We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah

Historical and Theological Context 

We Remember emerges from a Church painfully aware of its failures. While exonerating the Mystical Body of Christ itself from guilt, the document admits that "many Christians" bore responsibility, through either active participation or culpable silence.¹ For Torah Observant Hebrew Catholics, the distinction between the spotless Bride of Christ and the sins of her members is crucial. We see in the Shoah a repetition of the ancient pattern: Israel, the beloved firstborn son (Exodus 4:22), is yet again wounded not only by the world but often through the failures of those meant to reflect divine love.

Saint Paul’s warning resounds urgently today:

“Boast not against the branches... remember, it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.” (Romans 11:18)

The Church's own flourishing stems from Israel’s covenantal root. The Shoah brutally revealed the consequences when the grafted forget their source.

October 7 and the Perpetuation of Hatred 

On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists slaughtered over 1,200 Israeli civilians, committing atrocities too horrific to fully recount. The massacre was not merely an act of terrorism; it was a hate crime against Jews as Jews. Within days, antisemitic attacks surged worldwide, exposing the terrifying reality that the Shoah's “Never Again” had become an empty slogan for many.²

We Remember’s statement that "the memory of the Shoah must lead us to reflect deeply on the moral and religious principles involved"³ has become more urgent than ever. For Hebrew Catholics, silence is no longer an option. The Body of Messiah still bears Jewish scars: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” (Acts 9:4). Hatred against Israel is hatred against Christ Himself, in whose human nature Jewish identity remains eternally assumed.

Saint Edith Stein (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross), a Jewish Catholic nun martyred at Auschwitz, foresaw this mystery. Writing shortly before her death, she reflected:

"I understood the destiny of God's people as my own destiny."⁴

For Torah Observant Hebrew Catholics, her words are not metaphorical; they are literal. The suffering of Israel remains ours.

The Divine Will and Reparative Suffering 

The spirituality of living in the Divine Will, taught by Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta, illuminates a profound path of response. Luisa writes:

"In my Divine Will you will find the acts of all generations, and you will repair for them, love for them, and substitute for all that is lacking in them."⁵

Reparation in the Divine Will is not passive mourning but active participation in the redemptive heartbeat of Messiah. The Shoah — and the suffering of Israel today — calls Hebrew Catholics to offer acts of Divine Will reparation: to substitute love where hatred abounded, adoration where desecration occurred, and to spiritually protect the Jewish people in the womb of the Divine Will.

St. Teresa of Avila’s words on prayer and spiritual warfare ring with relevance:

"The world is all in flames. They want to sentence Christ again, so they raise a thousand false witnesses against Him. They would destroy His Church."⁶

In every Jewish child threatened today, in every synagogue defaced, Christ is attacked anew. In the Divine Will, our prayers are not small; they are vast, eternal, and efficacious beyond human reckoning.

Living the Covenant in a Time of Trial 

We Remember declares unequivocally that "the Jewish people remain most dear to God, who has called them with an irrevocable calling."⁷ Torah Observant Hebrew Catholics bear a double vocation: to remain visibly, joyfully Jewish, and to proclaim Yeshua as Messiah without relinquishing any covenantal truth. In an age of renewed hatred, we must remember that fidelity to Torah and to Yeshua are not contradictions but, in His mystery, are fulfilled together.

This is not an easy calling. But it is a prophetic one — prefigured by early Jewish believers like Simeon, Anna, and the apostles themselves, who bore the weight of being misunderstood, marginalized, and persecuted by both the Jewish community and the Gentile world.

As Scripture promises:

"You shall be called Priests of the Lord, and they shall speak of you as Ministers of our God." (Isaiah 61:6)

We are called not to abandon Israel but to serve her — through prayer, witness, and if necessary, through suffering.

Concrete Actions and Witness 

In light of We Remember and the current crisis, several concrete actions are imperative:

1. Public Solidarity: Hebrew Catholics and the broader Catholic community must publicly denounce antisemitism in all its forms, including those cloaked in political ideologies hostile to Israel's existence.

2. Jewish Visibility within the Church: We must live our Jewish identity unapologetically, integrated with our Catholic faith, embodying Saint Paul's vision of the one new man in Messiah (Ephesians 2:15).

3. Formation and Education: Catholic institutions must incorporate the teaching of Judaism’s continuing covenantal significance, the Shoah, and the dangers of antisemitism into their curricula.

4. Spiritual Reparation: We are called to daily acts of reparation in the Divine Will, offering everything for the protection and flourishing of the Jewish people and for the hastening of the full reconciliation of Israel and the Church.

Conclusion 

We Remember was a beginning, but not an end. The Shoah is not past; its shadow lingers in every synagogue threatened, every Jewish student terrorized, every slander uttered against Israel. As Torah Observant Hebrew Catholics, we bear the memory of the Shoah in our own flesh and soul. We are witnesses both to the Cross and to the Sinai Covenant.

In the Heart of Yeshua, pierced yet glorified, Israel and the Church are not enemies but destined to be one. Until that glorious day, we must live — in suffering and in joy — the cry of Israel:

Am Yisrael Chai — The People of Israel live.