10 December 2026 · Latin Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malankara Rite · Syro-Malabar Rite · മലയാളം
“Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Matthew 11:11
“For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’” Isaiah calls Israel a “worm”, small and weak, yet God will make it a threshing sledge. For the poor and thirsty he opens rivers on bare heights and turns the desert into pools, “so that all may see and know… that the hand of the LORD has done this.”
Jesus praises John the Baptist: no one born of women is greater. Yet “the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he”. John stands at the threshold; the disciples of Jesus enter the Kingdom through Baptism and become children of God. Greatness in the Kingdom is not our achievement but God's gift, received by the little ones who let God take their hand.
Theme: “Do not fear, I will help you.”
God holds our hand, opens rivers in the desert, and makes the least great in his Kingdom.
“For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Do not fear, I will help you.”” Isaiah 41:13
“And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20
Apply: Pray “Lord, hold me” when afraid today.
“When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.” Isaiah 41:17–18
“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water.”” John 7:37–38
Apply: Bring a dry area of your life to Jesus.
“See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.” Malachi 3:1
“Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Matthew 11:11
Apply: Thank God for your Baptism.
God holds us by the hand.
Little ones are great in his Kingdom.
Take-home resolution: Renew your baptismal promises before Christmas.
Dear friends, God speaks through Isaiah with great tenderness: do not fear, you worm Jacob, you insect Israel! I will help you, says the Lord; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 41:14). God calls his people a worm, not to insult them but to show how small and weak they feel, and how strong he is for them.
He promises: I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water (Isaiah 41:18). God turns dryness into life.
In the Gospel Jesus praises John the Baptist: among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist. Yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he (Matthew 11:11).
How can the least be greater than John? Not because we are holier than John, but because we live after the coming of Christ. We have received what John only announced: the death and resurrection of Jesus, baptism, the Holy Spirit, the Eucharist. We are given more than the greatest prophet.
This should give us both gratitude and responsibility. If we have received so much, how much more should we bear fruit? John lived in the desert on locusts and wild honey and gave his life for the truth. What do we give?
When you feel small, remember: God says, do not fear, I will help you. And when you feel proud, remember: all you have is gift. Let us thank God today for the riches of the Kingdom, and use them generously this Advent. Amen.
Children, God holds your hand like a loving father. You never walk alone!
Lord my God, you hold my right hand and say, “Do not fear.” Open rivers in the dry places of my life, and make me little enough to enter your Kingdom. Amen.
“Do not fear”, God says three times in this chapter of Isaiah to a people who feel as small as a worm, and he promises to turn the desert into a garden. The psalm praises the Lord who is good to all. In the Gospel Jesus names John the Baptist as the greatest of those born of women, and as the Elijah who was to come. God’s great work begins from what looks small and dry, and the kingdom now stands at the door.
Setting.
The exiles in Babylon have lost their land, their king and their Temple. In this chapter God is speaking of the conqueror he is raising up from the east (41:2), who would later be named as Cyrus. He turns to tell Israel, his servant, not to be afraid. Our passage has two parts: a promise to the helpless and a picture of a new Exodus.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Do not fear, I will help you.”” (41:13)
Parents hold the hand of a small child like this. The same picture is used for Cyrus in 45:1, but there it is for a task; here it is for comfort.
“Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you insect Israel! I will help you, says the Lord; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.” (41:14)
A note on the text. The Hebrew as it stands reads “men of Israel”, which the POC follows. “Insect” in the NRSV follows the Syriac version, which keeps the parallel with “worm”.
“I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.” (41:18)
The journey home is pictured as a new Exodus, with water in the desert as at the rock (Exodus 17). Seven kinds of tree follow in v. 19, a whole forest where there was only sand.
How the Church reads it.
The Church hears in these verses the coming of the true Redeemer, the Son of God who became our next of kin by taking our flesh. The Catechism recalls that he came to give his life as a ransom for many (CCC 622). The water in the desert also points to the Spirit and to Baptism, the living water Christ promises (John 7:37–39).
Setting.
John is in Herod’s prison (11:2). He has sent his disciples to ask whether Jesus is the one who is to come. After answering them, Jesus turns to the crowd and speaks about John, who stands at the turning point between the prophets and the kingdom.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (11:11)
The point is the greatness of what has come, not a low view of John. It is a statement about the gift of the kingdom.
“and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.” (11:14)
Malachi 4:5–6 promised that Elijah would come before the day of the Lord. “If you are willing” shows that this cannot be proved: it is seen by those who accept it.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism says that John surpasses all the prophets and is the last of them; he inaugurates the Gospel, already from his mother’s womb welcomes the coming of Christ, and rejoices as “the friend of the bridegroom” (CCC 523; see CCC 719). Each Advent the Church lets John prepare her again, so that she may recognise the one he points to.