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Long Lost Family

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Several seasons back, there was a program on one of the cable television stations entitled “Long Lost Family”. The premise of the program was to reunite family members who had been separated for many years, sometimes decades, to make a family “whole” again. Sometimes the story was about parents and children lost through adoption or custody situations. Most frequently, it was about siblings who, because of family feuds or other dysfunctions, had been apart for many years. Sometimes other siblings had polarized around the two who were separated, causing increased tensions and rifts. Interestingly, many times the true cause of the rift as lost to time and memory. Frequently, it came down to miscommunication and pride, a form of standing ground to not appear weak or guilty. Through the intercession of the host of the program, the separated siblings would communicate, have an opportunity to explain or make amends, and then reunite. At the end of the program, the producers would post an update on how well the reunion and rebuilding of family ties was progressing. It was always clear that rebuilding of the family ties would take time and effort on both sides.
The analogy of disconnected family members is used frequently in the discussion of the centuries long rift between Catholics and Jews. It is apt. For, in the 50 years since the promulgation of Nostra Aetate by Pope Paul VI, Catholics and Jews have come far in healing 2,000 years of miscommunication, false pride,

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