I can’t believe so much time has passed since I last wrote on this blog. As I’m only shortly coming up on my one year anniversary as a Catholic at Easter, much of my religious time has been spent growing and learning as a Catholic.
I haven’t ideated so much on Jewishness, Judaism and Identity in relation to Catholicism. In this time the reality dawned on me that only the Holy Spirit is the agent that can illuminate for other Jews what I have been given the grace to see. I am thankful to have gathered my family into the Ark of the Church. There are so many gifts and treasures here, it would take numerous lifetimes to discover them all—and alas we only get one.
I feel more comfortable with myself than I ever have, as I am corporal complex web of identities, while simultaneously becoming even more conscience of my difference with the largely secular world I remain ensconced in. I still live in an area heavily represented by both secular and religious Jews, among a kaleidoscope of other groups.
Because of Covid it seems faith discussion opportunities rarely come up. It must be something about America where we have fully digested the tolerance pill of “I’m OK you’re OK” and don’t know how to evangelize in this environment. The Protestants and Messianic Jews in my family seem profoundly incurious about Catholicism. I find it’s the seculars who might be more interested.
I’d hoped I might find other Hebrew Catholics in the flesh considering I live among so many Jews. I certainly have come into contact with Jews who are on a spectrum of admiring Jesus to believing in him. But for probably a hundred reasons, joyfully converted Jews remain a bridge too far.
In my current situation my little Jewish praxis remains more tethered to the little bit of Messianic, Reformed or Secular Jewish traditions my family was already doing. But I do remain grateful for the Hebrew Catholic Facebook group, which is a real community where we can discuss our little peculiar identity within the Family of God. I do envy the name recognition of the Polish Catholics and Irish Catholics. Jewish Catholic is quite a rich identity. A seeming paradox that isn’t one at all.
