Pope Says to Be Unleavened
Pope Benedictus XVI
The Pope has endorsed the idea that the last events of Jesus’ human life paralleled Jewish practices:
Pope Urges Christians to Be “New Dough”
Offers Pauline Reflection on Passover Rituals
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 12, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Just as Jews remove unleavened bread from their households at Passover to signify a new beginning, Christians should remove from their hearts the “yeast of old sin,” says Benedict XVI.
The Pope said this in his homily for Easter Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, in which he reflected on a passage of 1 Corinthians: “Christ, our Paschal lamb, has been sacrificed.” He said the passage “contains, in an impressive synthesis, a full awareness of the newness of life in Christ.”
“The central symbol of salvation history — the Paschal lamb — is here identified with Jesus, who is called ‘our Paschal lamb,'” the Pontiff explained. He noted the Jewish practice of sacrificing a lamb each year at Passover, “commemorating the liberation from slavery in Egypt.”
“In his passion and death, Jesus reveals himself as the Lamb of God, ‘sacrificed’ on the Cross, to take away the sins of the world,” said the Holy Father. “He was killed at the very hour when it was customary to sacrifice the lambs in the Temple of Jerusalem.
“The meaning of his sacrifice he himself had anticipated during the Last Supper, substituting himself — under the signs of bread and wine — for the ritual food of the Hebrew Passover meal. Thus we can truly say that Jesus brought to fulfillment the tradition of the ancient Passover, and transformed it into his Passover.”
Room for the new
Basing himself on this interpretation of the Paschal feast, Benedict XVI then continued to reflect on St. Paul’s interpretation of the “leaven.”
He explained that during Passover the Jewish custom is to remove every scrap of leavened bread from the household, which serves as a reminder of when their forefathers left Egypt, taking with them only unleavened bread.
“At the same time, though,” the Pope added, “the ‘unleavened bread’ was a symbol of purification: removing the old to make space for the new.”
The Holy Father said that St. Paul explains that the ancient tradition acquires a new meaning with Christ, “once more derived from the new ‘Exodus,’ which is Jesus’ passage from death to eternal life.”
“Since Christ, as the true Lamb, sacrificed himself for us, we too, his disciples — thanks to him and through him — can and must be the ‘new dough,’ the ‘unleavened bread,’ liberated from every residual element of the old yeast of sin: no more evil and wickedness in our heart,” he said.
“Let us open our spirit to Christ, who has died and is risen in order to renew us,” Benedict XVI urged,” in order to remove from our hearts the poison of sin and death, and to pour in the life-blood of the Holy Spirit: divine and eternal life.” http://www.zenit.org/article-25643?l=english
Perhaps now, he will reconsider and try turn his church back to original Christianity?
That would be an excellent move, but not one I am anticipating.
The fact of history is that the early faithful Christians actually observed the Days of Unleavened Bread, but Rome does not.
Those who wish to truly understand what happened to his church and many mainline churches should carefully study the following:
The History of Early Christianity Are you aware that what most people believe is not what truly happened to the true Christian church? Do you know where the early church was based? Do you know what were the doctrines of the early church? Is your faith really based upon the truth or compromise?
What Do Roman Catholic Scholars Actually Teach About Early Church History? Although most believe that the Roman Catholic Church history teaches an unbroken line of succession of bishops beginning with Peter, with stories about most of them, Roman Catholic scholars know the truth of this matter. This eye-opening article is a must-read for any who really wants to know what Roman Catholic history actually admits about the early church.
Nazarene Christianity: Were the Original Christians Nazarenes? Should Christians be Nazarenes today? What were the practices of the Nazarenes.
Location of the Early Church: Another Look at Ephesus, Smyrna, and Rome What actually happened to the primitive Church? And did the Bible tell about this in advance?
Apostolic Succession What really happened? Did structure and beliefs change? Are many of the widely-held current understandings of this even possible? Did you know that Catholic scholars really do not believe that several of the claimed “apostolic sees” of the Orthodox have apostolic succession–despite the fact that the current pontiff himself seems to wish to ignore this view? Is there actually a true church that has ties to any of the apostles that is not part of the Catholic or Orthodox churches? Read this article if you truly are interested in the truth on this matter!
Early Church History: Who Were the Two Major Groups Professed Christ in the Second and Third Centuries? Did you know that many in the second and third centuries felt that there were two major, and separate, professing Christian groups in the second century, but that those in the majority churches tend to now blend the groups together and claim “saints” from both? “Saints” that condemn some of their current beliefs.
Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Living Church of God? Do you know that both groups shared a lot of the earliest teachings? Do you know which church changed? Do you know which group is most faithful to the teachings of the apostolic church? Which group best represents true Christianity? This documented article answers those questions. Português: Qual é fiel: A igreja católica romana ou a igreja viva do deus? Tambien Español: Cuál es fiel: ¿La iglesia católica romana o La Iglesia del Dios Viviente? Auch: Deutsch: Welches zuverlässig ist: Die Römisch-katholische Kirche oder die lebende Kirche von Gott?
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