13 February 2027 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malabar Rite · Latin Rite · മലയാളം
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.” Matthew 7:24
Abram is ninety-nine when God appears again: “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless.” God changes his name: “No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations.” The covenant is “an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.” A new name means a new life lived in God's sight. The Letter to the Hebrews tells us how God shapes that life: “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword… it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” And Jesus, closing the Sermon on the Mount, says that hearing is not enough: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father.” The wise build on rock by doing what they hear; the foolish build on sand, “and great was its fall!”
On this first Saturday of the Great Fast our Church remembers Mar Aprem, St Ephrem the Syrian. Born at Nisibis about 306, he served as a deacon there and later at Edessa, where he died in 373. He taught the faith through hymns sung by choirs, and our liturgy is full of his voice; he is called the Harp of the Spirit, and Pope Benedict XV declared him a Doctor of the Church in 1920. The prayer that bears his name is prayed throughout Lent in many Churches: O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power and idle talk; give me the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love. With him we remember Mar Theodore, a soldier who chose to die rather than deny Christ in the persecution of the early fourth century, and the Prophet Haggai, who told a people living in comfortable houses to rebuild the ruined house of God. Ephrem in the word, Theodore in his blood, Haggai in rebuilding: each built on rock.
Theme: “Hears these words of mine and acts on them.”
At the end of the first week of the Fast: Abraham's new name, the living word, and the saints who built on rock.
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless.” Genesis 17:1
“Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.”” Romans 4:18
Apply: Begin each day of next week with a short act of placing yourself before God.
“so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11
“Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
Apply: Pray the Prayer of St Ephrem every day of the Fast.
“Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?” Haggai 1:4
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.” Matthew 7:24
Apply: Choose one word of Jesus heard this week and put it into practice.
God gives a new name to those who walk before him.
The saints built on the rock of his word by doing it.
Take-home resolution: Pray the Prayer of St Ephrem each day and act on one word of the Gospel each week of the Fast.
Dear friends, God says to Abram: I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And he gives him a new name, Abraham, father of a multitude (Genesis 17:1, 5). The Fast is a time to walk again in God's sight.
God shapes us by his word: the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).
But Jesus warns: not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock (Matthew 7:21, 24).
Today we remember Mar Aprem, who built on the word with his hymns; Mar Theodore, who built on it with his blood; and the Prophet Haggai, who called the people to rebuild God's house. Let us pray the Prayer of St Ephrem each day of this Fast and build on rock. Amen.
Children, Jesus said: build your house on the rock, not on the sand! When we listen to Jesus and do what he says, we are strong like a house on a rock. St Ephrem wrote beautiful songs about Jesus. Can you sing a hymn to Jesus today?
Lord God Almighty, you called Abram to walk before you and gave him a new name. Let your living word search our hearts in this Fast. Through the prayers of Mar Aprem, the Harp of the Spirit, of Mar Theodore the martyr and of the Prophet Haggai, take from us the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power and idle talk, and give us the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love, so that we may build our lives on the rock of your word. Amen.
The week's Genesis readings end with a new name and an everlasting covenant: “walk before me, and be blameless” (17:1). The epistle says what shapes such a life: “the word of God is living and active” (Hebrews 4:12). Jesus, closing the Sermon on the Mount, says that hearing that word is not enough; the house stands on rock only if we do it. It is a good day to remember Mar Aprem, who sang that word, Mar Theodore, who died for it, and the prophet Haggai, who called God's people to build.
Setting.
Abram was eighty-six when Ishmael was born (16:16) and is now ninety-nine (17:1). Thirteen silent years lie between the chapters. This covenant scene repeats and deepens chapter 15. Many scholars think that it comes from a later priestly strand of tradition. It goes on in vv. 9–14 to give the sign of circumcision. Read as it stands, it shows God coming back to an old man to renew all that he promised.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless.” (17:1)
God's self-naming comes before the demand. To walk before someone means to live in the sight of the one we serve, as a servant before his lord. Hagar has just called God the one who sees; Abram is told to live in that sight.
“No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations.” (17:5)
“I have made”: the verb is in the past tense although Abraham has only one son. For God, what he has promised is as good as done.
“for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.” (17:7)
This is the heart of every covenant in Scripture: “to be God to you”. It is the gift of himself, even more than land or descendants.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism says that God gave Abram the name that means “the father of a multitude of nations” (CCC 59). Paul calls him “the ancestor of all who believe without being circumcised” (Romans 4:11). The Second Vatican Council says that all who believe in Christ, Abraham's children according to faith, are included in his call, and it reminds us that the Church draws nourishment from the root of Israel, onto which we have been grafted (Nostra Aetate 4). Baptism also gives a new name and a new life before God.
Setting.
These are the last words of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7). A sermon that began with the Beatitudes ends with a judgment and a storm. Matthew's Jesus has given his teaching, and now he says what is to be done with it. Verse 28 is the formula that closes each of the five great discourses of this Gospel: “Now when Jesus had finished saying these things”.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (7:21)
Calling him Lord is right and necessary; Jesus does not reject it. He rejects it when it stands alone. “Lord, Lord” is the prayer of the bridesmaids who come too late (25:11).
“I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.” (7:23)
To be known by Jesus means a bond, not information. Much religious activity can go on without it.
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.” (7:24)
Jesus says “these words of mine”, placing his own teaching where Israel placed the word of the Lord. No one is promised a life with no storm.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism quotes this saying when it teaches on “Thy will be done”: by prayer we can discern God's will and obtain the endurance to do it, and one enters the kingdom not by speaking words but by doing the Father's will (CCC 2826). St James says the same in plain words: “be doers of the word, and not merely hearers” (James 1:22). A Fast that does not lead to doing is only a form of saying “Lord, Lord”.
Our Church today remembers Mar Aprem, St Ephrem the Syrian. Born at Nisibis about 306, he served as a deacon there and later at Edessa, where he died in 373. He taught the faith through hymns sung by choirs; he is called the Harp of the Spirit, and Pope Benedict XV declared him a Doctor of the Church in 1920. He wrote of the word of God that we are like thirsty people at a spring: we take what we can and much more remains, and we should give thanks for what we received and not grieve over what we could not hold (in substance, Commentary on the Diatessaron). With him we remember Mar Theodore, a soldier who chose to die rather than deny Christ, and the prophet Haggai, who asked a people back from exile: “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?” (Haggai 1:4). One sang, one bled, one called for building, and each did what he heard.