10 December 2026 · Syro-Malankara Rite
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“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven;” Matthew 10:32
Jesus prepares his disciples for persecution with three times “Do not be afraid.” What is whispered will be proclaimed from the housetops. Do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Not one sparrow falls to the ground apart from the Father; even the hairs of your head are counted; “you are of more value than many sparrows.” And the promise: whoever acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge before my Father. The Syriac Churches today remember Mar Behnam and his sister Sarah, honoured as martyrs who acknowledged Christ before others.
Paul's advice to the Thessalonians is quieter but no less demanding: they have been “taught by God to love one another”; let them do so more and more, aspire to live quietly, mind their own affairs and work with their hands. Ordinary faithfulness, lived day after day, is also a kind of witness; it prepares the heart for the extraordinary moment when courage is required.
Theme: “Do not be afraid.”
Martyrs' courage and everyday love.
“do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28
Apply: Name one fear and give it to God.
“For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb.” Psalm 139:13
“So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:31
Apply: Thank God for one way he has cared for you.
“I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts;” Jeremiah 31:33
“Now concerning love of the brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anyone write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another;” 1 Thessalonians 4:9
Apply: Do one hidden act of love at home.
God counts every hair.
Let us not be afraid to acknowledge him.
Take-home resolution: Pray each day for persecuted Christians.
Dear friends, St Paul writes to the Thessalonians: concerning love of the brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anyone write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another. But we urge you to do so more and more, to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands (1 Thessalonians 4:9–11).
Paul's programme is simple and practical: love more and more, live quietly, do your work well, and do not depend on others. A Christian life is not dramatic; it is faithful in ordinary things.
In the Gospel Jesus tells his disciples three times: do not be afraid. Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one will fall to the ground apart from your Father. Even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows (Matthew 10:26–31).
God's care is detailed. He knows the sparrow and counts your hair. Nothing in your life escapes his attention. This is the deepest cure for fear.
Then Jesus adds: everyone who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven (Matthew 10:32). Trust in the Father gives us courage to confess the Son.
During this fast, let us bring our fears to the Father who counts our hairs. Let us live quietly, love more and more, and acknowledge Jesus before others without fear. Amen.
Children, God counts every hair on your head! He loves you so much. Never be afraid to say you are a friend of Jesus.
Lord Jesus, you tell us not to be afraid. Through the prayers of Mar Behnam, Sarah and the holy martyrs, give us courage to acknowledge you before others and faithfulness in love day after day. Amen.
Today the Syriac Churches remember Mar Behnam, his sister Sarah and the Forty Martyrs. The readings give two faces of Christian witness. In Thessalonica it is a quiet life of love, honest work and good standing with neighbours. In Matthew it is open confession before those who can kill the body. Jesus says “do not be afraid” because the Father knows the fall of every sparrow.
Setting.
First Thessalonians is very probably the oldest surviving Christian writing, from about AD 50 or 51. Paul had to leave this young church in Macedonia in a hurry, and he writes with joy at the good report he has received. In chapter 4 he turns to how they should live. Some of them may have been neglecting ordinary work; he returns to this in 2 Thessalonians 3:6–12.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another;” (4:9)
The law of love is written within them by the Spirit. Paul does not need to teach it; he only needs to remind them.
“to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we directed you,” (4:11)
Paul himself worked night and day so as not to burden anyone (2:9). Greek society of his time often despised manual work. Here it becomes part of a Christian witness.
“so that you may behave properly toward outsiders and be dependent on no one.” (4:12)
Love looks outward too: the neighbour who does not share the faith sees how Christians live.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism says that work honours the Creator's gifts and that it can be a means of holiness, united to Christ the carpenter of Nazareth (CCC 2427). Love is the first gift of the Spirit, which no one can give himself. The martyrs we remember today did not begin with a great moment. They began, as we do, with daily faithfulness.
Setting.
This passage belongs to the second of Jesus' five great discourses in Matthew, in which he sends out the Twelve (Matthew 10). He has just warned them of courts, floggings and hatred (10:17–25). Now the tone changes. Three times he says that they are not to fear (vv. 26, 28, 31). Matthew's first readers probably knew from experience what this meant.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (10:28)
The one to be feared is God, not the devil. This is reverence, not terror, since the next verse speaks of this same God as “your Father”. Fear of God frees a person from every other fear.
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” (10:29)
Jesus does not promise that the sparrow will not fall. He promises that it will not fall alone. This is a word for martyrs.
““Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven;” (10:32)
Our confession on earth and Christ's confession before the Father are joined. The Catechism calls martyrdom the supreme witness to the truth of the faith (CCC 2473).
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism draws on verses like these when it teaches that God's care reaches the smallest things (CCC 302–305), and that Jesus' warnings about Gehenna are a call to responsibility and conversion (CCC 1034, 1036). The Church has always kept the memory of her martyrs, and she has read this chapter as being fulfilled in them.
The tradition of the Syriac Churches tells that Mar Behnam and Sarah were children of a Persian ruler in the fourth century, that Behnam came to faith through the monk Mar Mattai, that Sarah was healed and baptised, and that they were put to death with forty companions. The story as we have it is partly legendary, and its details cannot be checked. What is certain is the long love of the Syriac faithful for these martyrs, witnessed by the ancient monastery that bears Mar Behnam's name near Mosul in northern Iraq. Christians of that land have suffered greatly in our own time, and today's Gospel may lead us to pray for them at the Holy Qurbono.