17 April 2027 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malabar Rite · Latin Rite · മലയാളം
“For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” Hebrews 10:14
Christ is risen! The Letter to the Hebrews sets two pictures side by side. In the first, “every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins.” In the second, Christ “offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins” and “sat down at the right hand of God.” The priests of the old covenant stand, because their work is never finished. Christ sits, because his work is done: he died once, rose, and is enthroned with the Father. “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” What, then, do we do at every Holy Qurbono? We do not add a new sacrifice to the Cross, and we do not repeat it as if it were incomplete. The one sacrifice of Calvary is made present on our altar, and the risen Lord who offered it once offers himself now through the ministry of the priest (Catechism 1366–1367). St John Chrysostom, preaching on this chapter, put it simply: we do not offer one lamb today and another tomorrow, but always the same; the sacrifice is one (in substance).
The Letter then calls the Holy Spirit as witness, quoting the prophet Jeremiah: “I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds,” and “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” This is the new covenant: not a law carved on stone outside us, but the Spirit writing God's will inside us, and a forgiveness so complete that God himself chooses not to remember. The Gospel then opens a door to the feast. At a dinner someone exclaims, “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Jesus answers with a parable. A man gave a great dinner and sent his servant to say, “Come; for everything is ready now.” But they all began to make excuses: a field, five yoke of oxen, a new marriage. None of these is a sin. They are good things put in the place of the invitation. The parable is not aimed at one people; the first disciples who accepted the invitation were themselves sons and daughters of Israel. It is a warning to every invited guest, and so to us. St Gregory the Great observed that the pleasures of the body, once possessed, soon weary us, but spiritual delights, once tasted, make us hungry for more (in substance).
The master then sends his servant into the streets and lanes for “the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame,” and again to the roads and lanes: “compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled.” The Church reads this “compel” as the urgency of love, never as force, for the act of faith must be given willingly (Catechism 160; Dignitatis Humanae 10). Tonight, as Saturday evening opens the Lord's Day, the invitation comes to us again: “Come; for everything is ready now.” Everything is ready at the Holy Qurbono tomorrow: the Word, the Body and Blood of the Lord, the peace of the risen Christ. What excuse is waiting in my week? A tuition class, a function, a site visit, tiredness? Prepare tonight. Make peace with someone, go to confession if you need to, plan to go as a family, and bring along one person who has stopped coming. The house is not yet full; there is still room.
Theme: “Come; for everything is ready now.”
On the Saturday before the Third Sunday after the Resurrection: the one sacrifice, the new covenant written on hearts, and the great dinner.
“The Lord says to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”” Psalm 110:1
“The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.” Romans 6:10
Apply: At the Holy Qurbono tomorrow, unite your week, its work and its troubles, with the one offering of Christ.
“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Jeremiah 31:33
“If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
Apply: If a past sin still weighs on you, confess it and then trust that God remembers it no more.
“Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!” Isaiah 55:1
“Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Revelation 19:9
Apply: Bring one person with you to the Holy Qurbono this Sunday.
Christ's one sacrifice is complete, and it is made present for us at every Holy Qurbono.
God's table is ready; let no good thing become our excuse, and let us fill his house.
Take-home resolution: Tonight, set aside one excuse and prepare your heart and your family for the Lord's Day.
Dear friends, Christ is risen! The Letter to the Hebrews contrasts the priests who stand day after day offering the same sacrifices with Christ, who offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins and sat down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 10:12).
He sits because his work is finished. The Holy Qurbono does not add to the Cross; it makes the one sacrifice present, and the risen Lord gives himself to us. And in this new covenant God says: I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.
In the Gospel a man gives a great dinner and says: Come; for everything is ready now (Luke 14:17). But the guests make excuses: a field, oxen, a marriage. Good things, put in the place of the invitation. So the master calls the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame, and still there is room.
Tonight Sunday begins. Everything is ready for us tomorrow: the Word, the Body and Blood of Christ, his peace. Let us lay aside our excuses, prepare our hearts, and bring someone with us. Amen.
Children, imagine someone made a huge feast with all your favourite food, and invited you, and you said: “Sorry, I'm busy.” In Jesus' story people said exactly that! So the man invited poor and sick people, and the house was filled. Every Sunday Jesus invites us to his feast, the Holy Qurbono. Will you say “Yes, I am coming!” tomorrow?
Lord Jesus Christ, by one offering you have perfected for all time those who are sanctified, and now you sit at the right hand of the Father. Write your law on our hearts and remember our sins no more. You have prepared a great dinner and say to us, “Come; for everything is ready now.” Deliver us from every excuse that keeps us from your table, and send us into the streets and lanes to bring others with us, until your house is filled. You live and reign for ever. Amen.