20 February 2027 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Latin Rite · Syro-Malabar Rite · മലയാളം
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32
As the guests leave Mamre, Abraham walks with them “to set them on their way,” and the Lord speaks almost to himself: “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” God treats Abraham as a friend, someone who may know his plans. And he explains why he chose him: “that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice.” Faith is meant to be handed on at home, from parents to children, in words and in the way a household lives. Then God speaks of “the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah.” The cry of those who suffer injustice rises to heaven, and God says: “I must go down and see.” The God of Abraham is not indifferent to the cry of the oppressed.
Paul reminds Titus how a Christian household should look to its neighbours: “to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show every courtesy to everyone.” He does not pretend we were always so: “we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray… But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” In the Gospel Jesus speaks tenderly to that small, renewed household: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms… For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” St Augustine urged his people to move their treasure to heaven through the hands of the poor, so that their hearts would follow (in substance). Almsgiving in the Fast is not only charity; it is moving our heart to where God is.
Theme: “Do not be afraid, little flock.”
A household that keeps the way of the Lord, a mercy that renews, and a heart that follows its treasure.
“Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.” Deuteronomy 6:6–7
“I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.” 2 Timothy 1:5
Apply: Begin or renew family prayer with Scripture every evening of the Fast.
“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” Psalm 103:8
“Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.” John 3:5
Apply: Be gentle and courteous this week to the person you find hardest to bear.
“Prayer with fasting is good, but better than both is almsgiving with righteousness.” Tobit 12:8
“but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Matthew 6:20
Apply: Keep a Lenten alms box at home and give its contents to the poor before Easter.
God entrusts his ways to households that will hand them on.
Where our alms go, our hearts follow.
Take-home resolution: Give each week of the Fast what you have saved by fasting.
Dear friends, the Lord said: shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice (Genesis 18:17, 19). God trusts Abraham as a friend, and expects faith to be passed on at home.
God also hears the outcry against Sodom: I must go down and see (Genesis 18:20–21). The cry of the oppressed reaches heaven.
Paul says we were once foolish and led astray, but when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:3–5). So we are to be gentle and courteous to everyone.
And Jesus says: do not be afraid, little flock. Sell your possessions, and give alms. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Luke 12:32–34). As we end this second week of the Fast, let us move our treasure, and our heart, toward God. Amen.
Children, Jesus calls us his little flock, like little sheep. He says: do not be afraid! God wants to give you his kingdom. When we share our things with poor people, we are storing treasure in heaven. What can you share this week?
God our Savior, you did not hide your plans from Abraham, and you chose him to teach his household your way. Your goodness and loving kindness appeared in Christ, and you renewed us through the water of rebirth. Make our homes schools of righteousness and justice, free us from fear, and draw our hearts to the treasure of your kingdom. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
God takes Abraham into his confidence about Sodom: he has heard an outcry and will not ignore it. Titus reminds us how God has dealt with us: “he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy”. And Jesus tells his “little flock” not to be afraid, to give alms, and to put their treasure where it cannot be lost. A people who know God's mercy must also listen for the cry of the poor. Prayer, fasting and alms all belong here.
Setting.
The meal at Mamre is over. The visitors leave, and Abraham walks with them, as a good host does. They look down towards Sodom in the plain, whose wickedness was mentioned as early as 13:13. Before the visitors go on, Genesis lets us hear the Lord thinking aloud. These verses prepare the way for Abraham's great prayer for the city in 18:22–33.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do,” (18:17)
God speaks almost as a friend does. Scripture calls Abraham God's friend (Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23), and Amos says, “Surely the Lord God does nothing, without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). Jesus takes up the same thought: “I have called you friends” (John 15:15).
“No, for I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice;” (18:19)
This verse describes the Christian home as well. Abraham's great vocation here is to pass on the way of the Lord to his children. Faith that is not handed on to children stops with one generation.
““How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin!” (18:20)
Genesis 19 shows violence against strangers. Ezekiel gives a further charge: “pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy” (Ezekiel 16:49). After the hospitality of Abraham, the contrast is strong.
“I must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me;” (18:21)
God knows everything, and Genesis speaks in human terms, as at Babel (11:5). The picture teaches that God's judgment is careful and fair. He does not condemn on rumour.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism names “the sin of the Sodomites” among the sins that cry to heaven, along with the blood of Abel, the cry of the people oppressed in Egypt, the cry of the foreigner, the widow and the orphan, and injustice to the wage earner (CCC 1867). It also teaches that since Abraham, intercession, asking on behalf of another, has been the mark of a heart attuned to God's mercy (CCC 2635). So God shares this with Abraham in order to teach him to pray: he who hears the cry of the victims wants a friend who will stand before him for others.
Setting.
Jesus is on the journey to Jerusalem, teaching his disciples. He has just told the parable of the rich fool (12:13–21) and has said much the same as Matthew's words on the birds and the lilies (12:22–31). These three verses draw the conclusion: if the Father will give you the kingdom, you can afford to be generous with what you have.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
““Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (12:32)
The command that follows, “sell”, rests on this verse. People who are afraid hold on tight. People who know they have been given the kingdom can open their hands.
“Sell your possessions, and give alms.” (12:33)
Jesus is not just giving good advice about money. In Luke, what we do with possessions shows what we believe. Alms are a form of worship. Tobit and Sirach had already taught this (Tobit 4:7–11; Sirach 3:30).
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (12:34)
Note the order. We might expect him to say that our money follows our heart, but he says the heart follows the money. It is a good test: look at the accounts of a household, and you can see what it loves.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism says that Scripture and the Fathers insist above all on three forms of penance, fasting, prayer and almsgiving (CCC 1434). It teaches that Jesus enjoins his disciples to prefer him to everything and everyone (CCC 2544). And it quotes St John Chrysostom: “Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs” (CCC 2446). In the Great Fast, what we save by fasting is meant to reach those who go hungry without choosing to.
Must every Christian sell everything?
Some are called to do so literally, as monks and religious have done. Not everyone is. In Luke, Zacchaeus gives half (Luke 19:8), and the first believers shared as any had need (Acts 2:44–45). But every Christian is called to detachment, and to share with those in need (CCC 2544–2547). The question each person must ask is what God is asking of me now, and how much of my heart my goods are holding.