2 December 2026 · Syro-Malabar Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malankara Rite · Latin Rite · മലയാളം
“And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.” John 8:29
Paul thanks God for the gifts given to the Corinthians as they “wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and assures them: “God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son.” The whole Annunciation season rests on God's faithfulness.
Jesus speaks of the One who sent him: “The one who sent me is true… he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.” The Son's mission flows from the Father's love and is lived in constant obedience. Christmas is the arrival of the One sent; our joy is to be sent in turn.
Theme: “The faithful God and the One he sends.”
God is faithful; Jesus, sent by the Father, always does what pleases him.
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” Jeremiah 31:3
“I have much to say about you and much to condemn; but the one who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” John 8:26
Apply: Thank God for his faithfulness this year.
“You are my witnesses, says the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.” Isaiah 43:10
“So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me.”” John 8:28
Apply: Spend a moment before the crucifix today.
“Do not fear, for I am with you.” Isaiah 43:5
“And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.” John 8:29
Apply: Before each decision ask: does this please the Father?
God is faithful to his promises.
The One sent is coming; we are never alone.
Take-home resolution: Pray each morning: “Father, today I want to please you.”
Dear friends, St Paul begins his first letter to the Corinthians with thanksgiving. Their community had many problems: divisions, scandals, confusion. Yet Paul first thanks God for the gifts they had received, and assures them: God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son (1 Corinthians 1:9).
The whole season of Annunciation rests on this one truth: God is faithful. He promised a Saviour to Abraham, to David, to the prophets; and he kept his word. When we feel unfaithful, weak and divided, God remains faithful. His faithfulness is not based on our goodness but on his own heart.
In the Gospel Jesus speaks of his relationship with the Father: the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him (John 8:29). These words reveal the secret of Jesus' life: constant communion with the Father.
Many people today are lonely. Old parents whose children are abroad; young people far from home in cities and hostels; migrants in the Gulf; the sick in hospitals. Jesus tells us that, united with him, we too are never alone. The Father who was with the Son is with those who belong to the Son.
But notice the second half of Jesus' sentence: for I always do what is pleasing to him. Communion with God grows through obedience. When we do the Father's will in small things, we discover that he is near.
This Nombu, let us practise a simple examination each night: what did I do today that pleased the Father? What did I do that did not? Then a short act of thanks and a short act of sorrow.
And let us visit someone who is lonely this week, in person or by phone. Through us, God can say to them what Jesus said: you are not alone. Amen.
Children, Jesus said: my Father is always with me. God is always with you too, even when you feel alone!
Faithful God, you called me into fellowship with your Son. As he always did what pleased you, let me do your will, knowing you never leave me alone. Amen.
Today’s readings are about faithfulness that holds from both sides. Paul reminds a quarrelling Church that “God is faithful” and will strengthen them to the end. In John, Jesus says that the Father has not left him alone, and that the proof of who he is will come at the very moment he seems most abandoned, when he is lifted up. The Son who is held by the Father calls us into his own fellowship.
Setting.
Paul founded the Church at Corinth and wrote this letter from Ephesus (16:8), probably around AD 54–55. He has heard of factions, lawsuits, disorder at the Lord’s Supper and rivalry over spiritual gifts. Yet he opens, as he usually does, with a thanksgiving. It is striking that he thanks God for the same speech, knowledge and gifts that the Corinthians will soon be told they are misusing (chapters 12–14).
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1:7)
The verb for waiting implies eagerness. A Church with every gift still lives by what it does not yet see.
“He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1:8)
The Old Testament’s “day of the Lord” now has a name: it is the day of Jesus Christ. Paul’s confidence does not rest on the Corinthians, as the rest of the letter will show.
“God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1:9)
This is the sentence the whole passage leads to. In just these six verses the name of Christ is repeated again and again, before Paul says a word about their problems. He wants the Church to look at Christ first.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism teaches that charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which serve the building up of the Church, and that they are to be received with thanksgiving and tested by the pastors (CCC 799–801; Lumen Gentium 12). It also calls God’s faithfulness the ground of our trust (CCC 214), and describes the Church’s life as a communion with Jesus, into which he drew his disciples from the beginning (CCC 787).
Setting.
Jesus is in the Temple at Jerusalem, in the debates that follow the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7–8), speaking near the treasury (8:20). His hearers have just asked, “Who are you?” (8:25). In this chapter “the Jews” stands for those in the debate who oppose him, above all the authorities. It does not mean the Jewish people as a whole: Jesus and his disciples are Jews too, and this reading ends with many believing in him. The Church rejects any blame laid on the Jewish people as such (Nostra Aetate 4; CCC 597).
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“the one who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” (8:26)
Jesus speaks as one who has listened before speaking. All his teaching is the overflow of what he hears from the Father.
“When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own” (8:28)
An unexpected answer to “Who are you?”. The answer will not be given in an argument but on the Cross. The “you” is addressed to those in the debate, but the Church teaches that all sinners are the authors of the Passion (CCC 598).
“he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.” (8:29)
Jesus says this on the way to the Cross, where his disciples will leave him (compare 16:32). The bond between Son and Father is the one thing nothing can break, and it is the same fellowship Paul says we are called into.
“As he was saying these things, many believed in him.” (8:30)
John does not end with rejection. Even in a hard argument the word bears fruit. The next verses will test how deep this belief goes.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism cites Jesus’ words in v. 28 when it teaches that the Resurrection confirms his divinity: the promise “I am he” is shown to be true (CCC 653). The “I am” sayings of John are read by the Church as the Son’s claim to the divine name (CCC 590).