24 January 2027 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Latin Rite · Syro-Malabar Rite · മലയാളം
“Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” Hebrews 13:7
Before the Great Fast the Malankara Church keeps two Sundays of remembrance. The first is Kohne Sunday, the commemoration of the departed priests (kohne in Syriac). We remember the bishops and priests who baptised us, taught us, absolved our sins, celebrated the Holy Qurbono for us, and buried our dead. Hebrews tells us: “Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.”
The readings recall the death of Israel's great servants. Aaron, the first high priest, dies on Mount Hor, and Moses places his vestments on his son Eleazar (Numbers 20:28): the priesthood continues though the priest dies. Joshua dies after leading the people into the land. Sirach remembers Aaron anointed “for an everlasting covenant… to minister to the Lord and serve as priest and bless his people in his name” (Sirach 45:15).
In Acts Paul says farewell to the elders of Ephesus: “Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son.” And he reminds them of the Lord's words: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” The Gospel asks the question every priest will be asked: “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find at work when he arrives.”
We pray today for the departed priests, that the Lord who called them may forgive their weaknesses and say to them: “Well done, good servant!” (Luke 19:17). And we pray for our living priests, and for new vocations. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8): priests pass, but the one High Priest remains.
Theme: “Remembering the priests who served us.”
On Kohne Sunday the Church remembers her departed priests. We thank God for them, we pray for them, and we reflect on the gift of the priesthood that continues among us.
“Moses stripped Aaron of his vestments, and put them on his son Eleazar; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain.” Numbers 20:28
“Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.” Hebrews 5:1
Apply: Remember by name the priests who baptised you, gave you First Communion, married you or buried your loved ones.
“Moses ordained him, and anointed him with holy oil; it was an everlasting covenant for him and for his descendants … to minister to the Lord and serve as priest and bless his people in his name.” Sirach 45:15
“He said to him, “Well done, good slave! Because you have been trustworthy in a very small thing, take charge of ten cities.”” Luke 19:17
Apply: Encourage a priest this week with a word of thanks, and pray for one who is struggling.
“But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, so that they might be delivered from their sin.” 2 Maccabees 12:45
“Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord. “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.”” Revelation 14:13
Apply: Have a Holy Qurbono offered, or pray a Rosary, for a departed priest.
The priests we remember today gave their lives so that Christ might be present among us.
Let us thank God for them, pray for their eternal rest, and pray that the Lord will send good and holy priests to his Church.
Take-home resolution: Visit the grave of a priest in your parish cemetery and pray for him.
Dear brothers and sisters, today is Kohne Sunday, when our Church remembers the priests who have died. Think for a moment of the priests in your own life: the one who baptised you, who gave you your First Holy Communion, who heard your confessions, who blessed your marriage, who buried your parents. Many of them are now with the Lord.
The letter to the Hebrews says: “Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” We remember them with gratitude. They were human, with weaknesses like ours, but through their hands Christ gave us his Body and Blood and his forgiveness.
Our reading from Numbers tells how Aaron, the first high priest, died, and Moses placed his vestments on his son Eleazar. The priest dies; the priesthood continues. For Christ is the one eternal High Priest, “the same yesterday and today and forever”. And the Gospel asks every priest one question: were you a faithful and wise servant, giving God's household their food at the proper time?
Today let us offer this Qurbono for our departed priests, that the Lord may say to them: “Well done, good servant.” Let us thank and support our living priests. And let us pray that from our families God may call new priests, to stand at this altar when we are gone. Amen.
Children, who baptised you? A priest! Who gives you Jesus in Holy Communion? A priest!
Today we remember priests who have died and gone to Jesus. We thank God for them and pray that they are happy in heaven.
Let's pray for our parish priest too. Maybe one day God will call one of you to be a priest or sister! Let's say: “Thank you, Jesus, for our priests!”
Lord Jesus Christ, eternal High Priest, we remember before you the bishops and priests who served your people and have gone to their rest. Forgive their weaknesses, reward their labours, and give them a place of light. Keep our living priests faithful, and raise up new labourers for your harvest. Amen.
Before the Great Fast the Malankara Church keeps two Sundays of remembrance: today the departed priests (kohne), and next Sunday, Aneede, the departed faithful. The readings stand at the graveside of God's servants and ask what remains when a priest dies. Aaron dies on Mount Hor and his vestments pass to his son (Numbers). The preacher of Hebrews tells us to remember our leaders and imitate their faith, because “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever”. Jesus asks who is the faithful and wise servant whom the master finds at work when he arrives.
The other readings of the day circle the same theme. The evening Gospel gives the parable of the pounds, entrusted and accounted for (Luke 19:11–27). Joshua's death closes the story of the land (Joshua 24:29–33). Sirach praises Aaron, anointed for an everlasting covenant (Sirach 45:15–22). Isaiah promises joy to God's servants (Isaiah 65:13–16). Paul takes leave of the elders of Ephesus and tells them to keep watch over the flock (Acts 20:25–38). The key words today are handing on, remembering and being found faithful.
Setting.
Israel is near the end of the forty years. This same chapter has just told of the waters of Meribah, where Moses and Aaron failed to show God's holiness before the people (20:2–13), and of Edom refusing them passage (20:14–21). Now the generation of the Exodus begins to pass away: Miriam has died at Kadesh (20:1), Aaron dies here, and Moses will die in sight of the land (Deuteronomy 34).
Aaron was the first high priest, consecrated with his sons in Leviticus 8 and clothed in the vestments described in Exodus 28. Numbers 33:38–39 dates his death to the fortieth year after the Exodus, at the age of one hundred and twenty-three. The place of Mount Hor is not known for certain; an old tradition points to a peak near Petra called Jebel Harun, “Aaron's mountain”. Deuteronomy 10:6 places his death at Moserah, a different stage of the journey, which suggests that Israel kept more than one record of the route.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
““Let Aaron be gathered to his people. For he shall not enter the land that I have given to the Israelites, because you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah.” (20:24)
The high priest who has interceded for Israel for forty years also needs mercy. The Bible does not make its priests into idols, and neither should we.
“Moses stripped Aaron of his vestments, and put them on his son Eleazar; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain.” (20:28)
Aaron's brother does this for him on the mountain, while the people watch from below (v. 27). It must have been one of the hardest things Moses ever did, and the text says only that he did it. Aaron gives up everything before he dies, and the service of God does not stop for a single day.
“When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, all the house of Israel mourned for Aaron thirty days.” (20:29)
They see Eleazar come down in Aaron's vestments, and they understand. Israel will mourn Moses for the same thirty days (Deuteronomy 34:8). Grief for a priest is a true part of faith.
How the Church reads it.
Hebrews gives the Christian reading of this scene: “the former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever” (Hebrews 7:23–24). Aaron's vestments had to pass from one body to the next. Christ's priesthood does not pass away. The Catechism sees the priesthood of Aaron as a sign that prepares for Christ's (CCC 1539–1544), and teaches that those ordained share in his one priesthood (CCC 1545). When a bishop or priest dies, the Church mourns the man, and the one Priest goes on serving at the altar through another.
Setting.
The last chapter of Hebrews turns from high argument to practical counsel. The hearers are weary, and their first teachers seem to have died. The author is not named. The Church's tradition counts it among the epistles of St Paul, and today's lectionary lists it so; many scholars today, Catholics included, think that a companion or disciple of Paul wrote it. Either way the Church receives it as inspired Scripture.
The section is framed by the word about “leaders” (vv. 7 and 17). Behind vv. 11–13 stands the Day of Atonement, when the bodies of the sacrificed animals were burned outside the camp (Leviticus 16:27).
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” (13:7)
This verse is today's commemoration in one line. We remember, we look at the end of their road, and we imitate. It is their faith that we are told to imitate, because a priest, like all of us, may have faults.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (13:8)
Set straight after v. 7, this verse gives the reason for hope. Leaders die, and Christ remains. The Lord whom our departed priests preached yesterday is the one we receive today.
“We have an altar from which those who officiate in the tent have no right to eat.” (13:10)
The meaning is debated. Some interpreters think of the Cross, the place of Christ's sacrifice; many Catholic interpreters also hear in it the Eucharistic table, where that sacrifice is received. The two belong together in the Church's faith.
“Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the city gate in order to sanctify the people by his own blood. Let us then go to him outside the camp and bear the abuse he endured.” (13:12–13)
Golgotha lay outside the walls. To follow Jesus is to leave security for his sake. This is an exhortation to Christians to share his shame. It does not condemn the people of Israel, who are not to blame as a people for his death (Nostra Aetate 4; CCC 597).
“Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.” (13:15)
“Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” (13:16)
Altar and alms belong together.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism lists “sacrifice of praise” among the names of the Eucharist, with this verse behind it (CCC 1330). The Holy Qurbono is exactly that: through Christ, an offering of praise, joined to the sharing of what we have. The Church's care to honour those who taught the faith also goes back to very early times; the commemoration of the departed priests within the liturgy expresses Hebrews 13:7 in prayer.
Setting.
This parable belongs to Jesus' last great discourse, about the end of the age (Matthew 24–25). It comes right after the warning “you also must be ready” (24:44). Luke gives a parallel in which Peter asks whom the parable is for (Luke 12:41–46); the answer there points especially to those given charge over others. On Kohne Sunday the Church hears it with its priests in mind, and every one of us has some household to care for.
In a large household of that time a trusted slave could be placed over the others and manage the master's goods. When the owner was away for a long time, his character was tested.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
““Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time?” (24:45)
The servant is put in charge of his fellow servants, not raised out of their number. For a priest, the food is the word and the Holy Qurbono, given on time and every time.
“Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives.” (24:46)
The beatitude is for being found at work, not for knowing the date.
“But if that wicked slave says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’” (24:48)
The danger begins in a thought said to oneself. Delay tempts leaders to treat the household as their own.
“and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and eats and drinks with drunkards,” (24:49)
Two failures: harshness toward the people in his care and self-indulgence. The Lord takes the abuse of those in one's care very seriously.
“He will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (24:51)
Matthew's strongest language is kept for those who misuse a trust. It is a warning to every person with authority, and also the Lord's protection of the little ones.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism teaches that the ordained priesthood is ministerial, “in the strict sense of the term a service” (CCC 1551). St Augustine said to his people, in words that the Second Vatican Council quotes: for you I am a bishop, with you I am a Christian (Sermon 340; Lumen Gentium 32). St Gregory the Great opens his Pastoral Rule by calling the care of souls the art of arts (in substance). Every one of them knew that he too would give an account.
Why do we pray for priests who have died? Were they not holy men?
They were men who served God, and they were also sinners who needed mercy, like Aaron. From the earliest times the Church has prayed for the dead, trusting that they may be fully purified before they see God (2 Maccabees 12:45; CCC 958, 1032), and she offers the Eucharistic sacrifice for them (CCC 1371). Our prayer is also a debt of thanks.
If a priest has sinned, are the sacraments he celebrated still real?
Yes. The Church teaches that the sacraments act by the power of Christ, not by the personal holiness of the minister (CCC 1128), and that the unworthiness of the minister does not prevent Christ from acting (CCC 1584). The minister is not preserved from all human weakness, and his faults can harm the Church (CCC 1550), so the warning of today's Gospel remains. But the people of God are not left without grace.
Does “outside the camp” mean that Christians have left Judaism behind as worthless?
No. Hebrews is calling Christians to share Christ's shame, and the argument about the old sanctuary is about fulfilment. The Church honours the covenant with Israel, which God has never revoked (CCC 121, 839), and rejects blaming the Jewish people for the death of Jesus (Nostra Aetate 4; CCC 597).
Kohne Sunday, in the West Syriac tradition of the Malankara Church, is an act of gratitude and intercession before the Great Fast begins. The Church remembers those who stood at the altar, baptised and absolved, and buried our dead. It is a day to name the priests of our parish and family, to visit their graves where we can, and to offer the Holy Qurbono for them. Then the same Sunday asks us to pray for our living priests, who carry today what those others carried before them, and to encourage the young men who may hear the same call.