Hebreos Católicos: Remnant of Israel » Israel’s True Identity and Vocation - Mark Drogin

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Israels True Identity and VocationPos ted By Mark Drogin On December 11, 2004 @ 11:33 pm In Editorials & Speeches | 1Comment

The following was first given as a lecture by Mark Drogin at a conference on December 11, 2004in Washington DC

Holy Spirit, Be on my lips and in my hea rt that I may w orthily proclaim your W ord. All of ourGuardian Ange ls, Pray for us.

Thank you. It is a grea t joy to be here with all of you. Thank you for coming.

Dear Friends, How truly good and how pleasant it is for us to be here today.

Remnant of Israel is a no n-profit corporation established in 1976 to continue the w ork of Father Arthur Klyber. Father Klyber w as b orn of orthodox Jewish parents and Baptized at theage of 20. He was called to the p riestho od and ordained in 1932. Father Klyber never lost hisJewish identity. He w as proud to be known as a Jewish priest.

He was a preacher. He loved to p reach about Judaism. One o f his favorite themes w as this:Whe n a Jew finds the Messiah, he remains Jewish.

And this is the basis of this conference today: When a Jew finds the Messiah, he or sheremains Jewish. There are four of us spea king here to day. We be lieve Jesus is the JewishMessiah. We find the fullness of Judaism in the Catho lic Church. We a re proud to profess theCatholic Faith. We a re proud to profess our fidelity to the Magisterium. And w e a re proud toproclaim that we are even more Jewish now than we we re before we we re Catholics.

Many of us are active in apos tolic wo rk for the Church. One of the go als of this mee ting hereis to promote b etter communication and more coop eration among Jew ish Catho lics inproclaiming this message about the Jewish Messiah. We w ant to se rve the Good Shepherdas He ga thers the lost she ep of the House of Israel. We will keep you informed as this

develops.

ISRAELS TRUE IDENTITY AND VOCATION

The four of us de cided tha t we wo uld each describe briefly our conversion to the CatholicFaith. Much controversy arises whe n Jews and Ca tholics talk about conversion. The four of us speaking here today are frequently called converts. The w ords, convert and

convers ion, a re commonly unde rstood to refe r to changing ones religion. The four of ushere profess that we have no t actually change d religion but we have found the fullness of Judaism and w e remain Jew ish.

The Holy Fathers theme for the Great Jubilee w as conversion. He called all people to convertback to God. Moses and the Hebrew Prophets repea tedly exhorted the Pe ople of God toconvert. Convert s imply means to turn back. We are a ll in the process of conversion.

Our Faith in Jesus de mands that we proclaim that He is the Jew ish Messiah and He has cometo o ffer Salvation to everyone. Our job is to proclaim this Good New s. Gods job is to convertpeople.

My conversion does no t end w ith Baptism. Rather, my conversion is a continuing da ilystruggle. With this in mind, I have one anecdote from my personal spiritual journey.

As for anyone , becoming Catholic is an aw esome outpouring of grace gratuitous and w hollyunmerited on o ur parts. More than anything else, I want to expres s thanks g iving for ourLords Boundless Mercy.

I was introduced to Our Mother of Perpetual Help before I was Baptized . Let me te ll you howit happene d. I had hit bottom, I had des paired of any reaso n to live. I was a n agnostic I
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thought there was a God, but wasnt sure. The obs tacle w as that I didnt see a ny way that Icould be forgiven and reconciled w ith this Almighty God, not be cause my sins w ere un-forgivable, but because I doubted my ow n contrition and purpose of amendment. I thought Iwo uld hope lessly fall back into sin over and over again no matter how many times I wasforgiven.

For wee ks I wa s looking for any source of hope; I wa s desperate. I we nt into a church andwa s attracted to a sta tue w ith a typed p rayer at the base , which included this sente nce: OMother of Perpe tual Help, into your hands do I place my ete rnal salvation, to you do I entrustmy soul. I was mysteriously drawn to the p rayer: I memorized it and said it every day. Ientrusted my soul and my eternal salvation in the hands of this Lady, even though I didntknow who s he wa s, and I was not yet Baptized.

Only God knows w hat wa s go ing on in the depths o f my soul, but I do know that a greatchange came into my life: I wante d to p ray to Our Mother of Perpe tual Help and to learnmore abo ut her. Wha t a grace!

Wha t wonderful Hope! Three months later, I was Baptized.

Recently, I learned that the p rayer I memorized w as written by St. Alphonsus Liguouri,founder of the Redemptorists a nd a Doctor of the Church. The founder of the Remnant of Israel, our beloved Fa ther Arthur Klyber, is a Redemptorist and a true son of St. Alphonsus.Wha t an amazing coincidence!

Also, I have come to trus t in Divine Mercy. I believe that my sins a re truly forgiven. I am still asinner, and continue to need freque nt confession. I continue to pray for my own dailyconversion. But I understa nd that God reads our hearts and if we are so rry for our sins andwa nt to change , the Lord w ill mee t us and help us . My life has truly change d, and I havechanged, in the de cades since I started praying to Our Mother of Pe rpetual Help. God trulyansw ers prayer. And He truly hears the prayers of Israel and keeps His Promises to HisPeople.

The title for this ta lk, Israe ls True Identity and Vocation, comes from an a rticle by Dr.Gregory Vall publishe d in The Thomist, April 2002. I thank Dr. Vall for his important a rticle o nthe identity of Israel, which I strongly recommend for further study. I am indebted to Dr. Vall,although I w ill take a slightly different approa ch than his article.

Wha t is Israels true identity and vocation? W hat is Israels unique role in Salvation? Thereare many valid and mean ingful answers to the se ques tions and, of course, if you ask fourJews you w ill get at least five different answ ers.

I propose that the Ca lling of Israel is this: the Lord chose Israel to be the first among allnations, and to lead all nations to Him. Israe l leads a ll nations by turning back to God; Israelis called to be the first to turn back to God. When Israel repents and returns to the Lord, shebecomes a light to the nations by manifesting the Lords mercy and w itnessing to Hisforgivenes s of sins.

I will focus on three aspe cts of Israels calling: repentance, the forgiveness of sins, and therestoration o f Gods Covenant Family. From Israels history I will present some a rchetypes of repenta nce and forgiveness o f sin. This will help us see how the Gospe l calls each one o f usto be a child of Abraham, to be restored to full membership in Gods Covenant Family, theFamily of Israel.

The goal for each of us is to get to he aven. We should direct everything to that end. Theobs tacle, making it difficult for most of us to ge t to heaven, is sin.

My first po int is the centrality of repentance to the vocation o f Israel.

We are familiar with the centrality of repen tance in the Gospel. In the first Gospe l, the firstwo rd spoken by both John the Baptist and Jesus was: Repent. On Pentecos t, nearly 2000years ago, Pete r, stand ing up with the Eleven, lifted up his voice and spoke out to the

devout Jews from eve ry nation under heaven. The devout Jews were pierced to the heartand sa id, Brethren, what shall we do? Pete r said to them, Repent and be bap tized everyone of you for the forgiveness of your sins. (Acts 2:5-38) Pe ters first word w as: Repent.

We must recognize the ne ed for repentance among Jews as w ell as gentiles. Paul carefullyexplains in Romans that all have sinned, both ge ntiles a nd Jews , and all are in need of


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redemption through the Blood of Jesus. (Rom 3:23-25) All, without exception, must repent.

Paul use s the story of the Fall in Genes is 3 to sho w that all have sinned . (cf. Rom 5:12-19)To emphas ize that this is the accepted Jewish unde rstanding of mans sinfulness, Paul citesPsalm 14: There is no just man, not even one. (Rom 3:10-12)

The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception confirms tha t all have s inned and are in ne ed of redemption through Christs Blood shed on Ca lvary. Except for he r divine Son, the BlessedVirgin Mary was the most perfect Jew who ever lived. She followed the Law of Mose s andnever committed a s in; yet she wa s saved only through the Blood o f Jesus. If the ImmaculateVirgin was saved by Christs Sacrifice, certainly no Jew no matter how perfectly he o r shekeeps the Law , no matter how holy he or she may be will be saved w ithout Christ.

We now turn to my second po int: the centrality of the forgivene ss o f sins. Cleansing from sinis a central theme in Judaism. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is rightly considered one of the most important days of the yea r for Jew s. The Gospel of John focused our atten tion onthe Lamb of God w ho takes awa y the sins of the world. St. Paul emphasized theuniversality and horror of sin.

Judaism understands tha t we are a ll sinners and only God can remove our sins. Today, we join o the r Jews w ho p roud ly profess with Pe ter and the first Jew ish disciples our be lief that Jesus of Nazareth has truly offered the a cceptable Sacrifice for our sins. Our belief inJesus a ffirms our Jew ish understanding that only God can remove our sins.

We have a Great Commission from Jesus Himse lf to proclaim this Good New s to everyone,beg inning w ith the Jewish peo ple. (cf. Matt 28:18-20 and Luke 24 :46-48) The g reatest andmost tragic form of discrimination aga inst Jews is to withhold this Good New s from them.

My third point is Israels vocation in the restoration o f Gods Covenant Family.

Cons ider the importance of marriage and family. Jesus emphasizes the family covenant bo ndwhe n he cites the Jewish text on the indisso lubility of marriage . He quotes Genesis: Thetwo shall become one flesh. (in Matt 19:5 citing Gen 2:24) Then He added His ow n forcefulemphasis saying: They are no longe r two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joinedtoge ther, let no man put a sunde r. (Matt 19:6) This is the Jewish unde rstanding of theSacred Matrimonial Covenant union.

I propose that our sp iritual adoption into Jesus family through the Sacraments is ado ptioninto the Holy Family of Nazareth. We become ado pted b rothers and sisters o f Jesus; Mary isour Mother; and Jose ph is our adop ted human father.

Whe n they found Jesus in the Temple, Mary herse lf referring to Joseph said, Son, yourfather and I have be en loo king for you. (Luke 2:48) The Holy Family never was a single-parent family. Joseph is truly Jesus human father in every way except biologically. TheChurch teaches tha t Joseph a nd Mary were joined in Sacred Matrimonial Covenan t unionbefore the Incarnation. [Note: Pope John P aul II, Apostolic Exhortation: Rede mptoris Custo s,August 15, 1989]

It is unthinkable that Jesus mean t to exclude His ow n mother from Sacred MatrimonialCovenant union with Jose ph. We need Joseph! Joseph remains the Head of the Holy Familytoday, the Custodian of the Universal Church. Wha t God has joined togethe r, let no manput asunder.

Why is this important to us he re today? It is important to us because Joseph a nd Mary areJewish. The Holy Family of Nazare th is a Jewish Family the most pe rfect Jew ish family. Thehistory of Judaism is the family history of Israel. God chose to redeem us through the family.Judaism kee ps the memory of our family alive and prese nt.

The Incarnation reveals the fullness of human life, and the Incarnation is in a Jewish family. Ithink we can say that for every person the fullness o f human life is found in a Jew ish Family.In Baptism we become members of the Jew ish Family of Naza reth.

Part One: Familial Recollections of Ephraim

Let us examine o ne a spe ct of the Catho lic Churchs Jewish family history. Today Jew and Israe l are used eq uivalently. Mode rn use o f terms is o ften completely iso late d from ancienthistorical realities. If we wa nt to see w hat Our Lord meant whe n He used thes e terms, it is


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important for us to understand the s criptural distinctions as the y are use d in salvationhistory. The task is formidable be cause the history is quite complex and the us e o f theseterms change s s ignificantly over the centuries, but I think you will appreciate the results of the e ffort.

Our Lords story of the Prod igal Son be gins: a man had two sons . (Luke 15:11-32) Thefather is usually understood to rep resent God.

There are different view s of the tw o sons . One way of looking at the pa ssage sees the sonsas represe nting the northern and southern kingdoms into w hich Davids kingdom dividedafter Solomons de ath.

The older brother who stayed in his fathers house represents the southern kingdom of Judah led by members of the Tribe o f Judah. The inhabitants of this so uthern kingdom cameto be know n as Jews. The Jew s continued to wo rship in Jerusalem.

The younger brother according to this view wo uld represent the rebe l northern kingdomled by the Tribe o f Ephraim. The entire northern kingdom came to be known as Ephraim. Theyrefused to w orship in Jerusalem and quickly began w orshipping idols. Scripture refers to thiscivil war among the Tribes of Israel as the rivalry betw een Ephraim and Judah. (Isa 11:13and cf. Isa 7:17)

Now many peop le ask: Who is Ephraim? Why talk about Ephraim? Les t we lose s ight of ourfamily history, we s hould be familiar with Ephraim. We ne ed to know that the HebrewProphe ts often us ed Ep hraim in place o f Israe l. This w ill shed light on the true identity andvocation of Israel.

I will explain how this came about.

Israels civil war bega n hundreds of years e arlier in the rivalry of Jacobs s ons. Jacob / Israelis Abrahams grandson. After w restling with Jacob, God change d Jacobs name to Israel (Gen32:22-33). The word, Jew or Jews, is de rived from Judah, the fourth son of Jacob. Thefamily histo ry of the Jew s is our family histo ry. It is the family histo ry of Israel.

In the Book of Genes is, Jacob / Israels first wife, Leah, bore Jacobs first four sons: Judah isthe fourth son. Many years later, Rachel the w ife that Israel loved bore him two sons :Joseph a nd Benjamin. And Israe l loved Jose ph be st of all his sons. (Gen 37:3) Jose ph w assold as a slave, taken dow n into Egypt, and be came se cond in command to Pharaoh. Josephmarried Ase nath, the daug hter of Pharao hs High Priest. (Gen 41:45) She bore Jose ph twosons ; the younger son is Ephraim. (Gen 48:1)

This is our Jewish family history. Ephraim will become very prominent in the history of Israel.It is important to be aw are that Ephraim is the younger son o f Jose ph; and Joseph is theyounger brothe r of Judah.

In the conclusion of Genes is, Israel handed dow n the b lessing he received from God Almightyto Ephraim ! ! ! (Gen 48:3-5) Ephraims mother w as a paga n. When Israe l gave this bless ingto Ephraim, I think it may be s een as a foresha dow ing of the Gentiles being brought into theCovenant Family of Israel.

After Solomons Kingdom wa s sp lit in two, the s outhern kingdom was called Judah o r Judea ;those remaining in Judea w ere know n as Jew s. The northe rn kingdom was called Israel or Ephraim interchange ably. Whe n the no rthern kingdom wa s taken into captivity and los tamong the nations, the na me, Ephraim, referred to the Lost Tribes o f Israel.

Returning to the P arable of the Prodigal Son, we see how the Temple in Jerusalem in thekingdom of Judea may be understood as the Fathe rs House . The Jews may be se en asthe older brother. The rebe l Ephraimites who w ent aw ay and refused to w orship inJerusalem are seen as the younger brother.

God w aits pa tiently for Ephraim, His prodigal son, to return home. In light of Israels history which is our own family history we can se e the Parable o f the Prodigal Son as a sto ryabout the restoration of the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel. We can see it as a parableabout Ephraim repenting and returning to his Fathers House .

Part Two: Ephraim in the Gospel of Matthew


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With this ba ckground in mind, lets turn to an illustration o f the repe ntance, forgivenes s o f sins, and res toration of Israel into Gods Co venant Family that is critical to a dee perunderstanding of the Gospel.

The first two chapte rs of the Gospel of Matthew are often see n as a very brief summary of Israels history. The Evangelist marks the infancy narrative with carefully chosen citationsfrom the Hebrew Prophets to s how how key events in Israels history are recapitulated inthe Incarnation.

In his de scription of the Holy Familys flight into Egypt, Matthew cites Hosea, Out o f EgyptI called my son. (Matt 2:15 citing Hosea 11:1) In Hosea, God calls Israel His Son. But Hoseaoften use s Ephraim and Israe l interchangeably. Hosea de scribes God pleading with Ephraim /Israel to repe nt and return to Him. Hose a ends w ith Gods hopeful Promise: Ephraim! Wha tmore ha s he to do with idols? I have humbled him, but I will prosper him. (Hosea 14:9)Hosea prophe cies that Ephraim / Israel w ill be humbled, repe nt and re turn to His FathersHouse exactly as the parable in Luke des cribes the Prodigal Son.

In Matthew s infancy narrative, following the Hosea citation, Matthew cites Jeremiah: A voicewa s he ard in Rama, we eping and loud lamentation; Rachel wee ping for her children, and shewo uld not be consoled, because they w ere no more. (Matt 2:18 citing Jer 31:15) This text inJeremiah 31, as in Hosea , is a des cription o f Ephraim returning to the Lord.

Jeremiah records the Lords words explicitly: I am a father to Israel, Ephraim is my first-born. (Jer 31:9) And again God proclaims: Is Ephraim not my favored son, the child in whomI delight? (Jer 31:20) Compare the se s tatements w ith the essential relation of God to Israelstate d in the Book of Exodus: Thus s ays the Lord: Israe l is my son, my first-born. (Ex4:22) From Jacobs bles sing of Ephraim, and from the Civil Wa r among the Tribes, w e s eehow Ephraim has taken the place of Israel as the Lords favored so n.

Stay with me as I continue to unpack this theme hidden in the He brew Scriptures.

Returning to the infancy narrative in Matthews Gospel, we now s ee that by citing Hosea a ndJeremiah togethe r, Matthew is clearly sugges ting a fulfillment of prophe cy concerningEphraim. Remember, Matthew s infancy narrative centers a round Jose ph o f Nazareth.Matthew is we ll aw are that Ephraim is the son of Jose ph. The title, son o f Jose ph, takes amuch broader meaning in this context. In Johns Gospel also, the Messiah is identified as

son o f Jose ph o f Nazare th.

In Baptism, you and I become adopted brothers and s isters of Jesus and so ns anddaughte rs of Jose ph. The esse nce of our Baptismal Vows can be see n in Ephraims and theProdigal Sons repentance and return to our Fathers House where we are w elcomed a ndrestored to full membership in the Lords Covenant Family. And it is unmistakably a Jewishfamily.

Again, in Matthew s abbreviated history of Israel, we read: Rachel wee ping for her childrenand she refused to be consoled. (Mt 2:18 quoting Jer 31:15) We see it as a sad text, anexpress ion of despa ir. But Matthew see s it as a proclamation of the Good New s. Thispassage in Jeremiah is one of the most hope ful Promises in all the Hebrew Scriptures ! Inrespo nse to Rachels wee ping, the Lord tells her to stop crying and wipe the tears from youreyes . The so rrow you have show n shall have its reward, they shall return. There is hope foryour future, your sons s hall return. I hear, I hear Ephraim pleading (Jer 31:16-18) Then weread Ephraims Act of Contrition. It foreshadow s the repenta nce and return of all Israel.

Jews a re people of Hope; and this passage is at the very heart of our Jewish Hope . I willturn their mourning into joy; I will conso le and gladden them after their sorrows . (Jer 31:13)

Chapte r 31 of Jeremiah describes Gods bo undless mercy. The Fathers Boundless Mercy isa title often use d for the Pa rable of the P rodigal Son, a parab le with striking similarities tothe s tory of Ephraims repentance and re turn.

What do es this mean to you and me today?

How do w e recognize and receive Gods boundless mercy? It is quite explicit in the s tory of the Prod igal Son: the sinner must repe nt and return to his Father. The Prod igal Son does no teven rea ch his fathers hous e. He intends to but the Fathe r, in his boundless mercy, rushesout to meet him before he reaches the house . If we only repent and turn to God withcontrition for our sins and a firm purpose of amendment, He will mee t us along the w ay and


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bring us Home.

Part Three: The Remnant of Israel

Now look at the Remnant o f Israel in Jeremiah 31. The Remnant of Israel is a fundamentalconcept used b y the Hebrew Prophe ts, and a key to Pauls teaching in Romans 9 to 11. Weread in Jeremiah 31: Yes, a day w ill come whe n the Naz arene s w ill call out on MountEphraim: Rise up, let us go to Zion, to the Lord, our God. For thus says the Lo rd: Shout w ith

joy for Jacob, exult at the hea d of the nations; proclaim your pra ise and say: The Lord hasdelivered his pe ople, the remnant o f Israel. (Jer 31:6-7) This is the call to the Lost Sheep of Israel to return to Zion, which is Jerusalem. It foretells the re-unification of the dividedKingdom of Israel.

I love the us e o f four verbs here: shout, exult, proclaim, say. In a ve ry real sense, all of us whe ther Jew or Gentile a re the Remnant of Israel. This is a call for us to shout, exult,proclaim and say: The Lord has delivered his Peo ple.

The most p rominent Prophe t is Isaiah; and the Remnant of Israel is central to understand ingIsaiah. The Lo rd told Isaiah, Go out to mee t Ahaz, you and your son Shea r-Jashub (Isa7:3) Then, Isaiah te lls us that I and the children who m the Lo rd has given me are s igns andportents in Israel from the Lord. (Isa 8:18) The name, Shear-Jashub, is very important; itis translated: a remnant shall return. In des cribing the Remnant o f Israel, he says, Aremnant shall return (shear jashub) for though your pe ople, O Israel, were like the s andof the sea, only a remnant of them will return. (Isa 10:20-22)

The Hebrew w ord, jashub , can be translated e ither repe nt or return: a remnant shallreturn or a remnant shall repent. In Romans 9, Paul cites this verse from Isaiah in Gree k,

a re mnant s hall be save d. Did Pa ul change the text? No, he followed the Greek Septuagint.The Hebrew verb, jashub , applied to the Remnant of Israel in Isaiah, could be translated: aremnant will repen t, return, and be saved . These three verbs also de scribe the restoration into Gods covenant family of the Prodigal Son, and of Ephraim in Jeremiah 31.

This is the message o f the Gospe l: if sinners repe nt and return to the Lord, they will besaved . All this is expres sed in the name of Isaiahs son: Shear-Jashub . Certainly Paulunderstood all these meanings w hen he wrote the Epistle to the Romans. We are called notonly to repent, return, and find forgiveness for our sins, but also to s hare this good new swith othe rs, so that they too can be restored to Gods covenant family.

Now, with this idea o f the remnant sha ll repent, return, and be saved, we turn to theRemnant o f Israel prophecy in Zephaniah: I will leave as a remnant in your midst a peoplehumble and low ly: the Remnant of Israel. And no guile shall be found in the ir mouths. (Zeph 3:11-13, 14, 15) Those w ho repent a nd return to the Lo rd will form the humble andlowly peop le in whom there is found no guile. Is this not the true vocation and identity of Israel?

Isaiah presents the fullness of Israels identity and vocation in the description of theSuffering Servant: He w as p ierced for our offense s, crushed for our sins the Lo rd laid uponhim the guilt of us all though he ha d done no w rong nor w as a ny guile found in him. (Isa53:5, 6, 9) Those who accept this call to be the Servant of The Lord constitute the trueIsrael, writes Gregory Vall, whom I mentioned at the start of this talk. According to Vall,Jesus expressed this vocation and identity on the Cross w hen He recited the be ginning of Psa lm 22: My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? Israels understanding o f sufferingand a ffliction, Vall points out, became a key element in post-exilic Israe ls ne w aw arene ss of her true identity and vocation.

Whe n Jesus ad dressed Natha niel as a true Israelite in whom there is no guile (John 1:47),did He have Zephan iahs Remnant o f Israel prophecy in mind? Nathaniel fits the descriptionof the Remnant of Israel those who repent, return to the Lord, and are saved. A trueIsraelite implies that this pe rson is following the true vocation and identity of Israel.

Conclusion

Now consider the difference betw ee n the Prodigal Son and the Suffering Servant. TheSuffering Servant is innocent. Jesus is without sin. The Blessed Virgin is without sin. Jose phof Nazareth is righteous. They all suffer for the sins o f others. There a re many saints whosuffer for the sins o f others. St. Edith Stein, one of our Pa trons, offered her suffering anddeath for her people.


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But the Prodigal Son and I are s inners. We suffer for our own sins.

The Good News is that everyone saints and sinners, Jew s and Gentiles, all are invited torepent, se ek the forgiveness of their sins, and enter into the fullness o f human life in theHoly Jew ish Family of Nazareth. All now have the oppo rtunity to be Jesus adop ted b rother orsister, to be sons and daughters o f Mary and Joseph.

Joseph has two sons : Jesus and me or Jesus and you. Jesus is truly the son of Jose ph. Ephraim is also truly the son of Joseph. We all must go to Joseph. Whe n we repent andreturn to our Fathers hous e w ith contrition and a firm purpose of amendment, we arewe lcomed into the family by Joseph, Mary and Jesus. Through this sp iritual adoption, oursufferings for our sins may now be united w ith the sufferings of the Holy Family.

Let me repea t this statement because it is a great mystery and it is Good Ne ws : Throughthis spiritual adop tion, our sufferings for our sins may now be united with the sufferings o f the Holy Family.

The Suffering Servant is innocent and ope ns not h is mouth; he has no pe rsonal sin toconfess. Ephraim, the Prodigal Son, and I have many sins to confess . And w e must confessour sins.

I will end w ith another personal anecdote about my devotion to Nathaniel.

Jesus says Nathaniel is without guile. This evokes Psalm 32: Bless ed is he w hose fault istaken aw ay, whose sin is covered. Blessed the man to who m the Lord imputes not guilt, inwho se spirit there is no guile. (Ps 32:1-2) Nathaniels respons e, How do you know me? ques tioned how this son of Jose ph from Nazare th could possibly know that Nathan iels sinswere forgiven.

In my persona l meditation on this gos pel passage, I see Nathaniel under the fig treeconfessing his sins and begging the Lord for mercy. He was a true Israelite see king theMessiah, seeking forgivenes s of his sins, see king sa lvation. He prayed, fasted, and didpena nce for the remission of his own s ins and the s ins of Israel.

Nathaniel would have known the necessity of personal oral confess ion from Psalm 32:

As long as I wo uld not speak, my bones wa sted aw ay with my groaning all the day. Then Iacknowledged my sin to you, my guilt I covered not. I said, I confess my faults to the Lord. And you took away the guilt of my sin. For this shall every faithful man pray to you in time of

stress . (Ps 32:3-6)

I see Nathaniel as a believer whos e faith was w eak. In fea r and trembling he trusted tha tGod wo uld forgive his sins, but he o nly knew it by faith. He prayed and did pe nance w ith noconfirmation that the Lord truly heard his p rayer. Wha t else could he think? Every year whe nthe High Priest w ent into the Holy of Holies , Nathaniel and all true Israe lites prayed andfasted in the da rk light of faith a dark night of the so ul made bea rable by the hope that theLord w ould accept their sacrifices .

When Jesus said, I saw you under the fig tree Nathaniel suddenly knew that he wasstand ing face to face with the Promised Messiah! Only one sent by the Lord could knowNathaniels repentance, his contrition and firm purpose of amendment

Nathaniel had a major hallelujah breakdown because now he knew that God heard his

prayers and his sins we re forgiven. Psalm 32 says: Blesse d is the one w hose sins areforgiven.

Nathaniel repented a nd turned to the Lo rd, and he was saved. He represents the Remnantspoken of by Zepha niah in whom there is found no guile. He is a true Israelite.

Tradition tells us that Nathaniel we nt forth to sprea d the goo d new s and e ventually gave hislife for our Lord. Repe ntance leads to a cts of mercy, as the Lord sa id to Isaiah: Is it not toshare your bread w ith the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house ; whe n yousee the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall yourlight brea k forth like the daw n. (Isaiah 58:78)

And the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, takes its name from thisfamous ve rse: It is too little for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob a nd to


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restore the Nazarene s of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation mayreach to the ends o f the earth. (Isaiah 49:6)

I will end w ith one o f my favorite p rayers, one most o f you are familiar with, so please joinme.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I confess to almighty God and to you my brothers and sisters, that I have s inned through myow n fault, in my thoughts and in my words , in what I have do ne, and in what I have failed todo; and I as k blessed Mary, ever virgin, all the ange ls and saints, and you, my brothers andsisters, to pray for me to the Lo rd our God.

May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us o ur sins, and bring us to everlasting life. Inthe Name of the Fathe r and o f the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Thank you.

The author, Mark Drogin, completed a Mas ters in Theo logical Studies a t the University of Dallas in 2004. Mr. Drogin has twe lve children and 15 grandchildren, and is expe cting moregrandchildren soon. He s erves full-time a s President of Remnant o f Israel. The Mission of Remnant o f Israel is to proclaim the Jewish roots of Christianity.

Mark DroginPresident,

Remnant o f Israel

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Hebreos Católicos: Remnant of Israel » Israel’s True Identity and Vocation - Mark Drogin

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