God said that He considered David a man after His own heart. That is a confusing statement to Christians. David bravely defended God's Chosen People by slaying the champion of the Philistines, Goliath, but he was a deeply troubled soul. David even arranged to have a man killed, because he desired the man'swife. He saw Bathsheba bathing and lusted after her and took her. He murdered her husband, Uriah, by having him abandoned in the middle of a battle so he could marry her.

So how is this sinner, David, a man after God's heart? It is because he strove to serve God in spite of his personal failings. God knows we are fallible, so He wants to help us in our fight against our failings and the failings of the world. He considers those willing to accept His help and work with Him, "men after His own heart."

The entire Old Testament shows us God's efforts to use imperfect people for the Salvation and Deification of all humanity. Adam failed as did his children. Abraham continuously failed because he feared that others might kill him out of desire for Sarah. Yet God chose Abraham as father of nations because he recognized and obeyed the Word of God.

Humanity is fallible because we are distorted and we continue in the tendency to fall short. So eventually Jesus Christ, God the Son, had to come into this world to compensate for our failings. Even He Himself said that only God is good when a man called Him "good Master." Jesus was not saying that He was not good or not God. At that point in His ministry, Jesus was Himself only considered human, because His Divinity was not yet revealed to mankind. So He was saying that it is wrong to call one that is considered merely human “good”.

To continue His work, Jesus assigns human beings: again fallible. For example, Peter denied Him three times, Thomas doubted, Paul the zealous persecuted Jesus' followers  and the like. They later followed Jesus to the best of their ability.  My point is that no one but God gives 100% to right action.

So how then is anyone of us be saved? What is the criterion for Life in Christ? Jesus Himself tells us what is meritorious unto salvation:

This is a basic List of Salvific Works.

By the way, Tobit is probably the most widely quoted Book of Scripture, despite Protestants' lack of interest in it:  "See thou never do to another what thou wouldst hate to have done to thee by another." (Tobit 4:16)

Our Father in Faith, Saint Martin of Tours, we are told, was deemed worthy of salvation because he gave half of his centurion's cloak to a beggar. For that reason, God saved him from martyrdom and gave him the charism of Wonderworking. Yes, those Salvific Works are extremely important in God's eyes.

So when it comes to deciding whether a political candidate has an agenda that could help build a Christian society, the List is very useful.

It means one must actually feed, give drink, clothe, give hospitality, give housing, give right therapy, give medicine, provide a means for prisoners to change their minds and lives for the better AND let the dead rest. One does not give to the needy by ecouraging someone who just sends all of the resources away: one must not impoverish families, but see that they have the means of feeding, clothing and housing themselves so they do not feel coerced to give up or murder their children. "Visiting the sick" is not  a photo opportunity, where one says, "I'm sorry you are dying; that's just too bad," but actually making medicine available. "Welcoming the stranger" is not creating an environment of hatred, because as Christians we are supposed to love everyone, even sinners. "Burying the dead" means allowing them to rest in peace. If a good work done in memory of the dead is considered a worthy offering to God for the benefit of their Salvation, what if their memory is constantly invoked for political gain and other unrighteousness? Vengence in the name of the dead does not let them rest. Vengence, we are told, belongs to God alone: He will repay.

As to immorality such as homosexual acts and murder of the unborn, we have been taught that these are serious sins. Although those sins are not explicitly mentioned Jesus' List of Salvific Works, they are there, since "feeding the hungry" and "giving drink to the thirsty" has always been understood by Christians to mean nurturing others with God's unaltered Teachings.    Encouraging or excusing such evils is as much like giving poison as forcing Christians  to live in places where they are not free to practice their religion, like Christian troups among our  military in Saudi Arabia.

So the determination of whether a political candidate is worthy of consideration comes  down to the question: How many of the Salvific Works influence their policies: are they concerned with feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, relieving the sick, comforting the prisoners, or burying the dead?

Additionally, in American politics an important secondary question is: "Does the office the candidate seeks provide the authority required to deliver on their promises?" It is one thing to promise, but another to deliver when some things require a two-thirds vote by both houses of Congress and a vote by all States. In such a case, there is a concern that the person is merely "milking" an issue with no real intention to deliver a solution. Abortion of "inconvenient" babies is an evil, but no one has delivered or even proposed legislation to stop it entirely. Instead we live in a time when some parents feel guilty for exposing their children to the man-made horrors of the world. This provides excuses for abortions. It also provides an excuse for some homosexuals to claim their lifestyle is morally superior to that of "breeders" who bring children into this raging world. So there is also a question of who is encouraging such sins as abortion or homosexual activity.

I do not envy the American electorate. All who would lead us are obviously as deficient as the rest of us. Moreover, this is an especially difficult time to make a choice because it is clear that no candidate is 100% on a Christian agenda. Yet we cannot expect people with a 100% Christian agenda. God doesn't. He Himself had to select persons out of all of imperfect faltering humanity.  So must we.

To be honest, before I began meditating on the List of Salvific Works, I almost decided not to vote. Afterward I decided, in my fallible way, which candidate seemed to me more dedicated to that List. That was fortunate for me because standing silent in such times is a sin, because silence permits sin by allowing the fallible humans who would lead us to believe that they are not answerable to anyone or anything. Pray for guidance and vote for the candidate you feel is best. Write to the one who wins citing the List and tell them where you think they are lacking. That is a way to Confess Jesus Christ as the Guide of your Life.

May Almighty God look down upon this nation and all the nations of the world and bless them and guide them, not as the world would want but as He wills.