9 December 2026 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malabar Rite · Latin Rite · മലയാളം
“And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised,” Luke 7:22
Hebrews opens with a sweeping vision: “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son,” through whom he made the worlds. The Son is “the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being”; having made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. The child of Bethlehem is God's final and complete Word.
John the Baptist, in prison, sends disciples to ask Jesus: “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Jesus does not answer with a title but with signs: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor hear good news, all fulfilling Isaiah. “And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.” Even great saints have dark hours; Jesus answers them with his works.
Theme: “Are you the one who is to come?”
God's final Word answers with works.
“The LORD says to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”” Psalm 110:1
“Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds.” Hebrews 1:1–2
Apply: Read Hebrews 1 slowly today.
“The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,” Isaiah 61:1
“And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised,” Luke 7:22
Apply: Do one work of mercy for a poor or sick person.
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.” Psalm 118:22
“And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.” Luke 7:23
Apply: Tell Jesus honestly one doubt you carry.
God's last Word is his Son.
His works answer our doubts.
Take-home resolution: Note each evening one sign of God's goodness.
Dear friends, the Letter to the Hebrews begins majestically: long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds (Hebrews 1:1–2).
God spoke through many prophets, each a partial word. In Jesus he speaks his full and final Word. The Son is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word (Hebrews 1:3).
In the Gospel John the Baptist, from prison, sends his disciples to ask: are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another? Jesus answers: go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them (Luke 7:19–22).
God has spoken his final Word in Jesus, and that Word acts: he heals, raises and brings good news to the poor. The signs of the Messiah are works of mercy.
At Yaldo we will see this Word made flesh as a child. The One who sustains the universe will be held in Mary's arms. St Ephrem sang of this wonder in his hymns of the Nativity.
During this fast, let us listen more to the Son: read the Gospel daily. And let us do the works of the Messiah: visit the sick, help the poor, bring good news. Then our lives will answer the question: yes, he has come. Amen.
Children, God speaks to us through Jesus. When we read the Gospel, we hear Jesus speaking to us!
Lord Jesus, Son through whom the Father speaks, you answered John's doubt with signs of mercy. Answer our questions, open our eyes to your works, and keep us from taking offence at your ways. Amen.
Both readings ask who Jesus is. Hebrews answers from the heights: he is the Son through whom God has spoken his last word. Luke answers from the road: John the Baptist, in prison, asks, “Are you the one who is to come?”, and Jesus points to what he is doing for the blind, the lame and the poor. The glory of the Son and his care for the lowly belong to one Person.
Setting.
This single long and carefully built sentence in Greek opens the Letter to the Hebrews, a sermon written for tired Christians who were tempted to drift away. There is no greeting and no name of an author. The preacher begins with God speaking, and in four verses he says who Christ is before he says anything else.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son,” (1:1–2)
The Greek has no “the” here: literally “by a Son”. The contrast is between kinds of speakers. The prophets were servants who carried a message. This speaker is himself the message.
“He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word.” (1:3)
The one who holds up the universe is also the one who “made purification for sins”. Then he “sat down”, because that work is finished.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism quotes these verses to teach that Christ is the Father's one, perfect and final Word (CCC 65). In the same paragraph it gives the words of St John of the Cross: in giving us his Son, God spoke everything to us at once, and he has no more to say. The Church expects no new public revelation before the Lord's return (CCC 66).
Setting.
Herod has shut John in prison (Luke 3:20). John's disciples tell him “all these things”: just before this, Jesus has healed a centurion's servant and raised a widow's son at Nain (7:1–17). John had announced a stronger one who would come with fire and a winnowing fork (3:16–17). What he now hears is mercy, and he sends two disciples to ask.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
““Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”” (7:19)
Did John himself doubt? St John Chrysostom held that he asked for the sake of his disciples, to send them to Jesus (in substance). Many modern commentators think the question is John's own, the honest question of a faithful man in a dark prison. Either way, it is a question brought to the right person.
“the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them.” (7:22)
Jesus does not say yes. He lets Isaiah answer (Isaiah 29:18; 35:5–6; 61:1). The list ends not with the raising of the dead but with the poor, as if that were the greatest sign.
“And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.” (7:23)
This is a gentle word for John, and a word for all whose prayers seem to bring no release.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism teaches that the signs of Jesus show that the Kingdom is present in him and attest that he is the promised Messiah, and that they can also become an occasion of offense (CCC 547–548). They are not given to satisfy curiosity but to call to faith. Good news for the poor is a mark of the Kingdom (CCC 544).