10 February 2027 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malabar Rite · Latin Rite · മലയാളം
“He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.”” Luke 9:20
The covenant with Abram is sealed in the dark: “When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram.” Only God passes between the halves of the sacrifice; Abram does nothing but watch. In the ancient custom, those who passed between the pieces bound themselves to keep the covenant. Here God binds himself alone. The promise rests on his faithfulness, not ours. Paul, who knew that faithfulness, still says: “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own… forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” The Fast is that pressing on.
In the Gospel Jesus is praying alone and asks his disciples: “Who do the crowds say that I am?” Then the question that matters: “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answers: “The Messiah of God.” Today our Church gives thanks for its own place in that confession. On 10 February 2005 Pope John Paul II raised the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church to the rank of a Major Archiepiscopal Church, with Moran Mor Cyril Baselios as its first Major Archbishop; it is now led by Moran Mor Baselios Cardinal Cleemis, Major Archbishop-Catholicos. A Church that came home to communion with the See of Peter in 1930 was recognised as a Church with its own head and synod within that communion. The torch of God's faithfulness has passed through our history; we press on, confessing with Peter that Jesus is the Messiah of God.
Theme: “But who do you say that I am?”
God's faithful covenant, Paul's pressing on, and Peter's confession, on the anniversary of our Church's Major Archiepiscopal status.
“On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,” Genesis 15:18
“And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:29
Apply: Recall three moments when God was faithful to you, and thank him.
“Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” Isaiah 43:18–19
“forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13–14
Apply: Let go of one past failure that is holding back your Fast.
“I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have begotten you.” Psalm 2:7
“He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.”” Luke 9:20
Apply: Pray daily this week for the Pope and our Major Archbishop-Catholicos.
God's covenant rests on his faithfulness.
Our Church, in Peter's communion, presses on confessing Christ.
Take-home resolution: Write your own confession of who Jesus is, and pray it each morning of the Fast.
Dear friends, the covenant with Abram was sealed at night: a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between the pieces (Genesis 15:17). God alone passed through. His promise rests on his faithfulness, not ours.
Paul says: not that I have already reached the goal; but forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on (Philippians 3:12–14). The Fast is our pressing on.
Jesus asks his disciples: but who do you say that I am? Peter answers: the Messiah of God (Luke 9:20). Every Christian must give that answer personally.
Today our Church thanks God for 10 February 2005, when it was raised to a Major Archiepiscopal Church in communion with the See of Peter. Let us pray for our Major Archbishop-Catholicos and Synod, and press on together, confessing Christ. Amen.
Children, Jesus asked: who do you say I am? Peter said: you are the Christ! Today our Church says thank you to God for making us a big family together with the Pope. Can you say to Jesus today: you are my Lord?
Lord God, faithful to your covenant, you passed through the darkness to bind yourself to Abram and his children. We thank you for our Syro-Malankara Catholic Church and for the gift of its Major Archiepiscopal dignity in communion with the Successor of Peter. Bless our Major Archbishop-Catholicos and our Holy Synod. Help us to press on toward the goal, confessing that Jesus is the Messiah of God. Amen.
The covenant with Abram is sealed in the dark, and only God passes between the pieces. The promise rests on his faithfulness. Paul, who knew that faithfulness, still says: “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). In the Gospel Jesus asks the question each disciple must answer, and Peter replies. On the day our Church gives thanks for its rank as a Major Archiepiscopal Church, these readings set both the gift and the task before us.
Setting.
This closes the scene that began at 15:7. Abram asked how he could know, the animals were cut in two, and he fell into a deep sleep. Jeremiah 34:18 shows what passing between the parts meant: those who walked between them called on themselves the fate of the slain animal if they broke their word. Now comes the surprise. Abram does not walk. Only the fire passes, and fire and smoke will later mark God's presence at the Exodus and at Sinai (Exodus 13:21; 19:18).
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.” (15:17)
Many commentators see here the heart of the chapter: God binds himself alone. Abram contributes nothing except the waiting.
“On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram” (15:18)
The word “covenant” joins the promise of land to the God who has just passed between the pieces in the fire. Abram is still childless and still owns none of this land. All of it is given by word.
How the Church reads it.
The Letter to the Hebrews draws on this kind of oath: “When God made a promise to Abraham, because he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself” (Hebrews 6:13). St Paul says that the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:29), and the Church honours the covenant with Israel, which God has not revoked (CCC 839; Nostra Aetate 4). For Christians the line runs on to the Upper Room: “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20). What God took on himself in figure in the dark of Genesis, Christ fulfils on the Cross, and we receive at every Holy Qurbono.
Setting.
Herod has just asked, “who is this about whom I hear such things?” (9:9), and Jesus has fed the five thousand (9:10–17). Now comes the answer. Luke tells this more briefly than Mark (8:27–30) and Matthew (16:13–20). He does not name Caesarea Philippi, but he alone says that Jesus was praying. The next verses, beyond today's reading, bring the first prediction of the Passion (9:21–22), so the title must be understood through the Cross.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Who do the crowds say that I am?” (9:18)
The crowds are not hostile. They place Jesus among the great figures of the past. That is respectful, and it is not enough.
“But who do you say that I am?” (9:20)
This question cannot be answered by reporting what others say. It is put to every generation.
“The Messiah of God.” (9:20)
Peter speaks for the Twelve and says the true thing, though he does not yet know the road it will take.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism says: “On the rock of this faith confessed by St. Peter, Christ built his Church” (CCC 424), and teaches that Peter holds the first place in the college of the Twelve because of the confession the Father revealed to him (CCC 552). What Peter says in the name of all, each Christian says personally in baptism and in the Creed.
On 10 February 2005 Pope John Paul II raised the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church to the rank of a Major Archiepiscopal Church, with Moran Mor Cyril Baselios as the first Major Archbishop. This Church grew from the reunion led by Mar Ivanios in 1930. It keeps its own West Syriac, Antiochene liturgy and lives in full communion with the Bishop of Rome. Today's Gospel fits the day: the confession of Peter is the faith we share with the whole Church, and we say it in our own tradition's voice. Let us give thanks, and pray with respect and love for all our sister Churches of the Malankara tradition.