I was actually quite relieved when I heard this sermon, whose title I borrowed for the title of my blog post.  My children attended a private Catholic school for several years, back in the early 2000’s.  One year someone introduced this “custom”.   At the time my kids were in the lower grades which did not participate.  I remember hearing about it and thinking it was a completely unnecessary thing.  It didn’t sit well with me, but since my kids weren’t participating I basically ignored it then and for the next several years.  Over the years it became something I heard about and started to think “well I guess there is no harm, it’s just a history lesson”.  By the time my kids were old enough to participate I generally thought of it as a history lesson, but still had an uneasiness about it.  At the time I had a new baby that never slept so, needless to say, I did no research.  Also, I thought, at the time, the only reason I was uneasy was because we were required as parents to help provide some of the food.  This was a burden and took extra time and money I didn’t have.  When I listened to this sermon I realized that maybe all along my uneasiness was a gift from my guardian angel or the Holy Spirit.  Thankfully, I think my oldest two only participated in it once.

I hope that you will take the time to listen to this 19 minute sermon.  It is very educational.  I will entice you by giving you a few facts learned from it:

• Jesus never celebrated the Seder Meal, he celebrated the ancient feast of the Passover then instituted a new Passover, the Mass.
• The Seder Meal celebrated today started around the third century A.D.
• One of the cups of wine on the Seder Plate is associated with looking forward to the coming of the Messiah…we can’t look forward to this, it has already happened.
• It would be considered false worship, therefore violating the 1st commandment.
• Christianized celebrations of the Seder meal are no exception.
• Modern, Rabbinic Judaism is not Biblical Judaism.  The Temple and Old Testament Priesthood is gone.  It was not in existence until 2nd-6th century.
• “Biblical Judaism died and two religions claimed to be the legitimate heir, Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism.  Thus the Judaism we know of is a jealous sister, not a mother faith to Christianity.  It’s practitioners are not the people who remained faithful to the old religion.  As a biblical Judaism with it’s sacrifices, Jerusalem Temple, ritual purity, tithes, and priests disappeared 2000 years ago.  It is a new faith explicitly made to fight Christianity”

Update March 2018

I have recently learned some more pertinent facts regarding the Seder Meal that I thought would be helpful if shared here.  As mentioned above the Jewish temple is gone.  As a result of this there can no longer be legitimate sacrifices in that religion.  As Catholics, we know these sacrifices did not end, but became a part of the new religion Christ founded and the sacrificial Mass he instituted at the Last Supper.  I digress…Orthodox Jews refuse to eat lamb at the Seder Meal because no sacrificial lamb is possible for them now.  Also stated above, the Seder Meal started around the 3rd century, postdating our Lord’s Institution of the Eucharist and his sacrificial death on the cross.  The Rabbinic Jews celebration of the Seder Meal is a continual denial of Jesus as the Christ, the true Messiah and Savior of all mankind apart from whom there is absolutely no salvation.  In light of this knowledge, it is abundantly clear why participation in a Seder Meal by a Christian would, in fact, be a direct violation of the First Commandment.  If you still are not convinced, listen to the sermon!!

UPDATE…Bishop Olson of the Diocese of Fort Worth bans Seder Meals.  Deo Gratias!!