18th Week in Ordinary Time : Saturday 9th August 2025

The Shema Yisrael (Deut 6:4-6) is central in the life of the Jewish people. It is recited twice each day, during the morning and evening prayers, and is central to the Jewish liturgy. It holds a place in the Jewish heart equivalent to the place that the Our Father holds in the hearts of Catholics. Jesus Himself tells a scribe that the Shema is the most important of all the commandments (Mk 12:29), and therefore, faith even as little as a mustard seed is possible to put things or events in motion.

Essentially, we confess God is one, and the consequences drawn from this confession is to “love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” However, we devote ourselves to pursuing fleeting things with far more passion than placing God and Gospel values at the centre of our lives. Many non-Christians, when they see the lives that we lead, draw the conclusion that we are, in fact, hypocrites. This must provoke us to ponder – how central is our faith in God in the way in which we live our lives? Are our hearts divided in allegiance to God? Is attending a Sunday liturgy a burden? It is a clarion call that we live in light of the faith in the one God Who is attentive to us, as though all of us are just one.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Your attention to us is undivided, may our reverence of You be deeply true.