SEDER PERSPECTIVES
Join us as we explore the Jewish roots to our Catholic traditions. Our Seder Perspective combines elements of the Jewish family ritual at Passover time, with elements found in our Mass today. Enjoy prayer, scripture, song and fellowship with each other and make it a memorable family tradition each year during Holy Week!
Tuesday April 7, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. in the New Parish Center Cafeteria
RSVP Online
THE PASSOVER SEDER
Passover is the oldest festival of the Hebrew liturgical calendar. The Jewish people have observed it more than three thousand years. It occurs in the spring, a time of renewal; it lasts eight days.
The holiday commemorates two events: the deliverance from Egyptian bondage as the beginning of national history and the time of the barley season, a remembrance of the relationship of Israel with the land.
Passover is celebrated at the synagogue and at home. The celebration at home is a reenactment of the Exodus experience. The home is transformed into a sanctuary where rituals and observances change family life and where time, secular time, the time of everyday life experience is transfigured; it becomes a sacred time. It is rooted in the passage of bondage to the desert and freedom, a time in solidarity with other moments of painful history, a time sensitive to present oppression. But it is also a time of hope, of renewed Jewish hope in the ulitmate victory over evil, and the final reality of the reign of God.
The word “SEDER” means the order of the ritual at the celebration. The order entails the history of enslavement, the partaking of four cups of wine, questions asked by the children concerning the meaning of the night, an invitation to share the bread with the poor, the recital of psalms and folktales, the game of the Afikomah and the final recital of messianic hope in the eternal presence of Jerusalem.
The Seder offers Christians an opportunity to participate in a ritual meal that celebrates freedom from oppression and bondage. It is an expression of solidarity with all those who believe in a future free of tyranny. Once we, too, were bound in slavery, but God brought us to freedom. For Christians, the Passover is Christ's passing over death to a new life by the power of the death and resurrection. Christian's believe we will pass over our own deaths to share in the eternal banquet. Through the centuries the ritual of this night has allowed each generation and each religious group to make the story of Passover its own story.
Menu
The entrée for this catered meal will be your choice of either lamb or chicken.
Dinner will be served buffet style.
For children under 6 years of age, chicken fingers will be available.
Dinner for Adults = $10.00
Dinner for Children = $5.00
Children under 6 = free
Please complete the online RSVP form below before Tuesday, March 31, 2009, to guarantee your place at the Seder Perspectives and Dinner. Please note that registrations will not be and cannot be accepted at the door on the night of the event. Payment can be made via envelopes marked "Seder Perspectives " to the Parish Office.