18 February 2027 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malabar Rite · Latin Rite · മലയാളം
“For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” 2 Corinthians 6:16
“The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day.” Three men stand near him, and the old man runs: “he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground… Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread.” He promises a little and gives a feast: cakes from three measures of choice flour, a calf “tender and good,” curds and milk, and he himself stands by them under the tree while they eat. The Fathers read this scene with wonder. St Ambrose says that Abraham saw three and worshipped one (in substance), and the Church has seen in the three guests at Mamre a foreshadowing of the Holy Trinity, painted in the famous icon of the three angels at table. The God who will one day be revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit came first as a guest to an old man's tent.
Paul turns the picture around: now it is God who makes his home in us. “We are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’” A temple cannot be shared with idols, and so he warns: “Do not be mismatched with unbelievers… what fellowship is there between light and darkness?” He is not telling us to despise anyone, but not to yoke our hearts to what is opposed to Christ. And in the Gospel God is the host: a king gives a wedding banquet for his son, and when the invited guests make light of it, he fills the hall from the streets, “both good and bad.” Yet one guest has no wedding robe. St Gregory the Great says that the wedding garment is charity: we may be inside the Church and still lack love (in substance). On this Thursday, the day of the Lord's Supper, we prepare the robe of love for the banquet of the altar.
Theme: “We are the temple of the living God.”
God as guest at Mamre, God dwelling in his temple, God as host at the wedding feast.
“He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant.” Genesis 18:3
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Hebrews 13:2
Apply: Share a meal this week with someone who is alone or a stranger.
“And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people.” Leviticus 26:12
“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16
Apply: Name one idol in your life and give it up for the rest of the Fast.
“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,” Isaiah 61:10
“Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Colossians 3:14
Apply: Be reconciled with one person before your next Holy Qurbono.
The God who came as a guest now dwells in us as his temple.
He invites all to his feast and clothes us in love.
Take-home resolution: Welcome every guest this Fast as if the Lord himself had come to your door.
Dear friends, on a hot afternoon Abraham saw three men near his tent. He ran to meet them, bowed down, and said: my lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant (Genesis 18:2–3). He promised a little bread and gave a feast.
The Fathers saw in these three guests a sign of the Holy Trinity. St Ambrose says Abraham saw three and worshipped one (in substance). The God of glory came as a guest to an old man's tent.
Now God makes his home in us: we are the temple of the living God; I will live in them and walk among them (2 Corinthians 6:16). A temple must be kept free of idols.
And God invites us to his Son's wedding banquet, good and bad alike. But he asks: friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe? (Matthew 22:12). That robe is charity. On this Thursday, let us prepare it for the banquet of the altar. Amen.
Children, Abraham had three visitors, and he ran to welcome them! He gave them water to wash their feet and cooked them a big meal. When a visitor comes to your house, you can be like Abraham: say welcome, offer a chair and a glass of water.
Lord God, you visited Abraham at Mamre as a guest, and he ran to welcome you. Make us generous to every guest and stranger. Dwell in us as in your temple, and keep our hearts free from every idol. You invite us to the wedding feast of your Son; clothe us in the robe of charity, so that we may not be found unworthy at your table. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Today two tables are set. Abraham runs to feed three strangers at Mamre and finds that God has come to his tent. A king prepares a wedding feast for his son, and those invited will not come. Between them 2 Corinthians says, “we are the temple of the living God”: God has chosen to dwell with us. The Fast is not the opposite of the feast. It clears a space, so that we can recognise the Guest and be ready to go in.
Setting.
The scene comes straight after the covenant of chapter 17. Abraham lives in tents near Hebron, by the great trees of Mamre (13:18). It is the hottest part of the day, the time when nobody travels and everybody rests. In the world of the nomads and of the ancient Near East, to receive a stranger was a sacred duty; the traveller in the desert depended on it for his life.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day.” (18:1)
God comes at an ordinary hour, to a man sitting at his door. No altar or sacrifice is mentioned, and the visit takes place through a stranger's arrival.
“He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant.” (18:3)
The host asks the favour, not the guest. The great Abraham, friend of God, calls himself a servant in front of three unknown travellers.
“And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.”” (18:6)
He promised “a little bread” (v. 5) and gives a feast: a very large amount of the best flour and a tender calf. The generous host promises little and gives much.
“and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.” (18:8)
The head of the house waits on his guests like a servant. Christian readers can hardly miss the later scene: “I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27).
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism says that because Abraham believed in God and walked in his presence, he is ready to welcome a mysterious Guest into his tent, and that this remarkable hospitality foreshadows the annunciation of the true Son of the promise (CCC 2571). The Fathers read the guests in more than one way. St Justin Martyr saw the Lord with two angels (compare Genesis 19:1). St Ambrose and St Augustine saw in the three a hint of the Holy Trinity (in substance). Christians of East and West have painted this scene as the Hospitality of Abraham, most famously in the icon of Andrei Rublev. Hebrews draws the practical lesson: “some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2).
Setting.
This is the third of three parables that Jesus tells in the Temple during his last days in Jerusalem, after the two sons (21:28–32) and the wicked tenants (21:33–46). He is speaking to the chief priests and elders about their response to him. Luke has a similar parable of a great dinner (Luke 14:16–24). Matthew's form is a king's feast for his son, and only Matthew has the wedding robe.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.” (22:9)
The refusal does not cancel the feast. God's plan goes forward, and it widens to include those nobody expected. The Church sees herself here: called from all nations.
“and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.” (22:10)
The hall contains both kinds until the king comes. Nobody earns the invitation. And the Church on earth is a mixed gathering, which should keep us humble.
“and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless.” (22:12)
Grace invites all, and it does not leave us as we were. The man has nothing to say, because he has no excuse.
“For many are called, but few are chosen.” (22:14)
This is a warning for those who feel safe, not a calculation of how many will be saved. Semitic speech often makes its point by a strong contrast like this.
How the Church reads it.
St Augustine in his sermons and St Gregory the Great in his homilies on the Gospels both say that the wedding robe is charity (in substance). The Catechism calls the Eucharist the anticipation of the wedding feast of the Lamb (CCC 1329), teaches that everyone is called to enter the kingdom, which is meant for people of all nations (CCC 543), and says that the white garment of Baptism signifies that the baptised person has put on Christ (CCC 1243). It also teaches clearly that God predestines no one to go to hell (CCC 1037): the man in the parable is not shut out by the king's whim.
Does the burned city in v. 7 mean God punished the Jewish people?
No such conclusion may be drawn. Many scholars think Matthew, writing after AD 70, had the fall of Jerusalem in mind, but this remains a reconstruction. The parable is told against those who refuse God's call in any age, and the man without a robe, inside the hall, is a warning to Christians. The Church firmly rejects any idea that the Jews are rejected or accursed by God (Nostra Aetate 4; CCC 597–598, 839).