3 November 2026 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malabar Rite · Latin Rite · മലയാളം
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8
Hebrews asks us to remember our leaders, those who spoke the word of God to us, and to imitate their faith. Today the Church remembers the bishops of the Council of Nicaea (AD 325), whom tradition numbers as 318. They confessed the Son “one in being with the Father”, the faith we still sing in the Creed. Their teaching stands because Christ himself does not change: “the same yesterday and today and forever.”
In the Gospel Jesus praises the faithful and wise servant whom the master puts in charge of his household “to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time.” That is the work of every shepherd in the Church, and of every parent at home: to feed others faithfully, not to lord it over them, because the master may come at any hour.
Theme: “The same yesterday and today and forever.”
The Fathers of Nicaea and the faithful servant.
“Remember the days of old, consider the years long past; ask your father, and he will inform you; your elders, and they will tell you.” Deuteronomy 32:7
“Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” Hebrews 13:7
Apply: Pray for the priest who baptised you.
“For I the LORD do not change;” Malachi 3:6
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8
Apply: Say the Nicene Creed slowly today.
“Not so with my servant Moses; he is entrusted with all my house.” Numbers 12:7
“Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time?” Matthew 24:45
Apply: Do one duty today exactly and on time.
We stand on the faith of the Fathers.
Let us be found faithful when the Lord comes.
Take-home resolution: Learn the Nicene Creed by heart this month.
Dear friends, Hebrews asks us to remember our leaders, those who spoke the word of God to us, and to imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever (Hebrews 13:7–8). Today the Church remembers the Fathers of the Council of Nicaea (AD 325), whom tradition numbers as 318. They confessed that the Son is of one being with the Father; the Creed we pray at every Holy Qurbono comes from them.
In the Gospel Jesus speaks of the faithful and wise servant whom the master puts in charge of his household: blessed is that servant whom his master will find at work when he arrives (Matthew 24:45–46). The Fathers of Nicaea were such servants; many bore in their bodies the wounds of persecution.
Faith is both an inheritance and a responsibility. This week pray the Creed slowly, meditating on its meaning, and explain one line of it to your children. Amen.
Children, long ago bishops gathered in a city called Nicaea and confessed that Jesus is true God. Today pray the Creed with all your heart!
Lord Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever, we thank you for the Fathers of Nicaea and for all who handed on the faith to us. Make us faithful and wise servants, ready for your coming. Amen.
Today the Church remembers the 318 Fathers of the Council of Nicaea, and the readings fit the day. Hebrews tells us to remember the leaders who spoke God's word to us and to imitate their faith, because “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” In the Gospel, the faithful servant is the one who feeds the household at the proper time, until the master comes.
Setting.
Chapter 13 closes the long sermon of Hebrews with practical counsel: love, hospitality, marriage, money, and the community's leaders. The “leaders” of v. 7 seem to be those who first preached to them and have already died, perhaps as martyrs, since the readers are told to consider “the outcome” of their life. The living leaders are mentioned in v. 17.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” (13:7)
Christians are asked not only to remember their teachers but to look at how their lives ended, and to copy their faith, not merely their words.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (13:8)
Leaders pass; Christ remains. This is why the faith confessed at Nicaea is still our faith: it is faith in the same Christ.
“Let us then go to him outside the camp and bear the abuse he endured.” (13:13)
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism lists “the sacrifice of praise” (Hebrews 13:15) among the names of the Eucharist, which makes present the one sacrifice of Christ (CCC 1330). It also teaches that the bishops, as successors of the apostles, hand on the faith received, so that the Church remains in the teaching of the apostles (CCC 77, 857).
Setting.
This short parable belongs to Jesus' last discourse about the end of the age (Matthew 24–25). The question is not when the master will come, but what he will find his servant doing when he comes. Luke has the same parable and adds that Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for everyone?” (Luke 12:41).
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time?” (24:45)
The servant is a servant among servants. Authority in the household is for feeding others, not for ruling them.
“Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives.” (24:46)
“But if that wicked slave says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’” (24:48)
The fall begins in the heart, with a private sentence: there is plenty of time. Then come violence toward others and self-indulgence (v. 49).
How the Church reads it.
The Church reads this parable first for her pastors, and then for every Christian who has been given others to care for. The Catechism teaches that ministry in the Church is service: those who receive it become “slaves of Christ” for the sake of the people (CCC 876). It also recalls the Council's call to watch constantly, since we know neither the day nor the hour (CCC 1036; Lumen Gentium 48).
Who were the 318 Fathers?
The bishops who met at Nicaea in AD 325, the first ecumenical council, and confessed that the Son is “one in being with the Father” against the teaching of Arius. The number 318 is the traditional count; St Ambrose noted that it is also the number of Abraham's servants in Genesis 14:14 (in substance). Their Creed, completed at Constantinople in 381, is the one we profess today.
In the Holy Qurbono the Malankara Church professes the Nicene Creed, the faith of the 318 Fathers as completed at Constantinople. When we say “one in being with the Father”, we stand with Nicaea and with the faithful leaders whom Hebrews tells us to remember.