I've only heard of Birkat last month, Meredith. My friend, the generous source of my Haggadah DVD, celebrates her birthday on 21st March. I had wished her a good sunny day for that date, as it falls on the Spring Equinox and it had only been grey and cold for weeks in London. Then she said, "I wish sunny on Birkat". So, it took off from there.

I have been assigned to read Exodus at Mass tomorrow. It's part of the Catholic liturgy for Easter Vigil. Nowhere is the deep spiritual bond between Judaism and Christianity more apparent than in our liturgy. The very concepts of our liturgical cycle of feasts, and the lectio continua principle of the lectionary that so mark Catholic tradition are adopted from Jewish liturgical practice. Our faiths are so linked together at the very level of their identity because of the unique relation that exists between Judaism and Christianity. The faith and religious life of the Jewish people as they are professed and practiced still today, greatly help me to understand better certain aspects of the life of my Church and Her spiritual patrimony with Judaism.