17 April 2027 · Syro-Malabar Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Latin Rite · Syro-Malankara Rite · മലയാളം
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?” Luke 6:46
James is the most practical writer in the New Testament, and today he asks a question that cannot be dodged: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?” He answers with a scene that everyone can picture. “If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?” The words in themselves are kind; they are even a blessing. But they cost nothing, and they leave the hungry still hungry. “So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” James is not contradicting Paul, who teaches that we are saved by grace through faith and not by our own achievements. Paul himself speaks of “faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6). The Church has always held the two together: faith is God's unmerited gift, and living faith shows itself in love, as a living tree shows itself in fruit. A faith that never feeds anyone, never forgives anyone, never visits anyone, is like a body without breath. There is a sharp irony in the words “Go in peace”. At the end of every Holy Qurbana the Church sends us out with a blessing of peace. That dismissal is not a polite goodbye; it is a mission. We have received the Body of the Lord who fed the hungry, and we are sent to do the same. The Risen Christ showed his disciples his wounds and then sent them out. Easter faith that stays inside the church walls has not yet understood Easter.
In the Gospel Jesus asks the same question in his own words: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?” To call Jesus Lord is the heart of Christian faith; the first Christians were baptised into that confession. But the title must be matched by obedience, or it becomes empty flattery. Then Jesus tells a story that every builder understands. “I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built.” Notice the three verbs: comes, hears, acts. And notice the hard work of digging deep, which no one sees once the house is finished. The other man also heard the words, but he “built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.” Both houses may have looked the same in the dry season. Only the flood showed the difference. Kerala has seen in recent years what floods and landslides can do to houses; the parable is not abstract for us. Every life will meet its flood: sickness, betrayal, failure, the death of someone we love, our own death. The question is what lies under the walls. The rock is Christ himself, the stone the builders rejected, which God raised up at Easter to be the cornerstone (Psalm 118:22). We dig down to that rock by hearing his word and doing it, day after day, in ordinary obedience. On this Saturday the Church looks with love to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the one who heard the word of God and did it most perfectly. When a woman in the crowd blessed the womb that bore Jesus, he answered, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!” (Luke 11:28). Mary is blessed on both counts: she bore the Word in her body because she first received him in faith and obedience. Her “Here am I, the servant of the Lord” is a house built on rock.
Theme: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?”
Faith that is alive in works, the Lord who must be obeyed, and the house built on rock.
“Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?” Isaiah 58:7
“So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” James 2:17
Apply: Do one concrete act of help this week, not only a promise to pray.
“They come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but they will not obey them.” Ezekiel 33:31
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?” Luke 6:46
Apply: Choose one teaching of Jesus you know but do not practise, and begin today.
“The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,” Psalm 18:2
“That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built.” Luke 6:48
Apply: Ask the Blessed Virgin Mary each day this week to help you hear the word and do it.
Living faith shows itself in love, as a living tree shows itself in fruit.
Those who hear the Risen Lord and act on his word build on the rock that no flood can shake.
Take-home resolution: This week feed or help one person in need, put one forgotten teaching of Jesus into practice, and pray with Mary to be a doer of the word.
Dear friends, St James asks: what good is it if you say you have faith but do not have works? He imagines a brother or sister without clothes or food, and someone says: go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill. Kind words, but the hungry person is still hungry. So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead (James 2:17).
This does not mean we earn heaven by our deeds. Faith is God's gift. But living faith works through love, as a living tree bears fruit. At the end of every Qurbana we are sent in peace. That is not a goodbye; it is a mission to feed and serve.
In the Gospel Jesus asks: why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I tell you? Then he tells of two builders. One dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock. The other built on the ground without a foundation. When the flood came, the first house stood, and the second fell with a great crash.
In the dry season the two houses looked the same. Only the flood showed the difference. Every life will meet floods. What matters is what lies underneath. The rock is Christ, the stone the builders rejected, whom God raised at Easter.
Today is Saturday, and we remember the Blessed Virgin Mary, who heard the word of God and did it. Let us ask her to help us dig deep: to hear Jesus and to act. Alleluia! Amen.
Children, Jesus told of a house built on rock. When the flood came, it did not fall! When you listen to Jesus and obey him, you are building on rock.
Don't just say ‘I will help’. Help! Today, do one helpful thing at home without being asked.
Lord Jesus Christ, risen cornerstone, we call you Lord. Let our lives say it too. Save us from a faith that speaks kind words and leaves the hungry hungry. Give us the patience to dig deep, to hear your word and act on it, so that when the floods come, our house may stand on you. With the Blessed Virgin Mary, who heard the word of God and kept it, let us say each day: be it done to me according to your word. Amen. Alleluia!