We honor Barnabas today as the saint of
the day. Barnabas was one of the group
of disciples in the Early Church who helped spread the way of Jesus in the
early Church throughout the ancient world.
Barnabas worked closely with Paul, as we heard in today’s first reading
from the Acts of the Apostles. We don’t
know a lot of details about many of the apostles and disciples, but we do know
that they worked hard spreading the Good News of Jesus and they encouraged
those who were following on that road of faith.
As we are engaged in a new
evangelization in our world today, a world that is becoming increasingly
secular, a world in which many see religion as hypocritical or irrelevant, we
can find great encouragement in Barnabas and Paul that group of disciples that
first spread the Good News throughout the Ancient World with a great missionary
spirit. We celebrated the Solemnity of
the Body and Blood last weekend. We are
called to see a missionary nature inherent in the Eucharist. On the night
before He died, Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist in the Last Supper that he
celebrated with his followers. Jesus did this so that His Sacrifice on Calvary,
which would be consummated on the following day, might be celebrated in every
time and place and for all of humanity. Reflecting upon the Lord’s Supper, Pope
Benedict has this to say: “At the Last Supper, Jesus entrusts to his disciples
the sacrament which makes present his self-sacrifice for the salvation of us
all, in obedience to the Father’s will. We cannot approach the (Eucharist)
without being drawn into the mission which, beginning in the very heart of God,
is meant to reach all people. Missionary outreach is thus an essential part of
the Eucharistic form of the Christian life.”
I was reading an interview with one of the Methodist pastors in town. He mentioned that his church had an annual covenant in which not only they all professed their faith in Jesus, they also committed to discipleship and mission, particularly to the unchurched and to those who have not yet found a church community. We Catholics, too, need to break out of our comfort zones, to find new and exciting ways to grow in our faith and to evangelize in new and creative ways. The New Testament recounts ways in which Paul and Barnabas met barriers and obstacles in their efforts to evangelize, even to the point of having their lives threatened or being kicked out of towns. We should not discouraged when things don’t go as we optimistically hope for. May we find strength in the Eucharist and in our community of faith. May we accept the call to be missionaries.
I was reading an interview with one of the Methodist pastors in town. He mentioned that his church had an annual covenant in which not only they all professed their faith in Jesus, they also committed to discipleship and mission, particularly to the unchurched and to those who have not yet found a church community. We Catholics, too, need to break out of our comfort zones, to find new and exciting ways to grow in our faith and to evangelize in new and creative ways. The New Testament recounts ways in which Paul and Barnabas met barriers and obstacles in their efforts to evangelize, even to the point of having their lives threatened or being kicked out of towns. We should not discouraged when things don’t go as we optimistically hope for. May we find strength in the Eucharist and in our community of faith. May we accept the call to be missionaries.
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