Fr. Jerry Pokorsky: Tribal Adjectives

By Fr. Jerry Pokorsky, Catholic Culture, Aug. 18, 2025

Fr. Jerry Pokorsky is a priest of the Diocese of Arlington who has also served as a financial administrator in the Diocese of Lincoln. Trained in business and accounting, he also holds a Master of Divinity and a Master’s in moral theology. Father Pokorsky co-founded both CREDO and Adoremus, two organizations deeply engaged in authentic liturgical renewal. He writes regularly for a number of Catholic websites and magazines. See full bio.

This teaching of Jesus is startling, perhaps even more unnerving than His confrontations with the Pharisees:

Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; for henceforth in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against her mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. (Lk. 12:51-53)

A well-placed adjective may help us understand this essential instruction.

Families, tribes, and nations provide the framework of healthy living. We take refuge in the security of these associations that bind us together. The Chosen People and the Twelve Tribes of Israel form the foundation of the People of God in the Old Testament, preparing the way for the coming of Jesus. Jesus, the Word of God, takes flesh when Mary says to the Angel, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done unto me according to thy Word.” And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

Jesus fulfills and replaces the Old Testament. His passion and death fulfill and replace the sacrifices of the Temple. After His glorious Resurrection and the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, His Church became the universal people of God. Catholic worship fulfills and replaces the worship of the Jews. The Liturgy of the Word replaces the proclamation of the word in the synagogue. The single sacrifice of Jesus, re-presented in an unbloody fashion in the Liturgy of the Eucharist, replaces the Temple sacrifices. The Mass is the source and summit of the Christian life. …

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