11 December 2026 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malabar Rite · Latin Rite · മലയാളം
“For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.” Matthew 12:8
Paul organises a collection for the poor Christians of Jerusalem and gives a simple method: “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn.” The first day of the week is Sunday, the day of the Resurrection. From the beginning, the Lord's Day and care for the poor went together; the offering at the Holy Qurbono is a continuation of that collection.
When the hungry disciples pluck grain on the sabbath, the Pharisees object. Jesus reminds them that David ate the holy bread when he was hungry, and that the priests work in the temple on the sabbath. “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here… ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’” Jesus is not abolishing the holy day; he is its Lord, and he shows that its holiness is fulfilled in mercy. In this fast, our self-denial should become mercy for the hungry.
Theme: “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.”
The Lord's Day, the poor, and mercy.
“Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, “Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.”” Deuteronomy 15:11
“On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that collections need not be taken when I come.” 1 Corinthians 16:2
Apply: Give the money saved by fasting to the poor.
“So the priest gave him the holy bread; for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence,” 1 Samuel 21:6
“But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.” Matthew 12:7
Apply: Share a meal with someone who is alone.
“Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.” Exodus 20:8
“For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.” Matthew 12:8
Apply: Plan next Sunday around worship, family and rest.
The holy day is fulfilled in mercy.
Let our fast feed the hungry.
Take-home resolution: Keep every Sunday of the fast with the Qurbono and an act of mercy.
Dear friends, St Paul organises a collection for the poor Christians of Jerusalem: on the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn (1 Corinthians 16:2). Giving is regular, planned and proportional. It is part of Sunday worship.
Our tradition links fasting with almsgiving. What we save by fasting should go to the poor. The twenty-five days' fast is incomplete if it only saves money for ourselves.
In the Gospel the disciples pluck grain on the sabbath because they are hungry, and the Pharisees complain. Jesus reminds them that David ate the holy bread when he was hungry, and then quotes the prophet Hosea: I desire mercy and not sacrifice (Matthew 12:7). He adds: the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath (Matthew 12:8).
Jesus is not against the law. He is against a religion that uses rules to forget people. Rules exist to serve love, not to replace it.
Sometimes we can keep the fast strictly and still be harsh with our families, impatient with the poor, or proud before others. Jesus says: mercy, not only sacrifice. The best fast is the one that makes us more merciful.
This week, let us set aside a portion of what we save by fasting for someone in need. And let us check whether our religion is making us more merciful. Amen.
Children, Sunday is a day for God and for helping others. Save a coin this week for someone in need!
Lord Jesus, Lord of the sabbath, teach us to keep your day holy by worship and by mercy. Let what we save by fasting feed the hungry, and let our sacrifice always be joined to love. Amen.
At first sight the readings seem to be about small practical things: how to save money for a collection, and what may be done on a sabbath. In both, the Lord's day and mercy come together. Paul asks the Corinthians to set money aside for the poor “on the first day of every week”. Jesus defends his hungry disciples with the word of Hosea, “I desire mercy”.
Setting.
Paul is ending his letter from Ephesus (16:8). One of the great projects of his life was a collection among his Gentile churches for the poor among the believers in Jerusalem (Romans 15:25–28; 2 Corinthians 8–9; Galatians 2:10). It was relief for the hungry, and also a visible sign that Jew and Gentile were one Church in Christ.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that collections need not be taken when I come.” (16:2)
Regular and small, planned and not emotional. Each one gives; nobody is left out. Paul does not want people pressured at the last moment.
“And when I arrive, I will send any whom you approve with letters to take your gift to Jerusalem.” (16:3)
Paul handles money with care. The church itself chooses the carriers and he gives them letters. Honesty in Church money is an old apostolic concern.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism cites this passage when it says that from the very beginning Christians brought, along with the bread and wine for the Eucharist, gifts to share with those in need (CCC 1351). About a century after Paul, St Justin Martyr describes how the Sunday assembly collected gifts to help orphans, widows, the sick, prisoners and strangers (First Apology 67). Sunday worship and care for the poor have always gone together (CCC 2178, 2443–2449).
Setting.
Just before this passage Jesus has said, “Come to me, all you that are weary… and I will give you rest” (11:28). Now the question of rest arises in practice. To pluck grain by hand from a neighbour's field was allowed (Deuteronomy 23:25). The objection is that it was done on the sabbath, when reaping was forbidden (Exodus 34:21). The Pharisees were not being petty: they were serious about guarding a holy day, which was God's gift and a sign of Israel's covenant. Such debates about what the sabbath allows were common among Jewish teachers of the time.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.” (12:6)
If Temple service permits work on the sabbath, how much more does service to the one who is greater than the Temple?
“But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.” (12:7)
Hosea does not reject sacrifice. It is a Hebrew way of saying “this first, and that only with it”. Worship without mercy is empty.
“For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.” (12:8)
Jesus claims the authority of the one who gave the sabbath. He does not abolish the day. He teaches its true meaning.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism says that Jesus never failed to respect the holiness of the sabbath, and gave its law its authentic and authoritative interpretation (CCC 2173). It also cautions against the idea that Jesus simply opposed the Pharisees: his relations with them were not only polemical, and he had much in common with them (CCC 575–576, 579). It uses the same word of Hosea to teach that outward sacrifice must express the heart (CCC 2100). The Christian Sunday keeps this spirit: it is a day for God, for rest, and for works of mercy (CCC 2185–2186).
Do Christians have to keep the sabbath?
The Christian keeps the Lord's Day, Sunday, the day of the Resurrection, which fulfils the spiritual truth of the sabbath (CCC 2175–2176). The commandment remains, and it is lived on the day of the new creation.