4 December 2026 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Latin Rite · Syro-Malabar Rite · മലയാളം
“leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5:24
“So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.” Paul quotes Isaiah: God let himself be found by those who did not seek him. The word has gone out to the ends of the earth. St John of Damascus, whom we remember today, spent his life handing on that word faithfully; he also defended the holy icons, teaching that because the invisible God became visible in Christ, his face may be painted and venerated.
Jesus goes beneath the commandment “You shall not murder” to its root: anger and contempt. Whoever is angry with a brother or calls him a fool is already on the road to murder. And then a teaching for every worshipper: if at the altar you remember that your brother has something against you, “leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled”. Our offering at the Holy Qurbono is not acceptable while we refuse to be reconciled. A Friday of the fast is a good day to make peace.
Theme: “First be reconciled.”
Peace before the altar.
“Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath.” Psalm 37:8
“But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment;” Matthew 5:22
Apply: Notice and offer to God one moment of anger today.
“cease to do evil, learn to do good;” Isaiah 1:16–17
“leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5:24
Apply: Take one step toward reconciliation.
“I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, to be found by those who did not seek me.” Isaiah 65:1
“So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17
Apply: Listen to the Scripture readings at the next Qurbono with full attention.
God first reconciled us to himself.
Let us carry that peace to others.
Take-home resolution: Make peace with one person before Christmas.
Dear friends, today we remember St John of Damascus, the great Syrian monk and teacher of the faith, who defended the holy icons and wrote beautiful hymns still sung in the Eastern Churches. He taught that because the invisible God became visible in Christ, we may honour images of Christ and his saints.
St Paul writes: faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). Then he quotes Isaiah: I have been found by those who did not seek me (Romans 10:20). God's grace often reaches those we least expect.
In the Gospel Jesus deepens the commandment: you have heard that it was said, you shall not murder. But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgement (Matthew 5:21–22). Anger and insults are the roots of murder.
Then he says something very practical: if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled, and then come and offer your gift (Matthew 5:23–24).
In our Holy Qurbono we exchange the kiss of peace before the anaphora. This is the moment Jesus speaks of. It is not a formality; it is a commitment to be reconciled.
During this fast, let us look for one broken relationship and take a step towards peace: a phone call, a visit, an apology. Then our offering at Yaldo will be pleasing to God. Amen.
Children, Jesus says: make peace first, then come to pray. If you had a fight with someone, say sorry today!
Lord Jesus, you call us to be reconciled before we bring our gifts. Heal our anger, give us courage to make peace, and through the prayers of St John of Damascus, let us see your face. Amen.
Paul says that faith comes by hearing, and asks whether the word has really reached the whole world. Jesus says that the word heard has to reach the heart, down to the anger we keep inside and the brother we have not forgiven. Today's saint, St John of Damascus, adds that since the Word became flesh, the eye too may receive him in holy icons.
Setting.
Paul is still answering the question of Romans 9–11: why have so many in Israel not yet accepted Jesus as Messiah? He rules out the idea that they had no chance to hear. He writes with sorrow and love for his own people (9:1–3), and he goes on to declare that God has not rejected them (11:1). Chapters 9–11 must be read together; a verse taken alone can easily mislead.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.” (10:17)
The preaching of the Church is more than information. Christ himself speaks through it.
“for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”” (10:18)
Psalm 19 speaks of the heavens telling God's glory without words. Paul applies the verse to the preachers of the Gospel. He means the word has gone out far and wide, not that every individual has already heard.
““I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”” (10:20)
God takes the first step. The nations who were not looking for him are Paul's example, and all of us who did nothing to earn the Gospel stand among them.
How the Church reads it.
St Paul VI quotes v. 17 to show that preaching by word remains necessary in every age (Evangelii Nuntiandi 42). St John of Damascus, whom the Church remembers today, shows how the same Gospel can also reach us through the eye. The Catechism quotes his teaching that the God who had no body has now become visible in the flesh, so that we may make an image of what we have seen of God (CCC 1159), and adds that image and word illuminate each other (CCC 1160).
Setting.
This is the first of the six sayings in Matthew 5 that begin “You have heard”. Jesus has just said that he came not to abolish the Law but to fulfil it (5:17). So he does not weaken “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13); he takes it down to its root in the heart. The word “council” in v. 22 refers to the Sanhedrin, the high court.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you,” (5:23)
Note who has the grievance. It is not “if you are angry with someone”, but if someone has something against you. Then you take the first step.
“leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.” (5:24)
In the Temple this was a startling picture. Worship stops for the sake of reconciliation. Worship itself is not cancelled: “then come and offer”.
“Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.” (5:26)
A warning given while there is still time. The picture is of debts left unsettled until it is too late.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism says that in recalling this commandment the Lord adds the prohibition of anger, hatred and vengeance (CCC 2262, 2302), and that from the Sermon on the Mount onward he insists on reconciliation with one's brother before presenting an offering at the altar (CCC 2608). The Didache, a very early Christian manual, already applies these words to the Eucharist: no one at odds with a companion should join the gathering until reconciled, so that the sacrifice may not be defiled (in substance, Didache 14).
Is all anger a sin?
No. Jesus himself looked at people “with anger” at their hardness of heart (Mark 3:5), and Paul writes, “Be angry but do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26). The passion of anger is not sinful in itself. It becomes sin when we consent to the wish to harm, when we feed it and hold on to it (CCC 1767; 2302).
Before the great thanksgiving of the anaphora, the Holy Qurbono has the sign of peace passed from the altar to the people. Matthew 5:23–24 is the Gospel behind that moment. In this fast, today's reading asks each of us to ask: who has something against me, and what will I do about it before Yaldo? St John of Damascus, a monk of the Lavra of St Sabbas near Jerusalem, is honoured in East and West; he gives a reason for the icons before which Eastern Christians pray.