6 March 2027 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malabar Rite · Latin Rite · മലയാളം
“I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose.” Luke 4:43
The first reading closes the week of Abraham's story with a scene of peace. Abimelech, the same king Abraham once feared, comes to him with the commander of his army and says: “God is with you in all that you do.” A pagan ruler recognizes God's presence in Abraham's life, and asks for a covenant of loyalty. There is still a dispute: Abimelech's servants have seized a well. Wells meant life in that dry land, and quarrels over water were bitter. Abraham does not fight; he sets apart seven ewe lambs as a witness that he dug the well, and the two men swear an oath. The place is named Beer-sheba, the well of the oath or the well of seven. Then, in a land that was not yet his, Abraham “planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.” A tree takes years to give shade; planting it is an act of hope. Abraham, still “an alien many days in the land of the Philistines,” lives as a guest who trusts that the Everlasting God will keep his promise.
Paul's words to Timothy are especially fitting in the Great Fast. Some false teachers, he says, “forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by God’s word and by prayer.” Our fasting is not a rejection of God's good creation. We do not abstain from meat, fish or eggs because they are evil, but because we want to hunger more for God, to share with the poor, and to master our desires. St Basil the Great said that the true fast is to be a stranger to evil: to restrain the tongue, to put away anger, to stop lying and slander; fasting from food without fasting from sin is not enough (in substance). And when the Fast ends, we will receive God's gifts again with thanksgiving. In the Gospel, the crowds want to keep Jesus for themselves, but he says: “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose.” Our Lenten prayer is not meant to make us comfortable in one place. It sends us out, like Jesus, to bring the good news further, to the next village, the next house, the next person who has not heard.
Theme: “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also.”
Peace at the well of Beer-sheba, the true meaning of fasting, and Jesus sent to the other cities.
“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” Isaiah 12:3
“but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” John 4:14
Apply: Take one step this week to settle a dispute peacefully.
“O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.” Psalm 104:24
“give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Apply: Pray before every meal for the rest of the Fast and give what you save to the poor.
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”” Isaiah 52:7
“Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.” Mark 16:15
Apply: Invite one person this week to pray with you or to come to the Holy Qurbono.
Abraham made peace, planted hope and called on the Everlasting God.
Fasting with thanksgiving sends us out, like Jesus, with the good news.
Take-home resolution: Fast with a thankful heart, make peace where you can, and share the good news with one person before Easter.
Dear friends, Abimelech came to Abraham and said: God is with you in all that you do (Genesis 21:22). When a dispute arose over a well, Abraham did not fight; he made a covenant of peace at Beer-sheba.
Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God (Genesis 21:33). A tree is an act of hope. Abraham lived as a guest, trusting God's promise.
Paul reminds us that everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving (1 Timothy 4:4). We do not fast because food is evil. We fast to hunger for God, to master ourselves, and to share with the poor.
And Jesus says: I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose (Luke 4:43). Let our fasting send us out to share the good news. Amen.
Children, Jesus did not stay in one town. He said: I must tell the good news to other towns too! Jesus wants everyone in the world to know God loves them. You can help him: tell one friend about Jesus, or invite someone to come to church with you.
Everlasting God, Abraham called on your name under the tamarisk tree at Beer-sheba, a guest in a land that was not yet his. Make us peacemakers who settle quarrels without violence, and pilgrims who plant seeds of hope. Teach us to fast not out of contempt for your good creation but out of hunger for you, and to receive all your gifts with thanksgiving. Send us, like your Son, to bring the good news to the other cities also. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
This week's story of Abraham ends in peace. The king he once feared comes to him and says, “God is with you in all that you do”, and at a well the two men swear an oath. The Epistle (1 Timothy 4:1–5) guards the Fast against a false idea: “everything created by God is good”, so we fast out of love and not out of contempt for creation. In the Gospel, a crowd wants to keep Jesus to itself, and he says that he has been sent to other towns as well. In all three, God's purpose is wider than the place where we are standing.
Setting.
The same Abimelech who appears in chapter 20, with whom Abraham began so badly, comes with the commander of his army. Water was life in the dry south, and a dug well was property worth fighting for. Abraham is a resident alien: he has no land of his own, and only the goodwill of others to protect him. This passage settles the question of a well and gives us the name of a place that will become important to the patriarchs (26:23–33; 28:10; 46:1).
The text speaks of “the land of the Philistines”. Many scholars note that the Philistines are known from history only at a later time, and think that the writer uses the name familiar to his own readers.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“God is with you in all that you do” (21:22)
In 20:11 Abraham doubted that this place had any fear of God. Now its king says that God is with Abraham. Each has seen more of God in the other than he expected.
“These seven ewe lambs you shall accept from my hand, in order that you may be a witness for me that I dug this well.” (21:30)
Abraham settles the dispute without force. A public gesture is his way to make peace and secure a right.
“Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.” (21:33)
A tamarisk is a tree of dry places. To plant a tree in a land that is not yet his is a quiet act of hope.
“And Abraham resided as an alien many days in the land of the Philistines.” (21:34)
The covenant over the well does not change his status. He is still a guest, and the promise of the land is still ahead.
How the Church reads it.
The Letter to the Hebrews says that Abraham “stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents” (Hebrews 11:9), because he was looking to the city whose builder is God (11:10). The Catechism draws on this praise of Abraham's faith (CCC 145). So the Church sees the believer as a pilgrim, who can plant trees and make peace with his neighbours here, while knowing that this is not his final home. That is a good description of Christian life, and of fasting too.
Setting.
Luke has shown a first day of Jesus' work at Capernaum: the teaching in the synagogue, the man with the unclean spirit, Simon's mother-in-law, and the sick who were brought at sunset (4:31–41). Just before that, his own town of Nazareth tried to drive him out (4:16–30). Now the people of Capernaum try the opposite and want to hold on to him. Luke sets the two towns side by side, and neither gets to decide where Jesus goes.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“At daybreak he departed and went into a deserted place.” (4:42)
After a long evening with the sick he seeks solitude. Luke often shows Jesus withdrawing, and elsewhere says that he went to pray (5:16). Mark's account says so here too (Mark 1:35).
“and when they reached him, they wanted to prevent him from leaving them.” (4:42)
This is a natural and even loving wish. It is also a temptation. Even good people can want to keep Jesus for themselves.
“But he said to them, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose.”” (4:43)
He knows who sent him and why. St Paul VI quotes this saying in his teaching on evangelization (Evangelii Nuntiandi 6).
“So he continued proclaiming the message in the synagogues of Judea.” (4:44)
Here “Judea” seems to mean the whole land of the Jews, including Galilee, as in Luke 1:5. Some ancient manuscripts read “Galilee”, perhaps to make the geography easier.
How the Church reads it.
St Paul VI wrote that evangelizing is the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity (Evangelii Nuntiandi 14). The Catechism teaches that everyone is called to enter the kingdom, and that the kingdom was first announced to the children of Israel and is meant to welcome people of all nations (CCC 543). A parish that keeps the Lord to itself has misunderstood him in the way the crowd did at Capernaum.
If everything created is good, why do we fast?
Because we fast out of love and for freedom, and not because food or the body is bad. Today's Epistle warns against teachers who “forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods” as if creation were evil (1 Timothy 4:3). The Church rejected that error from the beginning. In the Great Fast we give up good things for a time, to make room for prayer and to share with those who have less. Then we receive them again “with thanksgiving”.