16 December 2026 · Syro-Malabar Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Latin Rite · Syro-Malankara Rite · മലയാളം
“Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.” Luke 16:10
Paul thanks God that the Thessalonians received his preaching “not as a human word but as what it really is, God's word, which is also at work in you believers.” The word of God, received in faith, works in us.
Jesus teaches faithfulness in small things: honest dealings, trustworthy use of money, an undivided heart. “No slave can serve two masters… You cannot serve God and wealth.” As Christmas approaches, with its spending and celebrations, the Gospel asks whom we really serve.
Theme: “One master.”
God's word at work; faithfulness in little; God, not wealth.
“If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones.” Jeremiah 20:9
“Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.” Luke 16:10
Apply: Read Luke 2:1–20 slowly this week.
“Honor the LORD with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce.” Proverbs 3:9
“If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?” Luke 16:11
Apply: Give generously to the poor this Christmas.
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.” Deuteronomy 6:4
“No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Luke 16:13
Apply: Spend less on yourself this Christmas.
Let God's word rule our hearts this Christmas.
Serve one Master.
Take-home resolution: Plan a simple, generous Christmas as a family.
Dear friends, St Paul thanks God that the Thessalonians received the word of God, which you heard from us, not as a human word but as what it really is, God's word, which is also at work in you believers (1 Thessalonians 2:13). The word of God is not only information; it is power at work in us.
How do we receive Scripture? As an old book? As a duty? Or as God speaking today? When we hear the readings in the Holy Qurbana with faith, the word works in us: consoling, correcting, calling.
The Thessalonians paid a price for receiving the word. They suffered from their own compatriots, as the churches in Judea had. Faithfulness to God's word sometimes costs us friends, opportunities or comfort.
In the Gospel Jesus speaks of faithfulness in small things: whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. No slave can serve two masters; you cannot serve God and wealth (Luke 16:10–13).
Faithfulness is tested in small daily matters: an honest bill, a promise kept, a prayer said even when tired, a tithe given, overtime not falsely claimed. These small things reveal whom we really serve.
This Nombu, let us read a small passage of the Gospel each day, receive it as God's own word, and ask: what does this mean for me today? And let us examine our faithfulness in little things. The God who comes at Christmas is faithful; let us be faithful to him. Amen.
Children, being honest in small things makes Jesus very happy. Tell the truth even when it is hard!
Lord, let your word work in me. Make me faithful in little things and free from the love of money, so that I serve you alone. Amen.
Today's two readings are about being faithful with what has been entrusted to us. Paul thanks God that the Thessalonians kept the word of God even under pressure. Jesus says that faithfulness is learned in very small things, and that no one can have two masters. The word of God and the things of daily life make the same demand: a single heart.
Setting.
This is very probably the earliest of Paul's letters, written about AD 50 or 51, from Corinth, to a young Church he had to leave in a hurry (Acts 17:1–10). The whole of chapter 2 is a look back at his time with them. He is anxious for them, and he is writing with relief and affection.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers.” (2:13)
Paul knows that he is the human voice, yet he insists that it is God who speaks. This is one reason we stand when the Gospel is proclaimed: another is speaking.
“you suffered the same things from your own compatriots” (2:14)
The Thessalonians, mostly Gentiles, were being troubled by their own neighbours. Sharing in suffering makes them one with the mother churches far away in Judea. On the hard words that follow, see the question below.
“we longed with great eagerness to see you face to face.” (2:17)
The teacher of the Gospel is not a lecturer who has moved on. Paul's theology and his affection cannot be separated.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism applies 2:13 to the whole of Scripture: in it the Church finds her nourishment and strength, because she welcomes it not as a human word but as what it really is, the word of God (CCC 104; Dei Verbum 24). The Second Vatican Council also uses this verse to describe the sense of faith of the whole people of God (Lumen Gentium 12).
Setting.
These sayings follow the parable of the dishonest manager (16:1–9), which ended with the puzzling advice to "make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth". Luke now gathers sayings about money that explain how a disciple should use it. Later in the same chapter comes the rich man and Lazarus (16:19–31).
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much” (16:10)
Character is not built on great occasions. It is built in the small honesty of ordinary days, and great occasions only show what is there.
“who will entrust to you the true riches?” (16:11)
Money, Jesus says, is a small thing, a test. The true riches are the goods of the kingdom. How we handle the first shows whether we can be given the second.
“You cannot serve God and wealth.” (16:13)
Jesus does not say that it is difficult; he says that it cannot be done. There is room for only one Lord. The same saying stands in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:24).
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism lists money among the things that people can honour in the place of God, and quotes this saying under the sin of idolatry (CCC 2113). It also quotes St John Chrysostom, who says that not to let the poor share in our goods is to steal from them (CCC 2446). Chrysostom says this in his sermons on Lazarus, the story that follows today's Gospel in Luke.
Does 1 Thessalonians 2:14–16 blame the Jewish people?
No, and it must not be read that way. Paul is himself a Jew (Romans 11:1). He is writing in the heat of a particular conflict about those in Judea who persecuted the first Christians and those who were blocking his mission. The meaning of "God’s wrath has overtaken them at last" is debated by scholars, but it is not a judgment on a whole people. Paul's last word is in Romans: "the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (Romans 11:29). The Church teaches that the Passion cannot be charged against all Jews then living, nor against the Jews of today (Nostra Aetate 4; CCC 597), and that sinners were the authors of Christ's sufferings (CCC 598).