18 March 2027 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malabar Rite · Latin Rite · മലയാളം
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.” Colossians 3:16
Rebekah runs home with her news, and her brother Laban runs out to the well. Genesis notes, with a quiet smile, that he came “as soon as he had seen the nose-ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms.” Later chapters will show that Laban loves gold more than truth. Yet he speaks a true word: “Come in, O blessed of the Lord.” Water is brought for washing feet, the camels are fed, and food is set before the guest. Then the servant says something remarkable: “I will not eat until I have told my errand.” The mission comes before his own hunger. And when he speaks, he speaks only about his master: how the Lord has blessed Abraham, how Sarah bore a son in her old age, how Abraham sent him with an oath, and how the Lord, “before whom I walk, will send his angel with you and make your way successful.” The servant never tells us his own name. He is the model of every faithful messenger, of every catechist and bishop: he does not preach himself but the one who sent him. Jesus would say the same at another well: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.”
Today the Church remembers such a messenger, Mar Cyril of Jerusalem (about 315–386). As bishop of the holy city he was exiled more than once in the storms of the Arian controversy, yet he is remembered above all for his catechesis. In Lent, in the church built over the Tomb of the Lord, he taught those preparing for baptism; in Easter week he explained the mysteries to the newly baptized. Of the Holy Qurbono he taught: do not look on the bread and wine as plain bread and wine, for by the Lord's own word they are his Body and Blood; even if your senses suggest otherwise, let faith make you sure (in substance). Paul's words today could describe Cyril's whole ministry: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom.” And his baptismal catechesis shines through Paul's image of clothing: “clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience… Above all, clothe yourselves with love.” Jesus tells such disciples, “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world.” Faith well taught and lived gives taste and light to everything around it. On this day we pray also for Archbishop Thomas Mar Koorilos on his name day.
Theme: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.”
On the memorial of Mar Cyril of Jerusalem: the faithful messenger, the catechist of the holy mysteries, and the salt and light of the world.
“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
“Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.” John 4:34
Apply: When you speak of your faith this week, speak of what the Lord has done, not of yourself.
“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
“For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread,” 1 Corinthians 11:23
Apply: Before Easter, explain to a child or a friend what happens in the Holy Qurbono.
“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” Isaiah 60:1
“so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world.” Philippians 2:15
Apply: Do one good work this week quietly, so that God, not you, is praised.
The servant spoke only of his master; Mar Cyril taught only Christ and his mysteries.
Faith well taught and lived becomes salt and light.
Take-home resolution: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, and let your light shine for the glory of the Father.
Dear friends, Abraham's servant reaches Rebekah's home. Food is set before him, but he says: I will not eat until I have told my errand (Genesis 24:33). His mission comes before his hunger. And all he talks about is his master: how God blessed Abraham and gave him a son.
That is what a true messenger does. He does not talk about himself. Jesus said the same: My food is to do the will of him who sent me (John 4:34).
Today we remember Mar Cyril of Jerusalem, a bishop who taught people preparing for baptism. He told them: the bread and wine of the Qurbono are truly the Body and Blood of the Lord; even if your eyes say otherwise, let faith make you sure (in substance). Paul says: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly (Colossians 3:16).
And Jesus says: You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world (Matthew 5:13–14). When the word of Christ lives in us, we become salt and light. Let us pray today for our Archbishop Thomas Mar Koorilos on his name day, and for all who teach the faith. Amen.
Children, Jesus says you are like salt and like a lamp. Salt makes food tasty; a lamp lights up the room. When you share, tell the truth and smile at someone who is sad, you light up your home with God's love. And when you see the tabernacle in church, remember: Jesus is really there.
Lord God, the servant of Abraham would not eat until he had told his errand, and he spoke only of his master's blessing. Make us faithful messengers of your Son. By the prayers of Mar Cyril of Jerusalem, who taught catechumens beside the Tomb of the Lord, let the word of Christ dwell in us richly; deepen our faith in the Body and Blood of your Son in the Holy Qurbono; clothe us with compassion and love; and make us salt and light for the world. Bless Archbishop Thomas Mar Koorilos on his name day, and all who teach the faith. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
In Genesis a servant, with food set before him, refuses to eat until he has told his errand, and when he speaks, he speaks of his master. In Colossians 3:12–17 the baptised are told to clothe themselves with love and to let “the word of Christ dwell in you richly”. In Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples that they are salt and light, so that others may give glory to the Father. The readings suit the memory of Mar Cyril of Jerusalem, who spent his strength passing the faith on to those preparing for Baptism. The key words are errand, word and light.
Setting.
Rebekah runs home, Laban runs out to the well, and the guest is brought in. Laban will be a major figure in the story of Jacob (Genesis 29–31), where he shows himself a shrewd man in matters of property. The narrator's small remark about the nose-ring and the bracelets prepares for that, yet Laban is courteous here, and he speaks a true blessing.
From verse 34 the servant begins to tell again what we have already read. This long repetition is a feature of ancient storytelling. It lets the hearer enjoy how the events are retold and notice how the speaker fits them to his listeners. Today's reading stops at verse 41, in the middle of his speech.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“As soon as he had seen the nose-ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms,” (24:30)
The narrator gives this detail quietly and makes no comment. The reader who knows the later story smiles. Yet God's plan moves forward through a man whose motives are mixed.
“Come in, O blessed of the Lord.” (24:31)
Laban speaks the truth, perhaps without knowing how much truth it is. The hospitality that Abraham showed in Genesis 18 is shown here in turn to Abraham's servant.
“I will not eat until I have told my errand.” (24:33)
In the ancient world the meal came first when a guest arrived. The servant holds it back. There is a kind of fasting in this: what he has been sent to do comes before his hunger. Compare Jesus at the well: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me” (John 4:34).
“I am Abraham’s servant.” (24:34)
His first words about himself are the only ones he needs. He gives no name and asks for no honour, and for the rest of the speech he talks about his master and his master's God.
How the Church reads it.
The Church has seen in this nameless servant a model of everyone who carries the Gospel. Paul describes the same attitude: “we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5). The Catechism says that the whole of catechesis is a passing on of the teaching not of oneself but of Christ, who said, “My teaching is not mine” (CCC 427–428; John 7:16). Any catechist can learn that from this scene.
Setting.
These verses come straight after the Beatitudes (5:3–12). Jesus has just called blessed the poor in spirit, the meek and the persecuted. Now he tells those same people, a small band on a hillside in Galilee, what they are for the whole world. He does not say “you ought to be” but “you are”.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“You are the salt of the earth;” (5:13)
The “you” is plural and is said to the whole company. Salt is useful only when it mixes with something other than itself.
“A city built on a hill cannot be hid.” (5:14)
Hearers may have thought of Jerusalem and the mountain of the Lord, to which the nations were to come (Isaiah 2:2–3). Some scholars see that image here. A community cannot hide what it is.
“No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket,” (5:15)
The bushel was a household measuring vessel. A house in a Galilean village might be a single room, so one lamp on a stand could light the whole family.
“so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (5:16)
This does not contradict the warning in 6:1–4 against doing good in order to be seen. The difference lies in where the glory goes. Works done for our own name hide the Father; works done for him show him.
How the Church reads it.
The Second Vatican Council opens its teaching on the Church with the words that Christ is the light of the nations (Lumen Gentium 1). The Catechism adds a favourite image of the Fathers: the Church is like the moon, all its light reflected from the sun (CCC 748). The Catechism says that the fidelity of the baptised is a primary condition for the proclamation of the Gospel (CCC 2044). What the world will see first is not our doctrine in a book but our works, which by grace point to the Father.
Why does the Bible repeat the story in Genesis 24 at such length?
Ancient storytellers often did this, and hearers enjoyed it. Here the repetition has a purpose as well. Each time the story is told, God's guidance is confessed again. The servant is not only reporting events; he is showing his hearers that the Lord is at work, so that they can say, as they do in verse 50, “The thing comes from the Lord.”
Today the Church remembers Mar Cyril (Koorilos), bishop of Jerusalem and doctor of the Church, who died in 386. He was driven from his see more than once in the disputes of the fourth century. His Catechetical Lectures, given in Jerusalem to those preparing for Baptism, are among the most precious witnesses to the early Church's teaching. In a Great Fast, which from ancient times was a time of preparing for Baptism, he stands beside today's servant as a man who passed on what he received.