As Jews and Christians throughout the world prepare to celebrate the coming holy days, we take this opportunity to wish our Jewish brothers and sisters a happy Passover.

Each year, Jewish families gather to tell the story of their people: that God rescued them from slavery and the threat of death in Egypt, and he brought them to freedom and life in the Promised Land. This passage from slavery to freedom, from death to life, is not just a story out of a history textbook; it is a living story that God commands to be retold each year, a living story passed down from generation to generation.

An aspect that I find fascinating in the Passover rituals of our Jewish neighbors is the telling of this story in the first person. Using the words of the Bible, Jewish families today say, “We were slaves in Egypt” (not “Our ancestors were slaves in Egypt”), and they say we were rescued (not they were rescued). The Jewish people of every time and place see themselves as the protagonists of this great divine drama rather than it being a mere retelling of something that happened long ago.

Recalling a shared history

Conscious of the Jewish roots of our own faith, we Christians are reminded that we share a history with the Jewish people. Christians can learn much from the historical approach of our Jewish friends; we must all see ourselves as participants in the great events that our two traditions commemorate in these upcoming days.

Having a sense of the Jewish Passover—that ritual marking of the passage from slavery to freedom—allows us Christians to understand more fully the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection, which we celebrate at Easter. (In a recent Sunday homily at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Cardinal Dolan reflected on the importance of Passover for Christians.)

Supporting our Jewish brothers and sisters

As a result of the unique bond between Christians and Jews, Christians are pained in a special way when our Jewish brothers and sisters suffer. We must acknowledge and continue to repent for those times in history when Christians caused or were complicit in the suffering of the Jewish people.

These have been 18 grueling months since the horrors of October 7, 2023, and we think of those hostages who are still held enslaved as we pray for their freedom. We pray, too, for the well-being of all who suffer in the land we call “holy.” We Christians are deeply troubled by the rise in antisemitism around the world, as Cardinal Dolan recently noted in an article in The Free Press, and we raise our voices in calling out this evil.

As this year’s celebrations of Passover begin, we Catholics in the Archdiocese of New York want our Jewish friends to know of our love and support. When it seems in our own day like the powers that enslave are threatening once again, we join together in placing our hope in God, who always brings freedom and life. Happy Passover!

Father Ryan Muldoon is the Director of Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue for the Archdiocese of New York.