St. Barnabas: The Apostle of Encouragement
Acts 11: 2b-126, 13: 1-3; Mt 5: 17-19
The spirit of the Reign is a spirit of encouragement and empowerment, it is not merely cynicism and critique. Barnabas stood for this spirit of the Reign, and that was the reason the apostles named him so (the term meaning 'son of encouragement') (cf. Acts 4:36). Some characteristics that stand out in Barnabas are his relentless passion for proclamation, his courage to brave all odds, his capacity for being sincere even to the extent of having confrontations with his close friend, Paul (Acts 15).
The lesson this great apostle gives us today can be three:
1. Build up persons, that is the way to build up the Reign of God.
2. Be faithful to the Lord, with a firm heart, that is the way to belong to the Reign.
3. Rejoice in the matters of the Lord, that is the way to invite people to the Reign.
Be encouraged, and be an encouragement to the others today, for we celebrate the apostle of encouragement, St. Barnabas.
