was to come. Jesus in His life, fulfilled the OT.

Think about it. Feast of tabernacles, festival of lights, passover, etc etc etc. What was the purpose of these? What / who did they point to?
 
The Feast of Tabernacles/Booths or Sukkot, occurs in the Fall during harvest time, to commemorate the time of Exodus for the Jewish people. It occurs directly after Yom Kippur.

The Festival of Lights/Feast of Dedication would be known as Hanukkah. It doesn’t always coincide with Christmas on the calendar. It can occur from late November through late December.
 
StGerardMajella said:
Don’t take this personal, but I find it appalling sometimes that any individual can post a web site and make all kinds of wild-eyed accusations and somehow it’s considered valid. The link provided is not from an authoritative source, such as the Vatican. Call me a skeptic.

How does one reconcile this accusation with Hebrew Catholics in Israel who do celebrate Passover, while still being in full communion with the Church? Are you suggesting that Hebrew Catholics are violating the first commandment as well? Pretty bold accusation.
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I would have to agree. Several priests and deacons know my mom is Jewish (therefore technically my kids and I are Jewish) and I would spend Passover (or Yom Kippur or any Shabbat service at synagogue) with my mother. None have had any issue with it and have actually encouraged it for, as our old family rabbi put it shalom bayit, “peace in the home.” The accusation that celebrating Pesach with old friends or family is breaking a Commandment astounds me, and, frankly, makes me angry.

I would encourage folks to ask their own priests or research this before taking a 'blog post’s word on this.
 
Norm_The_Robot said:
Hi. Just wondering why we (Catholics) ignore the feasts and festivals God gave to the Hebrews in the old testament? Wouldn’t the whole apostolic tradition thing mandate that we celebrate these too since Jesus and his disciples did? We don’t even give them a nod. Should we?
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Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant with all of its restrictions and regulations and He established His New and Everlasting Covenant. We celebrate the New Testament feasts which supplanted the Old Testament ones.
 
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