The Novus Ordo's Good Friday prayer for the Jews

"Let us pray for the Jewish people, the first to hear the word of God, that they may continue to grow in the love of his name and in faithfulness to his covenant.

Almighty and eternal God, long ago you gave your promise to Abraham and his posterity. Listen to your Church as we pray that the people you first made your own may arrive at the fullness of redemption. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen."


First, why are we praying for the Jews to continue in their "faithfulness" to an abolished covenant?

Now with the "fullness of redemption" -- does this not seem to imply that there could also a "partial fullness of redemption"; and that even if they did not convert, they could still be saved as they are, as Christ-deniers with, I would imagine, the "baptism of desire"?

lex orandi, lex credendi

Here's also what the Pope said about his changes to the Good Friday prayer, from the new book, "Light of the World":

A change also seemed necessary to me in the ancient liturgy. In fact, the formula was such as to truly wound the Jews, and it certainly did not express in a positive way the great, profound unity between Old and New Testament. For this reason, I thought that a modification was necessary in the ancient liturgy, in particular in reference to our relationship with our Jewish friends. I modified it in such a way that it contained our faith, that Christ is salvation for all. That there do not exist two ways of salvation, and that therefore Christ is also the savior of the Jews, and not only of the pagans. But also in such a way that one did not pray directly for the conversion of the Jews in a missionary sense, but that the Lord might hasten the historic hour in which we will all be united. For this reason, the arguments used polemically against me by a series of theologians are rash, and do not do justice to what was done

So, we do not pray for the conversion of the Jews between now and some future time (as prophesied by St Paul) when the Jews will convert. Except even for that future instance, the pope uses the word "united" rather than "converted".

We are talking about the modern Jews here, the ones who reject Christ absolutely, as being those who are not to be prayed for in a missionary sense, i.e., for their conversion to the Catholic faith.

I suppose the reason for this could be because their salvation will be obtained through some implicit form of implicit desire, thus rendering any explicit prayers for their conversion superfluous.

BTW, in my previous post, I meant to say that the Pope's comments in "Light of the World" apply to the changes in the OLD Good Friday prayer. The new Good Friday prayer remains as it is. So, the Good Friday prayer as changed in the Old Rite is now being brought into hermeneutic continuity with the Good Friday prayer of the New Rite.