30 April 2027 · Syro-Malabar Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Latin Rite · Syro-Malankara Rite · മലയാളം
“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:2
Paul arrived in Corinth after a hard experience in Athens, where his learned speech on the Areopagus had won only a few believers (Acts 17:32–34). Corinth was a rich port city that loved clever talk and public speakers. Paul decided to do the opposite of what would impress it. “When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” He does not hide his own condition: “And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.” Yet the Church of Corinth was born from that trembling preacher, because something other than eloquence was at work: “My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.” We read this in the season of the Resurrection, and it reminds us that the Risen Lord is the Crucified Lord. He showed Thomas his hands and his side (John 20:27); his wounds were not erased by Easter but glorified. That is why a Syro-Malabar Christian keeps Friday as the day of the Cross even in the weeks of Easter joy, and why the crucifix and the empty tomb are never separated in our faith.
In the Gospel Jesus calls the crowd and says: “Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” The context is a question about washing hands before meals according to the tradition of the elders. The care of the Pharisees for purity was sincere, and the debate is one within the family of Israel, among teachers who all loved the Law; the Church reads it without any contempt for the Jewish people, from whom Jesus, his mother and the apostles came. Jesus moves the question from the hands to the heart. When Peter asks for an explanation, he says: “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.” Notice where the list begins: with evil intentions, the thoughts no one else sees. And notice where it ends: false witness and slander, sins of the tongue. Between the hidden thought and the spoken word lies the whole of our moral life. Outward observance matters, and the Church keeps her fasts and her rites with love; but Jesus will not let any rite take the place of a clean heart.
Today a great deal of what ‘comes out of the mouth’ comes out through the fingers. A message forwarded without checking, a rumour about a neighbour's daughter passed on in a family group, a mocking comment under a priest's photograph: Jesus' list has not gone out of date. False witness and slander now travel in seconds to hundreds of people. The question Jesus asks is not first about our phones but about our hearts: what is inside, that comes out so easily? Paul's answer is the Crucified. A heart that has decided to know Christ crucified becomes slow to condemn, because it knows what it cost to forgive its own sins. Tomorrow the month of May begins, and in many of our homes the Marian month devotion will be prayed each evening. The Blessed Virgin Mary is the model of the clean heart: of her the Gospel says twice that she treasured the words and events of her Son and pondered them in her heart (Luke 2:19, 51). What came out of her mouth was the Magnificat. Let us ask our Mother to teach us, through this month, to keep our hearts clean, so that our words, spoken or typed, may build up and not destroy.
Theme: “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”
The Crucified preached in weakness, the heart from which words come, and the clean heart of the Mother of God at the threshold of her month.
“Thus says the LORD: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth;” Jeremiah 9:23
“so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:5
Apply: Pray before a crucifix for five minutes today, thanking the Risen Lord for his wounds.
“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” Proverbs 4:23
“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles.” Matthew 15:18
Apply: Examine your words of this week, spoken and typed, and confess any false witness or slander.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8
Apply: Pray the Marian month devotion with your family from tomorrow, asking for clean hearts.
The Crucified and Risen Lord is the power of God, and he looks at the heart.
Let us keep our hearts clean, so that our words may build up, with the help of our Blessed Mother.
Take-home resolution: This week, pray before the crucifix, check every message before forwarding it, and begin the Marian month with your family.
Dear friends, St Paul came to Corinth, a city that loved fine speeches, and he decided to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ, and him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2). He came in weakness, fear and much trembling, and yet a Church was born.
Why? Because his preaching was a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that their faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:4–5). In this Easter season, let us remember: the Risen Lord is the Crucified Lord. He still bears his wounds, now shining with glory.
In the Gospel Jesus says: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth (Matthew 15:11). What comes out of the mouth comes from the heart: evil intentions, murder, adultery, theft, false witness, slander (Matthew 15:18–19).
Today many words come out not only through our mouths but through our phones. Before we speak or forward anything about another person, let us ask: is it true, is it kind, is it necessary?
Tomorrow the month of May begins, the month of our Blessed Mother, who kept the words of her Son in her heart. Let us ask her for a clean heart, so that our words may always build up. Alleluia! Amen.
Children, Jesus says that what makes us bad is not the food we eat, but the bad words that come out of our heart. Tonight, let us ask Jesus for a clean heart, so that only kind words come out of our mouths!
Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, you kept the wounds of your Passion in your glory. Let us know nothing but you, and you crucified, so that our faith may rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God. Create in us a clean heart, take away the evil intentions from which our sins of word and deed are born, and guard our tongues and our fingers from false witness and slander. Through the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who kept your words in her heart, prepare us for the month dedicated to her. Amen. Alleluia!