23 February 2027 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Latin Rite · Syro-Malabar Rite · മലയാളം
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
Today we remember Mar Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, who as a young man had known St John the Apostle and who was burned for Christ in his old age, about the year 155. The account of his martyrdom, written by his own Church, tells how the proconsul urged him to curse Christ and save his life. Polycarp answered that for eighty-six years he had served Christ and had never been wronged by him: how could he blaspheme the King who had saved him? (in substance). He had carried the yoke of Christ for a lifetime and found it light. Paul explains why: “since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ… we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” Polycarp's hope did not disappoint him.
The first reading is a dark night in Sodom. Lot sits in the gate and, like his uncle Abraham, insists on welcoming the two strangers: “he urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house.” Then the men of the city surround the house with violence. Lot's response is itself a terrible wrong: he offers his own daughters to the mob. Scripture records it without approving it; it shows how deeply the sin of a city can twist even a man who wants to do right. It is not Lot who saves the day, but the guests: “the men inside reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.” God's messengers pull him to safety. And Jesus opens another door to all who are crushed by the weight of sin and fear: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart.” Today we also pray for Mathews Mar Polycarpos on his name day.
Theme: “Come to me… and I will give you rest.”
On the day of Mar Polycarp: God's hand that pulls us from danger, the hope that does not disappoint, and the rest of Christ.
“For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” Psalm 91:11
“then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment” 2 Peter 2:9
Apply: Thank God tonight for one time he rescued you from danger or sin.
“but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31
“and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Romans 5:5
Apply: Offer each hardship this week for Christians who suffer for the faith.
“Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” Jeremiah 6:16
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29
Apply: Make a short visit to the Blessed Sacrament each day this week to lay down your burden.
God reaches into our darkest nights to pull us to safety.
Those who carry Christ's yoke, like Polycarp, find it light to the end.
Take-home resolution: Bring your burdens to Christ each day of the Fast, and carry others' burdens with him.
Dear friends, today we remember Mar Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, a disciple of St John. When the proconsul ordered him to curse Christ, he answered that he had served Christ for eighty-six years and had never been wronged; how could he blaspheme his King and Saviour? (in substance).
Paul tells us the secret of such faithfulness: suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts (Romans 5:3–5).
In Sodom Lot welcomed God's messengers, but violence surrounded his house. It was the guests who saved him: the men inside reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door (Genesis 19:10). God reaches out to pull us from danger.
And Jesus says: come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me (Matthew 11:28–29). Let us bring our burdens to him in this Fast, as Polycarp did all his life. Amen.
Children, St Polycarp was a very old bishop who loved Jesus. Bad men told him to say Jesus was not good. He said: Jesus has been good to me all my life! He was brave because he loved Jesus. Jesus says: come to me when you are tired, and I will help you.
Lord Jesus, gentle and humble in heart, you call all who are weary to come to you. You gave Mar Polycarp the strength to serve you faithfully for eighty-six years and to die for you in hope. Pour your love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, so that our sufferings may produce endurance, character and hope. Pull us from every danger as your angels pulled Lot from the night, and give us your rest. Bless Mathews Mar Polycarpos on his name day. Amen.
The Genesis reading follows the two messengers into Sodom, where a guest is welcomed by one man and threatened by a whole town. In the Gospel, Jesus opens his own door: “Come to me.” The Epistle (Romans 5:1–5) gives the reason a yoke can be carried through suffering: “hope does not disappoint us”. The Church also remembers Mar Polycarp, who carried that yoke for a lifetime.
Setting.
The reading is deliberately set against the previous chapter. Abraham welcomed visitors at noon by his tent (18:1); Lot welcomes them at evening in the gate of the city. Hospitality to a stranger was a sacred duty in the ancient Near East: once a guest came under your roof, you answered for his safety. Sodom now shows its own face in how it treats a stranger.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“But he urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house;” (19:3)
Lot has taken up Abraham's way of welcome. Everyone else in the story is about to fail where he has done well.
“both young and old, all the people to the last man,” (19:4)
The writer stresses that the whole town is present. This also answers Abraham's question from Genesis 18: there are not ten.
“for they have come under the shelter of my roof.” (19:8)
Lot's reason is the law of hospitality, but his offer of his own daughters is a grave wrong, and Scripture reports it without approving it. It shows how the violence of a place can bend even a person who is trying to do right.
“But the men inside reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them,” (19:10)
The host who tried to protect his guests is protected by them. Lot is rescued by the very ones he thought he was saving.
How the Church reads it.
The Letter to the Hebrews recalls such stories when it says, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2). St Clement of Rome says that Lot was saved from Sodom on account of his hospitality and godliness (First Letter 11, in substance). The Second Letter of Peter calls him “righteous” (2:7). The Church takes the story, for all its darkness, as a call to protect the stranger and the one who has no defender.
Setting.
These three verses are found only in Matthew. They follow Jesus' prayer of thanks that the Father has revealed these things to infants, and his claim that no one knows the Father except the Son (11:25–27). Sirach had written of Wisdom calling people to her and of putting one's neck under her yoke (Sirach 51:23–27). Jewish teachers also spoke of the yoke of the Law, and they meant a yoke to be loved. Jesus now speaks as Wisdom herself speaks.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (11:28)
He does not tell people to come to a place or a doctrine, but to himself. The invitation has no entrance test except weariness.
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (11:29)
The last words echo Jeremiah 6:16. This is the only place where Jesus directly describes his own heart in the Gospels. Disciples are those who learn this heart.
“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (11:30)
St Augustine explains that love makes light what is hard in itself (Sermon 70, in substance). The burden is not removed, but one no longer carries it alone.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism quotes this saying to teach that the Word became flesh to be our model of holiness (CCC 459). In the Great Fast it is a safeguard against turning penance into a burden we bear to impress God. The fasting of a disciple is done beside a gentle Master, and is yoked to him.
What was the sin of Sodom?
This reading shows a whole town ready to assault two strangers, a violent attempt at rape and a violation of guests. Elsewhere Scripture names other things as well. Ezekiel says that Sodom had “pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy” (Ezekiel 16:49), and Jude 7 speaks of “sexual immorality” and “unnatural lust”. The Catechism lists Genesis 19 among the Scriptures behind its teaching that homosexual acts are contrary to the natural law (CCC 2357), and goes on at once to say that persons with such tendencies must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity (CCC 2358). So a faithful reading neither reduces this story to one thing nor uses it to despise anyone.
Mar Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, is one of the living links with the Apostles. St Irenaeus, who heard him as a boy, says that he was taught by Apostles (Against Heresies 3.3.4). He died about the year 155 (some scholars date it later). The account of his martyrdom, written by his own Church, tells how he refused to curse Christ, saying that for eighty-six years he had served him and had never been wronged (in substance). He had found the yoke light indeed.