THE CONVERSION OF THE JEWS

I/ The Jewish people is the pivotal point of the history of humanity having received a divine vocation in the person of Abraham. Before Our Lord it is the priestly race par excellence whose state, says Saint Augustine, is entirely prophetic. It gave birth to the Blessed Virgin and to the Saviour of the World. It formed the centre of the fledgling Church. All these privileges make of the Jewish people an exceptional race, whose destinies are entirely mysterious.

But through a strange and deplorable reversal, from the moment when it engendered the Saviour of the world, the chosen race deserved to be cast off, having refused to humbly acknowledge and adore His invisible greatness. It seems as if Almighty God thereby wanted to show that there is nothing of flesh and blood in the vocation to Christianity, given that those related to Christ by the flesh are rejected for their obstinate and carnal pride.

Is their rejection definitive? No because the Almighty has reserved supreme mercies for this people which was once His. After having remained for many long years without a king, without a prince, and without a sacrifice, the children of Israel will seek the Lord their God; and this will be at the end of time. (Hosea 3,4-5).

Elijah will be the instrument of this wonderful return, as foretold by the Prophet Malachi, who will re-establish harmony between the holy ancestors of the Jewish people and their last descendants.

Saint Paul links the reprobation of the Jews to the vocation of the gentiles. Once these latter have all entered the Church then the Jews will all enter and this amidst universal jubilation. (Rom. 9, 25-27).

In order to understand the profound rejoicing which this momentous event will cause the Church throughout the world we should turn to the prophetic episodes of the Holy Scripture which announce it. The entrance of the Jewish people into the Church is represented by the reconciliation of Esau with Jacob, and particularly in the acclamation of Joseph by his brethren whom they had rejected. (Gen. 45). In the Gospel parable of the Prodigal Son the Jews are represented by the older son who resents the return of his brother into the paternal home. Finally he heeds the pleadings of his father and he too joins in the feasting.

What indescribable rejoicing there will be for Holy Mother the Church when the children of Jacob will acknowledge and proclaim Our Blessed Lord!

II/ Without knowing when this great event will take place we hope to shed some light on the subject.

It seems certain in the light of tradition that the Antichrist will be Jewish. He will appear as the product of this fermentation of hatred which for centuries has embittered the heart of the Jews against the Christ Jesus, their tender Brother and incorporable Friend.

It seems certain also that greater number of Jews will acclaim the false messiah with honour, and will bring the world to do likewise by means of the corrupt media and high finance.

However, in the times which precede the coming of the man of sin, there will be amongst the Jews a move towards the Church. As always, great events are always announced by preludes.

Saint Gregory the Great, in his commentary on the mysterious prophecy of Ezekiel, (chapter 3), states that the fury of the persecution under the Antichrist will be directed principally against the converted Jews, whose constancy in suffering will be unequalled for the most blessed name of Jesus. He affirms also that the arrival and the preaching of the Prophet Elijah will eventually convert the remainder of his nation.

The holy pope, in his commentaries on the Book of Job, also affirms that the conversion of the greater part of Israel will take place under the very eyes of the enraged Antichrist.

III/ If the Church will enjoy such consolations in the time of great persecution, how much more so at the time of her triumph.

In the same way as the Almighty uses even the fallen angels for His designs, so also will the Antichrist, in spite of himself, be used as the scourge of the Lord. This scourge of iron will destroy schisms, heresies, false religions, paganism, Islamism, and Judaism in preparation for the universal reign of the Gospel.

The Jews themselves will be the principal agents in the establishing of the kingdom of God, causing Saint Paul to exclaim: “If the sin of the Jews brought has enriched the world, if the gentiles have been enriched by their default, what must we expect when it is made good..If the losing of them has meant a world reconciled to God, what can the winning of them mean, but life risen from the dead?” (Rom. 11, 12&15)

Rejuvenated by this infusion of life, the Church will take possession of the world with the majesty of a queen and the tenderness of a mother.

Next time we shall see if these events are be the immediate prelude to the General Judgement or to a new era.

To be continued