THE WORD AND THE SAINT
June 11, 2020: Celebrating St. Barnabas, the Apostle of Encouragement
Acts 11: 2b-126, 13: 1-3; Matthew 5: 20-26
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 Reign-lessons this great apostle gives us today can be three:
1. Build up persons, that is the way to build up the Reign of God.
Bringing Saul to the Christian community (Acts 9), going errand to solve the confusion within the churches (Acts 11), ready to play the second fiddle for the sake of the common mission... these were the marked traits of this apostle that built up persons around him.
Bringing Saul to the Christian community (Acts 9), going errand to solve the confusion within the churches (Acts 11), ready to play the second fiddle for the sake of the common mission... these were the marked traits of this apostle that built up persons around him.
2. Be faithful to the Lord, with a firm heart, that is the way to belong to the Reign.
Be it when they praised him as Zeus, or when things did not go well with the other apostles, or even when he had to part ways with Paul his close collaborator, Barnabas remained firm in what he believed to be right and God's will. That was his way of belonging to the Reign.
Be it when they praised him as Zeus, or when things did not go well with the other apostles, or even when he had to part ways with Paul his close collaborator, Barnabas remained firm in what he believed to be right and God's will. That was his way of belonging to the Reign.
3. Rejoice in the matters of the Lord, that is the way to invite people to the Reign.
Barnabas, along with Paul and later by himself, did go through tough times for the sake of the mission entrusted to him. But nothing stopped him, not even imprisonments and lashes and threats of killing deterred him from rejoicing in the Lord, for the opportunity to suffer for the Word.
Barnabas, along with Paul and later by himself, did go through tough times for the sake of the mission entrusted to him. But nothing stopped him, not even imprisonments and lashes and threats of killing deterred him from rejoicing in the Lord, for the opportunity to suffer for the Word.
Let us take these lessons to heart today, specially in moments of crisis and uncertainty, anxiety and anguish. Let us be encouraged, and be encouragements to the others today. Let us give hope to those around and remain firm in the Lord rejoicing in the encouragement that the Spirit brings us. May the apostle of encouragement, St. Barnabas intercede for us.