26 November 2026 · Syro-Malabar Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malankara Rite · Latin Rite · മലയാളം
“Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:20
“For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.” Hebrews reminds us that the Church is a pilgrim people; our true citizenship is in heaven. Meanwhile we offer “a sacrifice of praise to God… the fruit of lips that confess his name,” and do not neglect to do good and share.
The seventy-two return rejoicing at their success; Jesus redirects their joy: rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Then he himself rejoices in the Holy Spirit and thanks the Father for revealing these things to infants. True joy is not in what we achieve but in belonging to God.
Theme: “Names written in heaven.”
Pilgrims without a lasting city, rejoicing that they belong to God.
“Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place—and I did not know it!”” Genesis 28:16
“Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:20
Apply: Hold possessions lightly today.
“As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you.” Isaiah 66:13
“At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants.”” Luke 10:21
Apply: Thank God for one simple person who taught you faith.
“For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering.” Malachi 1:11
“He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.”” Luke 10:18
Apply: Praise God aloud for five minutes today.
Our joy is that God knows our names.
Let us praise him and share with others.
Take-home resolution: End each day this week with a prayer of praise.
Dear friends, the Letter to the Hebrews says: here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come (Hebrews 13:14). The Church is a pilgrim people; our true citizenship is in heaven. Meanwhile we offer God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess his name, and we do not neglect to do good and to share what we have (Hebrews 13:15–16).
The seventy-two return from their mission full of joy: Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us. Jesus says: rejoice that your names are written in heaven. At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit: I thank you, Father, because you have revealed these things to infants (Luke 10:17–21).
Pilgrims travel light and keep a joyful heart. Our joy is not in our successes, but in the fact that God knows us. Today let us sing a hymn of praise, and share what we have with someone. Amen.
Children, Jesus says your names are written in heaven. How wonderful! Sing a song to Jesus today.
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I praise you because you reveal yourself to the little ones. Write my name in heaven and keep me a faithful pilgrim toward the city to come. Amen.
Both readings lift our eyes beyond this world. Hebrews reminds Christians that “here we have no lasting city” and calls them to go out to Christ and offer a sacrifice of praise. In Luke the seventy return rejoicing in their power over demons, and Jesus tells them to rejoice rather that their names are written in heaven. Our true home and our true joy are with God.
Setting.
These are some of the closing exhortations of Hebrews. The readers were being drawn by “strange teachings”, perhaps about sacred meals and food laws. The author answers with the image of the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16): the bodies of the animals whose blood was carried into the sanctuary were burned outside the camp (Leviticus 16:27).
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“We have an altar from which those who officiate in the tent have no right to eat.” (13:10)
“Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the city gate in order to sanctify the people by his own blood.” (13:12)
Golgotha lay outside the walls of Jerusalem (John 19:17, 20). The place of shame becomes the place of holiness.
“For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.” (13:14)
Christians are pilgrims. This does not make them careless about the earthly city; it breaks the hold of its idols on them.
“Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” (13:16)
Worship and charity belong together: praise on the lips and bread shared with the poor.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism lists “the sacrifice of praise” among the names of the Eucharist (CCC 1330). The early Letter to Diognetus describes Christians as living in their own countries as sojourners, for whom every foreign land is a homeland and every homeland a foreign land (in substance).
Setting.
Luke alone tells of a second, larger mission: Jesus sends disciples ahead of him in pairs (10:1–12). Now they return with joy. The mission of these disciples anticipates the mission of the Church to all nations.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!”” (10:17)
A note on the text. The ancient manuscripts differ here and in 10:1. Some important ones read “seventy” (followed by the NRSV), others, also very old, read “seventy-two” (followed by the Malayalam POC). The numbers may recall the table of the nations in Genesis 10, which counts seventy nations in the Hebrew text and seventy-two in the Greek. Either way, the mission points to the whole world.
“I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.” (10:18)
The mission of the disciples is part of the defeat of evil. Satan’s power is already broken.
“but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (10:20)
Success in ministry is a gift, but it is not the deepest joy. The deepest joy is to be known and loved by God.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism presents this moment as a model of Jesus’ prayer: his thanksgiving to the Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for revealing the mysteries of the Kingdom to little ones (CCC 2603). The Kingdom belongs to the poor and the lowly, who receive it with humble hearts (CCC 544).