15 February 2027 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malabar Rite · Latin Rite · മലയാളം
“But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33
The second week of the Fast opens with a hard sign. God tells Abraham: “This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised… and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.” The covenant was not only an idea in Abraham's head; it was cut into the body of every man in his household, from the eight-day-old child to the slave bought with money. God wanted his people to carry his promise in their own flesh. Moses would later say what the sign pointed to: “the Lord your God will circumcise your heart.” And Paul tells the Colossians that in Christ they “were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision”, in baptism. The Fast is the time to let God finish that work: to cut away from the heart what does not belong to the covenant.
Paul shows what a marked life looks like in ordinary days: “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving… Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt.” A fast that sours our speech has missed its point. And Jesus takes away the worry that eats at a fasting heart: “do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink… Look at the birds of the air… Consider the lilies of the field.” We give up some food in Lent partly to learn this: that “your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” So “strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” St John Chrysostom says that Jesus does not forbid work, only anxiety; he wants us to sow and labour while trusting the Father who feeds the birds (in substance). Today we also pray for Mathews Mar Pachomios on the anniversary of his episcopal ordination.
Theme: “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness.”
A covenant marked in the body, a life seasoned with salt, a heart set free from worry.
“Moreover, the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live.” Deuteronomy 30:6
“In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ;” Colossians 2:11
Apply: Renew your baptismal promises quietly each morning this week.
“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Proverbs 15:1
“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone.” Colossians 4:6
Apply: Fast from one habit of harsh or complaining speech for the rest of the week.
“Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.” Psalm 55:22
“Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7
Apply: Each night this week, name one worry and hand it to the Father before sleep.
The covenant is cut into the heart, not only the body.
Those who seek the kingdom first are freed from the tyranny of worry.
Take-home resolution: Each day of this week, pray before anything else: Father, your kingdom first.
Dear friends, God told Abraham to mark every man in his household with the sign of the covenant: so shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant (Genesis 17:13). God's promise was meant to be carried in the body, not only in the mind.
In Christ the sign is deeper. Moses foretold it: the Lord your God will circumcise your heart (Deuteronomy 30:6). In baptism we were marked for God, and in the Fast we let him cut away what still does not belong to him.
Paul shows us the marks of a covenant life: devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving; let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt (Colossians 4:2, 6). Fasting that makes us irritable has not yet reached the heart.
And Jesus says: do not worry. Look at the birds of the air; consider the lilies of the field. Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:26, 28, 33). Let us give our worries to the Father this week and pray for Mathews Mar Pachomios. Amen.
Children, Jesus said: look at the birds! They do not go shopping, but God feeds them. Look at the flowers! They do not sew clothes, but God makes them beautiful. God loves you much more than birds and flowers, so you do not need to be afraid. Tell God your worries tonight.
Heavenly Father, you made a covenant with Abraham and marked his people as your own. Circumcise our hearts in this Fast, and cut away whatever keeps us from loving you. Teach us to pray with thanksgiving, to speak with grace, and to seek first your kingdom, trusting that you know all we need. Bless Mathews Mar Pachomios and all the shepherds of your Church. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
In Genesis God marks Abraham's household with a sign in the flesh: belonging to God reaches the body and the whole family. Colossians turns to daily life, telling masters to be just, and all to be devoted to prayer and gracious in speech. Then Jesus speaks to people who fast and worry about food: strive first for the kingdom, because your Father knows what you need. The Fast asks the same two things, that we belong to God in the body and that we trust him for tomorrow.
Setting.
Abraham is ninety-nine years old (17:1), and the promise of a son by Sarah is still not fulfilled. In chapter 15 God made a covenant with him. Here it is confirmed: in vv. 1–8 God says what he will do, with the new name Abraham, and in vv. 9–14 he says what Abraham and his descendants must keep.
Circumcision was known among other peoples of the ancient Near East (see Jeremiah 9:25–26). In Israel it receives a new meaning, as the sign of this covenant. Many scholars think this chapter took its final form in the priestly circles of Israel, perhaps in the time of the Exile, when circumcision and the Sabbath marked the people out among the nations.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Throughout your generations every male among you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old,” (17:12)
Before the child can choose anything, he is already marked as belonging to God's people. The rule also reaches slaves and foreigners in the household: even at this early stage the sign is not limited to Abraham's own bloodline.
“So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.” (17:13)
The covenant is not only an idea in the mind. It is carried in the body, and a family hands it on. For Jewish families to this day it remains a sign of joy and fidelity.
“shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” (17:14)
To belong to God is also a matter of responsibility. Scripture does not treat the sign as a mere custom.
How the Church reads it.
The Church reads this sign as a preparation. Paul calls Abraham's circumcision “a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith” (Romans 4:11), and Colossians 2:11–12 speaks of “the circumcision of Christ” in connection with baptism. The Catechism names circumcision among the signs of the Old Covenant (CCC 1150), and it says that the circumcision of Jesus on the eighth day was the sign of his belonging to Abraham's descendants and a prefiguring of Baptism (CCC 527). The mark in the flesh points to a new birth that reaches the heart.
Setting.
This passage belongs to the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7). Just before it, Jesus has spoken of fasting (6:16–18) and of treasure in heaven: “No one can serve two masters” (6:24). His “therefore” in v. 25 draws the conclusion. Those who have chosen God as their master need not be slaves of anxiety. He is speaking to ordinary people, for whom the next meal was often a real question.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” (6:26)
Jesus calls God “your heavenly Father”. The argument rests on that name. Nobody has to convince a good father to feed his children.
“And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?” (6:27)
A note on the text. The Greek says literally “one cubit”, and the word for “span” can also mean stature. So the NRSV speaks of an hour of life, and the Malayalam POC keeps the cubit (മുഴം). Either way the point is the same: worry adds nothing.
“But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (6:33)
This is the heart of the passage. The verse does not despise food and clothes (v. 32: “your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things”). It puts them in their right place.
“Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (6:34)
A plain and practical word. Faith does not deny trouble; it carries one day's trouble at a time. Compare the prayer for “daily bread” in 6:11.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism teaches that Jesus asks for childlike abandonment to the providence of our heavenly Father, and it quotes these verses (CCC 305). On “daily bread” it explains that Jesus is not inviting us to idleness, but wants to relieve us from nagging worry (CCC 2830). St Augustine, commenting on the Sermon on the Mount, says that we should not preach the Gospel in order to eat, but eat in order to preach the Gospel (in substance). In the Great Fast, when we give up some food by choice, this passage teaches us why: to find out what we really live on.
The reading speaks calmly about slaves. Does the Bible approve of slavery?
Genesis describes the world of its time without passing judgment on it. The Gospel slowly undermines that world: Colossians 4:1 reminds masters that they too “have a Master in heaven”. The Church now plainly condemns slavery (Gaudium et Spes 27; CCC 2414).