15 March 2027 · Syro-Malabar Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Latin Rite · Syro-Malankara Rite · മലയാളം
“I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.” John 12:46
The sixth week of the Great Fast opens with one of the warmest pages Paul ever wrote. He had been forced to leave Thessalonica after only a few weeks, and he worried that the young Church would not survive persecution. So he sent Timothy back, and Timothy has now returned with good news. Paul can hardly contain himself: “For we now live, if you continue to stand firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you?” The apostle's own life seems to depend on the faith of his people. Then he prays for them: “And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” This is what every good pastor, catechist and parent feels. We do not live for ourselves; we live when those entrusted to us stand firm. In these last weeks of the fast many families are far apart: children studying in Bengaluru or Delhi, parents working in the Gulf, grandparents keeping the house at home. Paul's prayer can become our prayer for them: that the Lord will make love increase, and strengthen hearts in holiness, until we meet face to face.
The Gospel is the last public word of Jesus in the first half of John's Gospel. After this he will speak only to his disciples at the supper. “Then Jesus cried aloud”: he raises his voice, as if to be heard by everyone who will ever live. “Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.” To look at Jesus is to see the Father. Then comes the reason he came: “I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.” He does not come to condemn: “for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” And yet a word refused does not disappear; “on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge.” The same light that saves also shows what we have chosen. The fast has been a slow walk out of the dark rooms of the heart into this light. In the Holy Qurbana the light is not only spoken but given, for the Word who speaks to us is the Bread who feeds us. As the week of the Passion draws near, Jesus still cries aloud to us: do not remain in the darkness.
Theme: “I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.”
An apostle who lives by the faith of his people, and the Lord who cries aloud that he came to save and not to condemn.
“For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.” Psalm 36:9
“I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.” John 12:46
Apply: Bring one hidden thing into the light of confession before Hosanna Sunday.
“No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.” Deuteronomy 30:14
“The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge,” John 12:48
Apply: Choose one word of Jesus from this week's Gospels and live by it for a day.
“Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” Ruth 1:16
“And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you.” 1 Thessalonians 3:12
Apply: Write or call one person whose faith has strengthened yours, and thank them.
Christ came as light, not to condemn but to save; his word is very near to us.
Those who stand firm in the Lord give life to others; let love increase and abound among us.
Take-home resolution: This week, pray each evening by name for someone far away, and step into the light of confession before Hosanna Sunday.
Dear friends, Paul had left the young Church in Thessalonica too soon, and he was afraid for them. When Timothy returns with news of their faith and love, Paul says: for we now live, if you continue to stand firm in the Lord (1 Thessalonians 3:8).
That is the heart of every parent, teacher and priest. We live when those we love stand firm. Paul prays that the Lord will make them increase and abound in love, and strengthen their hearts in holiness (1 Thessalonians 3:12–13). Let us pray the same for our children and for family members far from home.
In the Gospel Jesus cries aloud: I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness (John 12:46). He did not come to judge but to save.
Yet the word we refuse will one day be our judge. Hosanna Sunday is near. Let us not remain in the darkness: let us bring what is hidden to the light of confession this week. Amen.
Children, Jesus said: I came like a light into the world. When it is dark we need a lamp. Tonight, when you see a light at the prayer corner, remember that Jesus is the light for your heart.
Lord Jesus Christ, light of the world, you came not to judge us but to save us. Do not let us remain in the darkness. Make us increase and abound in love for one another and for all, and strengthen our hearts in holiness, so that we may stand firm in you and be blameless before the Father when you come with all your saints. Amen.
Both readings are about being sent and about what depends on it. Paul had to leave the young Church of Thessalonica in a hurry, sent Timothy back to see how it stood, and now hears that the believers have held firm. In John, Jesus speaks his last public words: he has been sent by the Father as light, to save and not to condemn. An apostle lives for those to whom he is sent, because the Son lives wholly for the One who sent him.
Setting.
This letter is very probably the oldest writing in the New Testament, sent from Corinth around AD 50 or 51. Acts tells how Paul’s preaching in Thessalonica stirred up trouble and how the believers sent him away by night (Acts 17:1–10). He had been with them for only a short time. From Athens he sent Timothy back, because he could no longer bear not knowing how they were (3:1–5). Today’s passage is his answer to the news Timothy brought when he rejoined him (compare Acts 18:5).
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“For we now live, if you continue to stand firm in the Lord.” (3:8)
A short and surprising sentence. Paul is suffering “distress and persecution” (v. 7), and yet his life depends on theirs. This is how a pastor, a catechist or a parent feels about those in their care.
“Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.” (3:10)
Even this praised Church lacks something. Paul’s joy does not make him careless. The letter he is writing is itself part of the mending, since he cannot yet come in person.
“And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you.” (3:12)
Love is asked for as a gift from the Lord. It grows. It also reaches outward: “for one another” and then “for all”, including those who were making life hard for them.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism points to Paul’s prayer for his Churches as a model of intercession in the first Christian communities: he shares his ministry with them and intercedes for them (CCC 2636). Verse 13 looks to the Lord’s coming “with all his saints”, a phrase that echoes Zechariah 14:5; it may mean the angels, the faithful, or both. In the Great Fast, the passage asks whose faith we carry in our prayer night and day.
Setting.
In John’s Gospel Jesus has already left the crowds: “he departed and hid from them” (12:36). The evangelist then reflects on those who did not believe (12:37–43). These verses follow with no place or audience named. They gather up the main themes of his public teaching, and many scholars read them as the evangelist’s summary. From chapter 13 Jesus speaks only with his disciples.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.” (12:45)
This looks ahead to the supper: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (14:9). Everything Jesus says and does shows us who the Father is.
“I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.” (12:46)
The purpose is stated plainly. The light does not come to expose people for their shame, but so that they need not stay in the dark.
“for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” (12:47)
Then v. 48 adds that the word he has spoken will serve as judge on the last day. Both are true. The offer is salvation, and a person remains able to refuse it.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism says that the Son did not come to judge but to save, and that by rejecting grace in this life one already judges oneself (CCC 679). It also teaches that Christ’s whole life reveals the Father (CCC 516). Preaching on this passage, St Augustine explains that when Jesus says the word will judge, he means himself, since he is the Word (in substance).
If Jesus did not come to judge, why do we say in the Creed that he will come to judge?
Both belong together. His first coming was for salvation, and that offer is open to all. The judgment on the last day will reveal the response each person has made to that offer. The judge is the same Lord who died for us (CCC 679).