11 March 2027 · Syro-Malabar Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malankara Rite · Latin Rite · മലയാളം
“for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:8
Paul writes to Timothy, his young co-worker in Ephesus, as a coach writes to an athlete. The Greek world loved its gymnasium, and Paul borrows its language: “Train yourself in godliness, for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” He does not despise the body's training; he simply sets it in its place. The body's fitness serves this life; godliness, eusebeia, a life turned reverently toward God, serves this life and the next. Like any training, it needs daily practice, a coach, and the willingness to be tired. Before dawn in many Kerala villages the young men of the kalari stretch and leap and repeat the same movements until they become second nature; no one becomes a master of kalaripayattu by reading about it. The Great Fast is the Church's season of training: the same prayers each morning and evening, the same small refusals at the table, the same Way of the Cross each Friday, until the soul learns new reflexes. Paul also warns Timothy to “Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives' tales”, idle stories that fill the mind and starve the soul; today they come to us through the endless scrolling of our phones. And he gives the reason for all the effort: “For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.” We do not train to impress anyone. We train because we hope.
In the Gospel Jesus takes the Twelve aside and tells them, for the third time in Luke, what is waiting at the end of the road: “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon. After they have flogged him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again.” Every word is clear. And yet Luke tells us three times over that they did not grasp it: “But they understood nothing about all these things; in fact, what he said was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.” They had walked with him for years, seen his miracles, heard his parables, and still the Cross made no sense to them. The very next scene in Luke is a blind beggar at Jericho who cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”, and receives his sight (Luke 18:38). Those who walked beside Jesus could not see; the blind man by the road could. Only after Easter would the risen Lord open their minds to understand the Scriptures. In ten days we enter the Great Week. We too may know every word of the Passion story and still not understand it. Let us ask, like the beggar of Jericho, for eyes to see that the road up to Jerusalem is the road to glory.
Theme: “for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”
The training of godliness, the road up to Jerusalem, and the eyes that cannot yet see the meaning of the Cross.
“He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” Deuteronomy 8:3
“for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:8
Apply: Choose one spiritual exercise and practise it every day until Easter without fail.
“I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.” Isaiah 50:6
“Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.” Luke 18:31
Apply: Plan now how your family will take part in every service of the Great Week.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.” Isaiah 55:8
“Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures,” Luke 24:45
Apply: Read one Gospel account of the Passion slowly before Hosanna Sunday, asking for light.
The Great Fast is the soul's training, and its goal is hope in the living God.
Jesus goes up to Jerusalem to suffer and to rise; let us ask for eyes to understand.
Take-home resolution: Keep one daily exercise of prayer until Easter, and read the Passion before Hosanna Sunday.
Dear friends, Paul tells Timothy: train yourself in godliness; physical training is of some value, but godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come (1 Timothy 4:7–8).
The Great Fast is a season of training. The same prayers every day, the same small sacrifices at table, the same Way of the Cross each Friday: slowly they give the soul new habits. We train not to impress others, but because our hope is set on the living God.
In the Gospel Jesus tells the Twelve: we are going up to Jerusalem; the Son of Man will be mocked, insulted, spat upon, flogged and killed, and on the third day he will rise again (Luke 18:31–33). But they understood nothing (Luke 18:34).
We too can know the Passion story by heart and still not understand it. In ten days we enter the Great Week. Let us ask, like the blind man of Jericho, for eyes to see that the way of the Cross is the way to glory. Amen.
Children, sportsmen practise every day to become strong. Jesus' friends also need to practise: praying every day and doing good things every day. What good thing will you practise every day until Easter?
Lord Jesus Christ, you set your face to go up to Jerusalem, knowing that you would be mocked, insulted, flogged and killed, and that on the third day you would rise. Train us in godliness through the discipline of this Great Fast, and set our hope on the living God. Open the eyes of our hearts, as you opened the eyes of the blind man at Jericho, so that we may understand your Cross and follow you to your glory. Amen.
Today’s readings speak of training and of the road. 1 Timothy tells a young pastor that training in godliness is worth more than any athlete’s effort, and that we toil because our hope is set on the living God. In Luke, Jesus takes the Twelve aside and tells them plainly what waits in Jerusalem, and they understand nothing. The Great Fast is a training for that road. We are close enough now to Hosanna Sunday to hear the words again and to ask whether we understand them.
Setting.
The First Letter to Timothy is one of the three Pastoral Letters, addressed to a co-worker of Paul who is leading a community at Ephesus (1:3). The letter names Paul as its author. Many scholars think that a disciple wrote it some time after his death, while others hold to Paul himself or to Paul working through a secretary. It is inspired Scripture in either case.
Just before our reading the author warns against teachers who “forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods” (4:3), since “everything created by God is good” (4:4). That explains the balance here. The Christian discipline he praises is not contempt for the body or for God’s creation.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives’ tales.” (4:7)
“Old wives’ tales” was a common Greek phrase of the time for foolish stories. The author means empty speculation, and his target is not older women, whom he honours (5:2). Those who feed the community need to know what they are feeding it.
“for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” (4:8)
He does not despise the body’s training: it has some value. Our fasting also trains the body, and it does so for a further purpose. Godliness reaches beyond the grave.
“For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.” (4:10)
The whole effort stands on hope, and that hope is in a living God. “All people” agrees with 2:4: God “desires everyone to be saved”. Believers know this and have already received it in a special way. The verse does not say that all will be saved without conversion.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism teaches that the way of perfection passes by way of the Cross, and that spiritual progress entails ascesis and mortification (CCC 2015). It also quotes 1 Timothy 2:4 to ground the Church’s mission (CCC 851). For pastors, the Second Vatican Council names proclaiming the Gospel as the first duty of priests (Presbyterorum Ordinis 4), which is what this reading means by being “nourished on the words of the faith”.
Setting.
Luke’s long journey to Jerusalem began at 9:51. This is the third of his main announcements of the Passion (see 9:22; 9:44), and Matthew and Mark give it also (Matthew 20:17–19; Mark 10:32–34). Luke makes two additions of his own: all that the prophets wrote will be fulfilled, and the Twelve fail to understand. Next comes the blind man near Jericho, who sees (18:35–43). The placing is surely deliberate.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.” (18:31)
One may think here of the Servant who did not hide his face “from insult and spitting” (Isaiah 50:6). The same point is made on Easter day: “Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:26).
“and on the third day he will rise again.” (18:33)
Every announcement ends here. The Passion is never told apart from the Resurrection, and the Great Fast should not be either.
“But they understood nothing about all these things; in fact, what he said was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.” (18:34)
Luke says it three ways. Peter has already confessed him as Messiah (9:20), and still a suffering Messiah makes no sense to them. They walk on with him anyway. That is an encouragement for anyone who follows without understanding everything.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism says that Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem knowing that he would die there (CCC 557). The Church remains faithful to the reading of “all the Scriptures” that Jesus himself gave, before and after his Passover (CCC 572), and the Resurrection fulfils both the promises of the Old Testament and those of Jesus himself (CCC 652). The Catechism also forbids laying the Passion on the Jewish people as a whole: all sinners were its authors (CCC 597–598).