Ahim,
do you hold the view that God is through with the Jews, so to speak? different people view His relationship differently. Some say they are utterly cast down - some say they are still His favored people. I’m just curious. I don’t believe He is done with them. They are still special to him.
I believe modern-day Judaism is no more in God’s favor than the pagans. Yet, I do not presume God is done with anybody yet–Jew, pagan, or otherwise–especially those who pray to Him and desire to live by His will, yet through no fault of their own still remain in ignorance of the Blessed Trinity, and in ignorance of his only Son, Jesus Christ, and ignorant of His Holy Church which He built upon the rock of Peter.
I believe 2000 years without a Holy Temple (half the time Judaism has existed), such that Rabbinic Judaism is forced to worship differently than what is prescribed for Judaism in the Bible, is a significant sign that the chosen people of God is not Rabbinic Judaism. For example, the Paschal Seder meal today is not the same as prescribed in the Bible. Why? The Bible calls for them to sacrifice animals in the Holy Temple as Paschal sacrifice to be eaten during the Seder meal. This sacrifice was to be offered at the place prescribed by God. Jewish practices of sacrifices and offerings have not been practiced since their Temple was destroyed, “because we are not permitted to bring offerings anywhere else.” (Jewis FAQ,
jewfaq.org/defs/sacrifice.htm)
There are some Jews who believe they need to re-build the Temple, yet there are many who are afraid of the hard questions they would have to answer if the Temple was rebuilt. For example, if they had a Temple, would they resume animal sacrifices? Modern-day Jews may find this practice rather scandalous, according to some Jewish authors.
The olive tree of David, in my view, continues within the Catholic Church, just as the son of God himself established prior to the utter destruction of the Temple in AD 70. As such, the true ark of salvation is that community of believers who believe in Jesus Christ, in accord with His will, in faithful obedience to His commands. Those outside this ark cannot be saved, not by Judaism, not by Muhammad, not by Buddha, not by Noah, not by the pope, not by Mary, not by Peter, not by a Latin liturgy, not by anything other than Jesus Christ.
According to Catholic doctrine,
Dominus Iesus, approved and promulgated by John Paul II, August 6, 2000, states:
"the action of the Spirit is not outside or parallel to the action of Christ. There is only one salvific economy of the One and Triune God, realized in the mystery of the incarnation, death, and resurrection of the Son of God, actualized with the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, and extended in its salvific value to all humanity and to the entire universe: “No one, therefore, can enter into communion with God except through Christ, by the working of the Holy Spirit”.