27 April 2027 · Syro-Malabar Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Latin Rite · Syro-Malankara Rite · മലയാളം
“But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” James 1:22
James writes like a man who has watched many people come out of church unchanged. “But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” Then he gives an image everyone understands: “For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like.” In Aranmula, on the banks of the Pampa, craftsmen still make the famous metal mirror, the Aranmula kannadi, polished for days until it shows a face without distortion. Nobody buys such a mirror only to forget their face. The word of God is a mirror like that: it shows us exactly who we are, both our sins and our dignity as children of God. The danger James sees is not that we refuse to look, but that we look, nod, and walk away. In this Easter season the Risen Lord has spoken to us Sunday after Sunday. The question is whether anything has changed between one Sunday and the next.
James then turns to the true test of religion. First the tongue: “If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless.” A Christian who prays the long prayers of the Qurbana and then tears a neighbour to pieces on the way home has not yet understood what he prayed. Then the hands: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” Two things, held together: mercy towards the weakest, and purity of life. Kerala's Christians have a long history of the first. Religious sisters and brothers, priests and lay people have built homes for children without parents, for the abandoned elderly, for the sick whom no one wanted, and many of these houses are still kept going by the small gifts of ordinary parishes. James calls this not a hobby for the generous but the heart of religion. Every Easter Christian is invited to ask: whom do I visit? Which orphan, which widow, which lonely old man knows me by name?
In the Gospel Jesus walks into Jerusalem in the morning, hungry. He sees a fig tree by the road “and found nothing at all on it but leaves.” He says: “May no fruit ever come from you again!” and the tree withers. This is one of the few miracles of judgement in the Gospels, and it is a parable acted out. The prophets had used the fig tree as an image of God's people: “there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree” (Jeremiah 8:13). A tree covered in leaves promises fruit from far away; up close it has nothing to give. Leaves without fruit are what James calls hearing without doing. Jesus does not stop at the warning. When the disciples marvel, he turns the moment into a lesson on prayer: “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done. Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.” The power that can wither a fruitless tree is the same power that can make a dry tree bear fruit. The Risen Lord does not want us to wither; he wants us to pray with faith and bear the fruit of the grace already given to us in Baptism and in the Holy Qurbana. In April and May many parishes run their vacation Bible classes, and children learn the words of Scripture by heart. The best lesson they can receive is to see their parents doing those words.
Theme: “But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.”
The mirror of the word, the religion of the bridled tongue and the open hand, and the fig tree that had only leaves.
“To them you are like a singer of love songs, one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; they hear what you say, but they will not do it.” Ezekiel 33:32
“For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror;” James 1:23
Apply: Write down one sentence from Sunday's Gospel and put it into practice before next Sunday.
“learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” Isaiah 1:17
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” James 1:27
Apply: Visit or telephone one widow or elderly person living alone this week.
“They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.” Psalm 1:3
“Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.” Matthew 21:22
Apply: Pray each day this week, with faith, for one fruit of love you want the Lord to grow in you.
The word is a mirror, true religion is mercy and purity, and the Lord looks for fruit.
The Risen Lord gives the grace; let us bear the fruit.
Take-home resolution: This week, do one word of the Gospel, visit one person who is alone, and pray with faith for the fruit of love.
Dear friends, St James gives us a picture: someone looks in a mirror, sees his face, walks away and forgets what he looks like (James 1:23–24). That, he says, is a person who hears the word and does not do it. The word of God is a mirror; it is given to change us.
Then James tells us what pure religion is: to bridle the tongue, to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep ourselves unstained by the world (James 1:26–27). Not only long prayers, but a guarded tongue and open hands.
In the Gospel Jesus comes to a fig tree, hungry, and finds nothing on it but leaves. The tree withers. Leaves without fruit: that is what a life of hearing without doing looks like.
But Jesus does not stop at the warning. He tells his disciples: if you have faith and do not doubt, you can say to this mountain, be lifted up and thrown into the sea, and it will be done; whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive (Matthew 21:21–22). The Risen Lord gives us the grace to bear fruit, if we ask.
This week, let us do one word we have heard, and visit one person who is alone. Let the Lord find fruit on our branches. Alleluia! Amen.
Children, Jesus came to a tree looking for fruit, but it had only leaves. Jesus wants our lives to have fruit: kind words, helping hands, saying sorry. Today, can you do one kind thing at home without being asked? That is fruit for Jesus!
Lord Jesus Christ, risen and living, you came to the fig tree hungry and found only leaves. Do not find our lives full of words and empty of fruit. Make us doers of your word and not hearers only; bridle our tongues, open our hands to the orphan and the widow, and keep us unstained by the world. Give us faith that does not doubt, so that we may pray with boldness and bear the fruit of your grace. Amen. Alleluia!