Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Religion News
Shema Israel and the Upcoming Elections

Shema Israel and the Upcoming Elections

Last updated on: November 4, 2024 at 11:01 am by Father Pablo Migone

0 Comments

Shema Israel and the Upcoming Elections 2024-11-04T11:01:20-05:00 Father Pablo Migone

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Photo by Photo By: Kaboompics.com from Pexels:

Today we hear the most sacred prayer of the Jewish faith, first in its original iteration in the Book of Deuteronomy, and then from the lips of Jesus:

Shema Israel, adonai eloheinu, adonai ehad

“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone!
Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God,
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your strength.”

This prayer is known as the Shema Israel, which is recited twice daily by observant Jews, in the morning and in the evening. This short prayer captures the essence of the Jewish faith (and our own). God is one, and we are called to love him with our whole being. There is nothing greater than him – nothing can even compete with him.

Parents teach the Shema Israel to their children and pray it with them before going to bed. Oftentimes these are the last words uttered before death by observant Jews.

Jesus answered correctly to the question posed to him by the scribe in the Gospel passage. The scribe should not have been very surprised actually that Jesus answered with the Shema. Jesus does “add” to the Shema Israel however, raising the bar in God’s commandments: “the second is like this, you should love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus does this, not in a spirit of changing Scripture, but rather, to add greater understanding as to how one can love God completely. By loving neighbor as yourself, you get a little closer to loving God.

The scribe’s response to Jesus also adds something to the Shema. The scribe says that loving God and neighbor is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. This addition gives even greater emphasis to the importance of loving God wholeheartedly. Jesus and the scribe, perhaps at first adversaries or at least suspicious of one another, walk away satisfied, they were able to agree on something.

The Shema Israel teaches us that we cannot be divided, but rather we are to place God above all else. No country, no culture, no political leader can compete with God who is the supreme good that we are called to love and follow.

In the year 250 after Christ, the Roman emperor Decius issued an edict that required every single subject of the Roman empire (except Jews), to offer a sacrifice by burning incense to the Roman gods in the presence of a Roman magistrate for the well-being of the emperor and the glory of Rome. After offering the incense, the subject would receive a written certificate stating he had offered the sacrifice. Everyone had to do this. Being caught without the certificate meant certain death because it implied you were not a loyal subject of the emperor.

Christians in the empire refused to offer the sacrifice because it involved offering sacrifice to pagan gods. This action would violate their belief in One God who commanded love and service to him alone.

The persecution under Decius was brutal. Many were martyred, but a good number of Christians gave in, offering the sacrifice to the gods. Once Decius died and the persecution ended, the church had a serious dilemma: thousands of people who offered the sacrifice had now repented, and wanted to come back to the church. They made penance, and were admitted back into the fold.

I share this historical event in the context of today’s readings and the elections which will be held next week.

The Catholic Church has learned a profound lesson throughout its 2,000-year history. The Catholic Church will not tell you who to vote for. No political party captures the Christian values and beliefs of the Catholic faith. In a way, we are caught in the middle similar to the early Christians – there are no good options.

Some argue it is better to choose the lesser evil. Yet remember, there is still evil in a lesser evil, and one must repent and make amends even when a lesser evil is chosen. We cannot make a god of a political party or candidate.

Our situation is not easy my friends, and I recognize it. The Church encourages us to be informed on the issues important to our faith and to vote according to our conscience. Then, we must make reparation through word and action for the evils advanced by whoever we choose. If your conscience does not allow you to vote for any candidate, it is more important to follow your conscience and act in that way.

When it comes to social issues, the Church speaks of the dignity of the human person from the womb to natural death, of the importance of the family, the responsibility to assist the poor and vulnerable, of the rights and needs of immigrants, the care of God’s creation, and the dignity and rights of workers (taken from the website of the US Bishops).

We pray today for our civil leaders, for those running for office, and for us. We pray for wisdom and clarity to move forward seeking God above all else. Not creating other gods or new gods, but praying and remembering the words uttered by Jesus today:

“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.”

Picture is free to use

Politics and Religion

Previous Post

September 3, 2024

A Universal Call to Mission

Next Post

November 9, 2024 Democracy of the Dead: the Communion of Saints

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Thank you for your words Linda. Father Fred was an excellent mentor, he taught me ..."

pmigone

A life of Dedication: Lessons of ..."

"Beautiful Father Pablo, yes he was a Dad to ALL of US. But YOU are ..."

Linda Dokey

A life of Dedication: Lessons of ..."

"The Good News is healing and empowering. Evangelization and conversion are ongoing and never-ending opportunities. ..."

Dr.Cajetan Coelho

God’s Grace Behind Bars

"as a life long SDA, I don't trust much from the Catholic perspective, but Stephen ..."

Frank Holzhauser

Monsignor Rossetti removed from assignment

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Article Catholic Lima Christmas Commentary History Homily Immigration martyrs Meditation Pope Reflection Saint Story Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 January 2010 June 2009 September 2008 August 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Like a sheep led to slaughter, silent before shearers, this servant was pierced for our transgressions. What chapter foretells this suffering?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Isaiah 7 Isaiah 9 Isaiah 53 Isaiah 61