Danielost posts:
but here in the usa most american males are circumsized at birth. what is the sign of the chosen people.
Of St.John the Baptist, St.Luke 1:59, "And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zacharias after his father, but his mother said, 'Not so; he shall be named John.'"
Of Christ, St.Luke 2:21, "And at the end of the eight days, when He was circumcised, He was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb."
"Jesus" means "Yahhweh saves" or "Yahweh is salvation", that is Savour. This name was given the child not as the result of any human decision, but in keeping with the commandment of Almighty God which the angel communicated to the Blessed Virgin and St.Joseph. St.Luke 1:31; St.Mark 1:21.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was without sin, so He stood in no need for circumcision. But He submitted to the rite becasue, according to the prophecies, the Redeemer was to be a true Israelite and son of Abraham. To be such and to be recognized as such, circumcision was necessary. By His Incarnation, our Lord took upon Himself the sins of mankind, so as to make satisfaction for them. FOr this purpose, He shed His precious Blood for the first time in circumcision, and showed us that He had come to redeem us by His BLood. Therefore, the name of Jesus was given to Him at His circumcision. Also, by voluntarily obeying the Law and submitting Himself to the rite of circumcision, He wished to give an example of obedience to the Divine Law.
Circumcision was the rite established by Almighty GOd under the Old Covenant to mark out those who belonged to His chosen people. He commanded Abraham to institute circumcision as a sign of the COvenant He had made with him and all his descendants. Genesis 17:10-14 prescribing that it should be done on the 8th day after birth. The rite was performed either at home or in the Synagogue and in addition to the actual circumcision, the ceremony included prayers and the naming of the child.
At the Council of Jerusalem Acts 15:1, the Apostles definitively declared that those entering the Church had no need to be circumcised as a religious ceremonial requirement. St.Paul's explicit teaching on the irrelevance of circumcision in the context of the New COvenant established by Christ is to be found in Galatians 5:2, 6:12, and Colossians 2:1. St. Paul told the Galatians, "In Jesus CHrist neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision: but faith that worketh by charity."
The Church calls for "circumcision of the foreskin" of your heart, (Deut.10:16) which is equivalent to the command to make you a new heart, a new spirit, a new creature. Circumcision of the flesh is not forbidden by the Church.
Circumcision among Jews was basically religious in character. It signified citizenship of the male child in God's chosen people. With the institution of Christian Baptism the commandment to circumcise ceased to apply. Baptism (which displaced circumcision) signifies citizenship in the kingdom of the Messias.
Jews do adhere to circumcision, though Reform Jewry, disregarding the positive declaration of Moses, that the male who is not circumcised "that soul shall be destroyed out of his people." Gen. 17:14 declares it not a necessary element in Judaism. Therefore, some Reform synagogues have "consecrated" uncircumcised male children. The Jewish Encyclopedia states that the practice of circumcision is so engrained in Jews, "that its observance is often the sole remaining token of allegiance to Judaism, after all other ceremonial institutions have been discarded."
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