19 December 2026 · Syro-Malankara Rite
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“in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.” Ephesians 2:22
On the last Saturday before Christmas the Church reads again Paul's vision of reconciliation: Christ is our peace; he has broken down the dividing wall and made the far and the near one people, “so he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.” In him the whole structure grows into a holy temple, and we are “built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.” The God who will lie in a manger wants to dwell in a people.
John, in prison, sends to ask if Jesus is the one who is to come. Jesus answers by pointing to what is happening: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. Isaiah had promised that on that day the deaf would hear and the eyes of the blind would see. The kingdom has begun; Christmas is the arrival of the one who heals.
Theme: “A dwelling place for God.”
The last Saturday before Yaldo.
“My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Ezekiel 37:27
“in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.” Ephesians 2:22
Apply: Prepare your home's prayer corner for Yaldo.
“Peace, peace, to the far and the near, says the LORD; and I will heal them.” Isaiah 57:19
“So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near;” Ephesians 2:17
Apply: Invite someone who is alone to share Christmas with you.
“On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a scroll, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.” Isaiah 29:18
“Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.” Matthew 11:4–5
Apply: Tell someone one thing Jesus has done for you.
God comes to dwell with us.
Let us prepare the house.
Take-home resolution: Make a good confession before Yaldo if you have not yet done so.
Dear friends, St Paul writes: Christ is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has reconciled both groups to God in one body through the cross (Ephesians 2:14–16).
Jew and Gentile were deeply divided. Christ did not merely make a truce between them; he created one new humanity in himself. You are no longer strangers and aliens, but citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone (Ephesians 2:19–20).
In the Gospel John the Baptist, in prison, sends to ask Jesus: are you the one who is to come? Jesus answers with signs: the blind see, the lame walk, the poor hear good news. And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me (Matthew 11:3–6).
John had expected a fiery judge. Jesus came as a healer and peacemaker. Sometimes Jesus does not match our expectations either. Blessed are we if we accept him as he is.
In our country and even in our communities, there are walls: caste, language, region, rite, politics. Christ came to break them down. The Child of Yaldo was visited by Jewish shepherds and Gentile Magi: the first sign of one new humanity.
In these last days before Yaldo, let us break down one wall: reach out to someone from a different background, community or Church. And let us accept Jesus as he comes, not as we imagine him. Amen.
Children, God wants to live in your heart. Make your heart a nice home for Jesus by being kind and loving!
Lord Jesus, you come to make your dwelling among us. Build us into your temple, bring peace to those far and near, and open our eyes and ears to the signs of your coming. Amen.
Six days before Yaldo the readings ask two questions about the Coming One. Where will God dwell? Paul answers: in a people, Jews and Gentiles made one in Christ, built into a temple. Are you really the one? John the Baptist asks from prison, and Jesus answers by pointing to what is happening: the blind see, and the poor hear good news.
Setting.
Paul has reminded the Gentile believers that they were once “far off”, without hope and without God in the world (2:11–13). Now they have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Today's passage explains how. Its background is the deepest social division the first Christians knew: Jew and Gentile, separated by Law, custom and worship.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.” (2:14)
Peace here is a person, not a treaty. “In his flesh” points to the Cross; it is also the flesh born at Bethlehem.
“for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.” (2:18)
In one sentence, the whole Trinity and the pattern of all Christian prayer: through the Son, in the Spirit, to the Father. The great Anaphora of the Holy Qurbono follows this same movement.
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God,” (2:19)
The two words described people without full rights. In God's house there are no second-class members.
“in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.” (2:22)
The verb is present and ongoing. The temple is still under construction, and each of us is a living part of it.
How the Church reads it.
The Second Vatican Council quotes this very passage when it speaks of the Jewish people: by his Cross Christ our Peace reconciled Jews and Gentiles, making both one in himself (Nostra Aetate 4). The Catechism names Christ as the cornerstone of the Church's building (CCC 756).
Setting.
V. 1 closes Jesus' instructions to the Twelve (chapter 10). John has been in prison since 4:12. According to Josephus, Herod Antipas held him in the fortress of Machaerus, east of the Dead Sea. John had announced one who would come with an axe and fire (3:10–12). What he hears about Jesus sounds rather different.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
““Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”” (11:3)
The question of this whole season, asked by its greatest preacher.
“the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.” (11:5)
Jesus does not say yes. He gives a list, woven from Isaiah (35:5–6; 61:1; see also 26:19), and lets John draw his own conclusion. Note where the list ends. After the dead are raised comes what seems small, yet is its climax: good news for the poor.
“And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”” (11:6)
A beatitude for everyone who has had to give up their own picture of God's way of working.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism teaches that Jesus' signs bear witness that the Father has sent him and invite belief in him, but that they can also be an occasion for “offence” (CCC 548, citing this verse). St John Chrysostom, in his homilies on Matthew, holds that John asked not for himself, but so that his own disciples might go and see (in substance).
Did John the Baptist doubt?
The Fathers answered in different ways. Many, with St John Chrysostom, said that John asked for his disciples' sake. Others, and many modern commentators, think the question may be his own: a prisoner who had to wait for Jesus to fulfil God's plan differently than he expected. Either way, Jesus goes on at once to praise him highly (11:7–11). An honest question is not unbelief.