18 December 2026 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malabar Rite · Latin Rite · മലയാളം
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
Paul calls himself “the very least of all the saints”, yet to him was given the grace “to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ”, the mystery hidden for ages in God. Through the Church the manifold wisdom of God is now made known. The ancient cross venerated at St Thomas Mount in Mylapore is a witness that these riches reached our land early: Christians in India carved the sign of the cross long before the Portuguese arrived.
On the eve of his passion Jesus tells his troubled disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places.” When Thomas, the apostle of India, asks, “How can we know the way?”, Jesus answers with one of the greatest sayings of the Gospel: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The cross is the way he walked to prepare a place for us.
Theme: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”
The cross and the Father's house.
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.” Psalm 23:6
“In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” John 14:2
Apply: Pray for the dead of your family.
“And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”” Isaiah 30:21
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
Apply: Ask Jesus to show you the way in one decision.
“My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Ezekiel 37:27
“Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ,” Ephesians 3:8
Apply: Venerate the cross in your home tonight.
The cross is the way to the Father's house.
Let us walk it with St Thomas.
Take-home resolution: Make the sign of the cross with attention each morning and night.
Dear friends, St Paul calls himself the very least of all the saints, yet to him this grace was given: to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, and to make everyone see the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God (Ephesians 3:8–9).
The boundless riches of Christ. At Yaldo we will see these riches in poverty: a baby in a manger. But in him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The poorer he becomes, the richer we are.
Paul adds that through the Church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known (Ephesians 3:10). Our Syro-Malankara Church, with its West Syriac heritage, its hymns and its fasts, is part of that rich variety of God's wisdom.
In the Gospel Jesus says: do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. I go to prepare a place for you. Thomas asks: Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way? Jesus answers: I am the way, and the truth, and the life (John 14:1–6).
Our apostle Thomas asked the honest question, and received the great answer. Jesus is not only a guide who shows the way; he is the way. To follow him is to be already on the road to the Father's house.
As Yaldo approaches, let us bring our troubled hearts to Jesus. Let us thank God for the riches of Christ and for the heritage of our Church. And let us walk with him, the way, the truth and the life. Amen.
Children, the cross is the sign of Jesus' love. Make the sign of the cross slowly and lovingly today!
Lord Jesus, way, truth and life, calm our troubled hearts. Through the prayers of St Thomas the Apostle, who asked you the way, lead us by your cross to the Father's house. Amen.
Today the calendar recalls the ancient stone cross of St Thomas Mount, while the fast before Yaldo continues. The readings fit the day well. Paul, “the very least of all the saints”, is sent to bring the riches of Christ to the nations. In the Gospel Thomas, the apostle our tradition calls the apostle of India, asks the question that draws out one of the greatest sayings of Jesus. The riches of Christ reached this land, and the way to the Father is the way of the Cross.
Setting.
Paul writes as “a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles” (3:1). He has been explaining the “mystery” of God's plan: Gentiles are now fellow heirs and members of the same body (3:6). Today's verses describe his own role in that plan and what it means for the Church.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ,” (3:8)
Paul calls his mission a grace, not a burden or a career. The word “Gentiles” means us, the nations outside Israel, among them the peoples of India.
“so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” (3:10)
A surprising claim: the Church teaches the angels. When Jew and Gentile, rich and poor kneel together, heaven itself sees God's plan at work. St John Chrysostom draws the same conclusion in his homilies on this letter (in substance).
“in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him.” (3:12)
Parrēsia, “boldness”, was the right of a citizen to speak openly. Through Christ the least of us may speak to God as a son or daughter speaks at home.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism teaches that in the Church Christ fulfils and reveals his own mystery as the purpose of God's plan (CCC 772, which draws on this passage). This is why we can never treat the Church as a merely human organisation. She is the place where the plan hidden for ages can now be seen.
Setting.
The setting is the Last Supper, on the night of the betrayal. Judas has gone out into the night (13:30), and Peter has just been told that he will deny Jesus three times (13:38). The disciples have heard that Jesus is going where they cannot follow (13:36). They are frightened and confused, and into this fear he speaks these words.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
““Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.” (14:1)
Faith in Jesus is set beside faith in God: a quiet, staggering claim, made on the night he is to be arrested.
“I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.” (14:3)
Heaven is described here not by its furniture but by a person: to be with him.
“Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”” (14:5)
Thomas says little in John, and it is worth following. He is ready to die with Jesus (11:16), he asks this question, and he will make the highest confession in the Gospel: “My Lord and my God!” (20:28). The honest question leads to the great confession. Without Thomas' question we would not have the answer that follows.
““I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (14:6)
Jesus gathers everything into three words: the road we walk, the truth we seek, and the life we were made for.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism places this verse among the reasons for the Incarnation: the Word became flesh to be our model of holiness (CCC 459). St Augustine puts it memorably: as God, Christ is the homeland we are going to; as man, he is the way by which we go (in substance).
If no one comes to the Father except through Jesus, what about the good people of other religions, here in India?
The Church holds both truths together. All salvation comes through Christ and his Church (CCC 846). Yet those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel, but seek God with a sincere heart and try to do his will, can attain salvation by the grace of Christ (Lumen Gentium 16; CCC 847). So Christians speak of Jesus with confidence and of their neighbours with respect, and the duty of mission remains (CCC 848).
The stone cross venerated at St Thomas Mount in Chennai was found in the sixteenth century. It carries a Pahlavi inscription, whose reading scholars have debated, and it belongs to a family of ancient crosses found in South India, among them those at Kottayam and Kadamattom. This much is History: Christians in India were carving the Cross here long before the Portuguese came. The account that the cross sweated on 18 December 1558 comes from Tradition. Tradition also places the martyrdom of St Thomas at Mylapore. The Malankara Church, with all the Thomas Christians, treasures this heritage; the Cross of our fathers still says what Jesus says today: this is the way.