5 April 2027 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malabar Rite · Latin Rite · മലയാളം
“Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David” 2 Timothy 2:8
Christ is risen! The day after New Sunday, St Paul speaks to us from a prison cell. He writes to Timothy: “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David.” This is the shortest summary of the Gospel in the New Testament, and it is written by a man in chains. He suffers hardship, “even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained.” Paul knows that he may soon die; the letter is his farewell. Yet he does not ask Timothy to remember Paul. He asks him to remember Jesus, alive. To remember, in the Bible, is not only to think of something past; it is to let the living God act now. That is why the Lord said at the Supper, “Do this in remembrance of me.” Each Holy Qurbono is this living memory: the risen Christ, of David's line, truly present with his Body and Blood. Then Paul quotes what may be an early Christian hymn: “The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.” Even our unfaithfulness cannot undo his faithfulness. St Ignatius of Antioch, led in chains to Rome to die, wrote seven letters on the way that are still read today; his body was bound, but the word he preached could not be bound.
The Gospel tells the parable of the vineyard. A man plants a vineyard with care, fences it, digs a wine press, builds a tower, and leases it to tenants. When he sends servants for his share, they beat and kill them. Last of all he sends “a beloved son,” thinking, “They will respect my son.” But the tenants say, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” They kill him and throw him out of the vineyard. The vineyard is a picture of God's people from Isaiah 5; the servants are the prophets; the beloved son is Jesus himself, telling his own Passion before it happens. Mark notes that those who heard it “realized that he had told this parable against them,” that is, against the leaders who were already planning his death, while the crowd listened to him gladly. The Church teaches that the guilt for the Lord's death cannot be laid on all the Jews of that time or on the Jewish people of any later time (Catechism 597; Nostra Aetate 4). The parable is a warning to every steward of God's vineyard in every age, including those who lead the Church today: the vineyard is the Lord's, not ours. And it ends with Easter: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes.” The Son who was thrown out has been raised up as the foundation of the new temple.
How do we live this Monday of Qyomtho? Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, at the start and end of the day: say those words slowly when you wake and before you sleep. Think of the vineyard entrusted to you: your family, your work, your gifts, your share in the parish. Ask: am I giving the Lord his share, or treating it as mine? If you have been rejected or pushed aside, take heart from the stone that the builders rejected; the Lord can build on what others throw away. Pray for prisoners, especially those in prison for their faith, and for prison chaplains. And if you feel that you have been faithless since Easter, hear Paul's word: he remains faithful. Come back to him in confession and at the Holy Qurbono.
Theme: “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David.”
On Monday after New Sunday: the word that no chain can bind, the faithfulness that outlasts our failures, and the rejected stone that became the cornerstone.
“so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty,” Isaiah 55:11
“proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” Acts 28:31
Apply: Say on waking and before sleep: “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead.”
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23
“God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:9
Apply: If you have drifted since Easter, return to the Lord in confession this week.
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.” Psalm 118:22
“There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
Apply: Give the Lord his share this week: a part of your time, money or gifts, offered consciously to him.
The word of God is not chained, and the risen Christ remains faithful even when we are not.
The Son who was rejected is the cornerstone on which God builds his Church.
Take-home resolution: Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, every morning and night; give God the fruit of the vineyard he has entrusted to you; pray for all who are in chains.
Dear friends, Christ is risen! Today St Paul writes from prison: Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David (2 Timothy 2:8). He is chained like a criminal, yet he says: the word of God is not chained.
Then he gives us a sure saying: if we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. And the most comforting line: if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself (2 Timothy 2:13).
In the Gospel Jesus tells of a vineyard and a beloved son who is killed and thrown out. He is speaking of himself. The warning is for every steward of God's vineyard in every age, including us. And the parable ends with Easter: the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone (Mark 12:10).
So let us remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, when we wake and when we sleep; let us give God his share of the vineyard he has given us; and if we have been faithless, let us return to him who remains faithful. Amen.
Children, Christ is risen! St Paul was in prison, but he wrote: remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead! Nobody could lock up the good news about Jesus. Jesus also told a story about a stone that builders threw away, but it became the most important stone of the whole house. That is what God did at Easter. Tonight before you sleep, can you say: Jesus, you are risen?
Lord Jesus Christ, raised from the dead and descended from David, you are the beloved Son sent to the vineyard, rejected and killed, and raised up as the cornerstone. Teach us to remember you each day as the living Lord. Make us faithful tenants of all you have entrusted to us, and give you the fruit that is yours. When we are faithless, you remain faithful: draw us back to you. Strengthen all who are in chains for your name, for your word is not chained. To you be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen.