Interior Catholic

  • Our Father Abraham

    Most Christians don’t have the first idea about Judaism, because we’re taught to dismiss it. Jews are “wrong,” lost souls in need of conversion. Or, the Old Testament is a bunch of old, obsolete rules.

    None of that is true, and Our Father Abraham beings to explain why.

    I took pages and pages of notes—on Abraham, the early Church, the Jewishness of Jesus. On St. Paul, the converted Pharisee. This book is respectful to both sides, unbiased in presenting the facts. It admits when each side messed up, and they both messed up. But we can learn what happened, and start to fix it.

    Christianity’s history is steeped in Judaism, and most don’t know it. It starts in the beginning, when Abraham—a non-Jew—was called to obey God. Little has changed since, for Jews and Christians. When God declared Abram a “father of nations” (Genesis 17:5), “nation” doesn’t just mean Israel. It doesn’t just mean the Jewish people. The Hebrew word is goyim, also translated as “Gentiles.” From the beginning, God included us all.

    It delves into the history itself, and how Christianity broke off from its root. It goes into the theological differences between us, and stresses that we be respectful of each other despite them. It explores Jewish heritage and what the Hebrew Bible really teaches, and how Christianity has skewed that.

    Jesus, his parents, and the apostles were practicing Jews. Jesus was well-versed in the Law, and celebrated the festivals (Sukkoth, Passover, Hanukkah). He used well-known Hebrew idioms in his sermons. Jesus never disregarded the religion, and we should live by example. But it’s not enough for Christians to just know about Judaism. It’s also our duty to live by its teachings, because that’s our history, too. Yes, we disagree on some major points. But at its root, Judaism is about divine love and love for one another. Jesus said so himself.

    You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.
    —Matthew 22:37–40

    A final observation: Throughout the Gospels, there’s much talk about the law and following the word of God. This is often interpreted as following the New Testament itself and the teachings of Jesus. But… at the time, there was no New Testament yet. Every single time they make reference to the faith, they’re talking about the Hebrew Bible. They’re referencing Mosaic Law. And that gives the Gospels a whole new meaning.

  • St. Martha, Dragon Tamer

    Recently, I commented on how we don’t know what happened with Martha after Jesus came to visit. He’d gently reprimanded her, so we’re left with the conclusion “be a Mary rather than a Martha.” No bustling around. Take time to sit at Jesus’s feet. I never thought of her much beyond that. But with her recent feast day, I learned maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to be a “Martha.”

    Firstly, this tale of the overbusy servant isn’t her only Biblical appearance. She reappears in the book of John after her brother, Lazarus, has died. In case you’re left with the assumption that Martha was all work and no pray, she makes an important declaration to Jesus—and this is before Jesus resurrects her dear brother.

    “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world.”
    —John 11:27

    But wait—there’s more!

    In legends of post-Biblical life, Martha is a force to be reckoned with. Her most famously chronicled tale hails from the Golden Legend, a Medieval compilation of the lives of saints. The tales border on fantastical, and I won’t claim the validity of any of this, but it’s a pretty great story.

    After Jesus’s death, Martha and her siblings are said to have been missionaries to France. But this was no peaceful land at that time. In the first century, France was tormented by Tarasque, a legendary dragon-like creature. No military might could defeat it. But Martha could do what no soldier could—she tamed it. In sprinkling holy water, reciting hymns and prayers, she was able to calm it and wrap it in her scarf. She lead the now-docile beast into the city, but the people were still afraid. When they attacked Tarasque, it showed no resistance and they ultimately killed it. Rather than mourn, Martha took this opportunity to evangelize the city and convert many in her wake.

    Martha’s crypt can be found at St. Martha’s Collegiate Church in Tarascon, France, the town named after that very same legendary dragon.


    Martha and Tarasque grace the facade of Tarascon’s Town Hall. (source)

    Maybe, in the end, being a “Martha” isn’t so bad after all.

And they said to him, “Inquire of God, we pray thee, that we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed.”

And the priest said to them, “Go in peace. The journey on which you go is under the eye of the LORD.”

—Judges 18:5–6

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