5 January 2027 · Syro-Malabar Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Latin Rite · Syro-Malankara Rite · മലയാളം
“Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.” Luke 13:24
On the eve of Denha St Paul gives Titus a short rule for the baptised. Just before today's passage he has spoken of “the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit”; now he adds: “The saying is sure. I desire that you insist on these things, so that those who have come to believe in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works”. Baptism is not a certificate to be filed away; it is a new life to be lived in deeds. Paul also warns against the opposite: “stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.” A Christian community can waste its strength in endless arguments while the poor wait at the door.
In the Gospel someone asks Jesus: “Lord, will only a few be saved?” Jesus does not feed curiosity; he speaks to the heart: “Strive to enter through the narrow door”. To have eaten and drunk in his presence is not enough; what counts is a life he can recognise as his own. Yet the door is not narrow because God is mean. The same Gospel promises that “people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God.” Tomorrow, at the Jordan, Jesus himself goes down into the water and opens the door. Our ancestors kept this night with lights on plantain stems, crying El Paiya, God is light, and with a bath in river or pond recalling the Jordan. Tonight let us ask for the grace to enter by the door he opens.
Theme: “Strive to enter through the narrow door.”
Good works, not quarrels; the narrow door opened at the Jordan.
“learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” Isaiah 1:17
“The saying is sure. I desire that you insist on these things, so that those who have come to believe in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works; these things are excellent and profitable to everyone.” Titus 3:8
Apply: Do one concrete good work for a neighbour this week.
“The beginning of strife is like letting out water; so stop before the quarrel breaks out.” Proverbs 17:14
“But avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.” Titus 3:9
Apply: Let go of one argument you keep returning to.
“This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it.” Psalm 118:20
“Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.” Luke 13:24
Apply: Light a lamp tonight and pray for all who seek the door of faith.
Tomorrow Christ goes down into the Jordan and the door of heaven opens.
Let us enter with lamps lit and hands full of good works.
Take-home resolution: Keep the Denha eve with a lamp, family prayer and one good work.
Dear friends, tonight is the eve of Denha. St Paul gives Titus a rule for the baptised: those who have come to believe in God must be careful to devote themselves to good works; these things are excellent and profitable to everyone (Titus 3:8). The faith we received in Baptism is meant to be seen in our hands.
Paul also warns against what drains a community's strength: stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions and quarrels, which are unprofitable and worthless (Titus 3:9). How many families and parishes lose years in such arguments, while the poor wait at the door.
In the Gospel someone asks Jesus: Lord, will only a few be saved? Jesus gives no number. He says: strive to enter through the narrow door (Luke 13:23–24). It is not enough to say, we ate and drank with you. The Lord looks for a life he can recognise. And yet he promises that people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God (Luke 13:29).
Tomorrow Jesus goes down into the Jordan, and the door of heaven opens. Our ancestors kept this night with lamps on plantain stems, crying El Paiya, God is light, and with a bath that recalled the Jordan. Let us light a lamp in our hearts tonight, put aside one quarrel and do one good work, so that we may enter by the door he opens. Amen.
Children, tonight is the eve of Denha! In many homes people light lamps and say: God is light! Light a lamp with your family, and do one good thing for someone before you go to sleep.
Lord Jesus, tomorrow you go down into the Jordan to open for us the door of life. Keep me from empty quarrels, make me eager for good works, and give me strength to enter through the narrow door into the feast of your kingdom. Amen.
On the eve of Denha the readings are sober. The letter to Titus insists that those who believe must devote themselves to good works, and warns against quarrels. In the Gospel, Jesus replies to a curious question about numbers by telling the questioner to strive for the narrow door. Before the feast of Baptism, both readings ask how seriously we take the life we entered through that door.
Setting.
Titus is presented as Paul’s co-worker, left on Crete to organise the churches (1:5). This is one of the Pastoral Letters, which the Church receives among Paul’s letters; many scholars think that they come from a disciple writing in his name, while others defend Paul’s own authorship. V. 8 comes straight after one of the letter’s great statements about the grace of Baptism (3:4–7).
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“I desire that you insist on these things, so that those who have come to believe in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works” (3:8)
The word for “devote” suggests taking the lead in something. Good works are not a side matter.
“But avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.” (3:9)
We do not know exactly what these disputes on Crete were. The test Titus is given is a practical one: does this argument build anyone up?
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism recalls that “faith apart from works is dead” (CCC 1815). It defines heresy as the obstinate denial of a truth of faith after Baptism (CCC 2089), and it says that those born today into communities separated from the Catholic Church cannot be charged with the sin of separation; the Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers and sisters (CCC 818). The letter’s severity is about protecting the community’s unity, not about hating a person.
Setting.
Jesus is making his way to Jerusalem (13:22). Someone asks him about numbers. Jesus does not give a figure; he turns a question about others into a warning for the questioner. Matthew has a similar saying about the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13–14) and the people from east and west (8:11–12); Luke puts them together here as a picture of a house whose owner shuts the door.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.” (13:24)
The failure lies in coming too late or wanting to come without change.
“We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.” (13:26)
Being near Jesus is not the same as following him. This warning reaches every believer, and it reaches us who eat at his table in the Holy Qurbana.
“Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God.” (13:29)
Isaiah promised such a feast for all peoples (Isaiah 25:6). Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the prophets are already at the table (13:28). The warning is not about any one nation; it is for all who assume that their place is safe.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism quotes the saying about the narrow gate as a call to take responsibility for our eternal destiny (CCC 1036). It also says that the Church prays that no one should be lost (CCC 1058), and it teaches that those who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel, yet seek God sincerely, can attain salvation (CCC 847; Lumen Gentium 16). Everyone is called to enter the Kingdom (CCC 543). So the Church holds both things: God’s wide mercy and each person’s real responsibility.
Does this Gospel say that only a few will be saved?
Jesus refuses to give a number. What he does say is that entering takes effort, that it cannot be assumed, and that people will come from all directions. The Church does not say how many are saved, and she prays for all (CCC 1058).
The eve of Denha had its own custom among Kerala’s Christians: rakkuli, the bath at night in river or pond, recalling the Jordan. Whether or not a family keeps this today, the eve is a good time to remember one’s own Baptism, the door through which each of us has already been brought.