9 November 2026 · Syro-Malabar Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Latin Rite · Syro-Malankara Rite · മലയാളം
“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18
Paul's great hymn proclaims Christ as the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, “the head of the body, the church”. Everything was created through him and for him, and in him all things hold together.
At Caesarea Philippi Peter confesses, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” and Jesus builds his Church on that rock. The Church has Christ as head and Peter as the visible foundation of unity. Our Syro-Malabar Church lives this: an ancient apostolic tradition in full communion with the successor of Peter.
Theme: “On this rock.”
Christ the head of the Church; Peter the rock of unity.
“See, I am laying in Zion a foundation stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation: “One who trusts will not panic.”” Isaiah 28:16
“Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”” Matthew 16:16
Apply: Make Christ the first thought of your day.
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.” Psalm 118:22
“And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.”” Matthew 16:17
Apply: Pray for the gift of deeper faith.
“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, See, I am laying in Zion a foundation stone.” Isaiah 28:16
“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18
Apply: Pray for the Pope and our Major Archbishop.
Christ is the head; Peter's faith is the rock.
Let us stand firm in that faith.
Take-home resolution: Pray the Creed slowly each day this week.
Dear friends, Paul's great hymn proclaims Christ: the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, the head of the body, the Church. All things were created through him and for him, and in him all things hold together (Colossians 1:15–18).
At Caesarea Philippi Peter confesses: you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus answers that flesh and blood did not reveal this, but his Father in heaven; on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:16–18).
The Church is not only a human organisation; it is a body with Christ as its head, built on the rock of faith. This week let us make Peter's confession our own: pray the Creed slowly and from the heart, and pray for our Holy Father and our Major Archbishop. Amen.
Children, when Jesus asked who he was, Peter said: you are the Son of the living God. Tell Jesus the same thing today!
Lord Jesus, head of the Church, you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Build us on the rock of Peter's faith and keep your Church one. Amen.
Two confessions of who Christ is. Paul's hymn in Colossians sings of Christ as the image of the invisible God and the head of the body, the Church. At Caesarea Philippi Peter confesses Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and Jesus promises to build his Church on that rock. In the season of the Church's dedication, the readings show the Church's head and her foundation.
Setting.
Colossae was a small town in the Lycus valley of Asia Minor, near Laodicea. Paul had not founded the church there himself; Epaphras had (1:7). Some teachers were offering extra ways to God through angelic “powers”, special feasts and visions (2:16–18). Paul answers with a hymn that sets Christ above every power in heaven and on earth.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son,” (1:13)
The Greek verb for “transferred” was also used for moving a whole population from one land to another. Baptism is such a transfer: a change of king.
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;” (1:15)
“He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.” (1:18)
Earlier letters call the Church the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27). Colossians adds that Christ is its head: the source of its life and unity.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism quotes this hymn to teach that God created all things through the eternal Word, his beloved Son (CCC 291), and that Christ is the head of his body, the Church (CCC 792). When the Arians argued that “firstborn of all creation” made the Son a creature, St Athanasius answered that he is called firstborn not because he was the first to be made, but because he came down to creatures and became the brother of many (in substance). The Council of Nicaea confessed him “begotten, not made”.
Setting.
Caesarea Philippi lay at the foot of Mount Hermon, by the springs of the Jordan, some 40 km north of the Sea of Galilee. It was a pagan city: Herod the Great had built a temple there to the emperor Augustus, and there was a cave shrine of the god Pan (the place is still called Banias). Among rival gods and emperors, Jesus asks who he is.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“But who do you say that I am?” (16:15)
The “you” is plural: the question is put to all the disciples, and Peter answers for them.
“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” (16:18)
“The gates of Hades” are the power of death. Not even death will overcome the Church that Christ builds.
“whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (16:19)
“Bind” and “loose” were rabbinic terms for forbidding and permitting, and for imposing and lifting a ban. Heaven ratifies the decisions of the one to whom the keys are given.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism teaches that Christ built his Church on the rock of the faith confessed by Peter (CCC 424); that Peter holds a unique place among the Twelve; and that the “power of the keys” means authority to govern the house of God, which the risen Jesus confirmed with the words “Feed my sheep” (CCC 552–553). The Church sees this ministry continued in the Bishop of Rome, the successor of Peter, “the perpetual and visible principle and foundation of unity” of bishops and faithful (Lumen Gentium 23; CCC 882).
Is the rock Peter, or Peter's faith?
Both readings are found in the Fathers, and they belong together. The play on words points to Peter himself, the man Jesus is speaking to; but Peter is the rock as the one who confesses the faith revealed by the Father. The Catechism holds both: Christ built his Church on the rock of the faith confessed by Peter (CCC 424), and he gave the keys to Peter himself (CCC 553).