Jun
11
St. Barnabas
June 11, 2008 |
He is the man who helped bring St. Paul to fulfill his life mission - St. Barnabas. It’s interesting that he is numbered as one of the apostles, even though he wasn’t one of the original twelve and wasn’t added officially to the ranks to take one’s place, like St. Matthias. But, St. Barnabas and St. Paul were so good at what they did and so in tune with their apostolic mission that their peers could pay them no higher honor than to call them an “apostle.”
Today, the Church commemorates the life of St. Barnabas. All we know of his life is taken from the Acts and the Pauline Epistles. We know that he brought Saul (later to be called Paul) from Tarsus to Antioch, which was then a center of the Christian faith and where Christians were first called such. We know he was a “good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.” (Acts 11). We know he and St. Paul went on to set the standard for all missionaries to come.
It was also probably St. Barnabas who had long talks with St. Paul and helped Paul reconcile his strong Jewish faith with the mystery of the crucified and resurrected Christ. It was probably St. Barnabas who helped convince St. Paul that Christ had come to fulfill the law instead of to replace it as discussed by Christ in today’s Gospel (Matthew 5) - that St. Paul’s zealous beliefs were not inconsistent with Christ’s messianic kingdom.
So, how does St. Barnabas relate to our lives? To answer this question, we need to ask ourselves - are we the St. Barnabas in anyone’s life? Is there a St. Barnabas in our life? Someone who we are supposed to bring closer to Christ or someone who is supposed to bring us closer to Christ?
Today’s Alleluia acclamation is from Psalm 25 - “Teach me your paths, my God, and guide me in your truth.” Part of today’s Opening Prayer is “help us to proclaim the gospel by word and deed.” St. Barnabas lived these words; we should do so as well. Christ may be calling us to be a St. Barnabas or to accept a St. Barnabas in our own life. Like St. Barnabas and St. Paul, we better recognize and accept this calling.
