Ep. 211 - The Prayer Jesus Learned as a Child
Lectionary Readings for October 25, 2026
What was one of the very first prayers Mary and Joseph taught Jesus as a child? The answer lies in the Shema, a prayer at the very heart of Jewish life and the key to understanding Jesus' response when the Pharisees challenge Him to identify the greatest commandment. We'll uncover the surprising Old Testament echoes hidden in this confrontation, explore how Jesus' answer sums up the entire Law of Moses and discover what ancient Jewish practices reveal about the daily prayer life of the Holy Family. Along the way, we'll see how the words of the Shema were literally woven into Jewish homes, clothing and everyday life. And what could an ancient rabbinic teaching about loving God with our evil inclinations possibly have to do with the Sacrament of Confession? Join us as we unpack the profound Jewish roots of the greatest commandment and discover how an encounter intended to test Jesus may have ended in an unexpected conversion.
Diving deep into our Gospel, we'll spend our episode looking closer at:
The surprising connection between Jesus silencing His opponents and His command to demons to be silent and how Matthew subtly invokes Psalm 2 to reveal the deeper significance of the Pharisees' conspiracy against Him [07:11]
Why the Pharisees, so concerned with observing every detail of the Law, would ask Jesus to summarize it in a single commandment and how their question fits into a much broader Jewish tradition [16:45]
How Jesus' twofold answer reflects the two tablets of the Ten Commandments, revealing how love of God and love of neighbor encompass the entire Law of Moses [24:34]
The Shema, the foundational prayer of Judaism, and what ancient Jewish customs reveal about the prayers Mary and Joseph would have taught Jesus as a child [34:50]
An astonishing rabbinic interpretation that calls us to love God even with our evil inclinations and an unexpected connection to the Sacrament of Confession [43:20]
Why St. Augustine believed the lawyer who came to test Jesus may have walked away a changed man and what this unexpected possibility reveals about the transforming power of an encounter with Christ [49:46]
References
Matthew 22:12 - “‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless (phimoo).”
Luke 4:35 - “Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’” (phimoo)
Psalm 2:1-2 - “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and his anointed.”
1 Kings 10:1, 3 - “Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with hard questions. […] And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king which he could not explain to her.”
“It was so that if he would be defeated, the others would not be confounded, and if he would triumph, they would all glory in him.” (Aquinas, Ch. 22)
“One who loved God would fulfill the whole law.” (Keener 531)
Matthew 23:23 - “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.”
“Now, one may properly call both these latter, these philanthropic men, and also the former class, the lovers of God, but half perfect in virtue; for those only are perfect who have a good reputation in both points.” (Philo, The Decalogue, 110)
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 - “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
Mark 12:29-30 - “Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.”’”
“Boys were taught the words [of the Shema] as soon as they could speak.” (Jeremias 69)
“All men, and boys from their twelfth birthday upwards, had to recite the Shema regularly.” (Jeremias 69)
To recite the Shema twice a day was considered the minimum religious practice. Evading this custom meant separating yourself from the religious community.” (Jeremias 69)
1 Samuel 13:14 - “The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7 - “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.’”
“The mishna explains this verse as follows: ‘With all your heart’ means with your two inclinations, with your good inclination and your evil inclination, both of which must be subjugated to the love of God. ‘With all your soul’ means even if God takes your soul.” (Mishnah Berakhot 9:5)
Leviticus 19:18 - “You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
1 John 4:20 - “If any one says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.”
Romans 13:10 - “Love is the fulfilling of the law.”
“Love, and do what you will.” (Augustine, Homily 7 on the First Epistle of John, par. 8)
Mark 12:34 - “And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’”
“Neither should there be any difficulty in the statement made by Matthew, to the effect that the person by whom the question was put to the Lord tempted Him; whereas Mark says nothing about that, but tells us at the end of the paragraph how the Lord said to the man, as to one who answered discreetly, You are not far from the kingdom of God. For it is quite possible that, although the man approached Him with the view of tempting Him, he may have been set right by the Lord's response.” (Augustine, Harmony of the Gospels II.73.141)