Traitor for Christ
Cardinal Jean Marie Lustiger died on Sunday, August 5, 2007. He was the the only modern prelate who was born a Jew. He converted to Catholicism at age 14 after being enamored by the faith practice of his Catholic associates. He was attracted to the Catholic faith because his parents were Jews who were lukewarm to their faith. Time magazine reports that he has been branded by some Jewish leaders as a traitor because of his conversion.
It’s very interesting that this Sunday’s Gospel has Jesus saying that he did not come to bring peace but division among families. Of course what Jesus meant was that people who accept his message and live by it will be ostracized and rejected by their own kind. This is exactly what Cardinal Lustiger had to endure almost his whole life.
Traitor is one adjective that we Christians should be proud of provided we are doing something for the sake of the kingdom of God. We should be consoled that Jesus himself was considered a traitor by the Jewish leaders of His time. What about the Apostles and all the early disciples who were almost exclusively Jews? How about Mary and Joseph? All these people were Jews who believed in Christ and therefore rightfully were considered traitors to the Jewish faith or so it seems.
Let’s see what Cardinal Lustiger said of such a label, “Christianity is the fruit of Judaism”. From this angle converting to Christianity can’t be a betrayal but progression. All Christians after all believe that Judaism is the precursor of Christianity, just as the Old Testament was intended to reveal Jesus coming into this world and his actions which are recorded in the New Testament. If the New Testament is the progression of the Old Testament, then logically too, Christianity is the progression from Judaism.
Jesus himself said that He came to bring the Good News to the Jews. This means that Jesus’ intention was that the Jews were supposed to become Christians and Judaism was to become defunct. Our Mother Church teaches us that at the Second Coming of Christ, most if not all Jews will convert en masse to Catholicism.
Ultimately, Cardinal Lustiger followed the example of his ancient brothers of the Jewish faith who converted and followed Christ as Catholics. Sooner or later Jews will convert to the Way that Yahweh had been revealing to them the past four or five thousand years. So sooner is better, as Lustiger had done.
