11th June ->> Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies for the Feast of Saint Barnabas, Apostle (Inc. Matthew 10:7-13): ‘Proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand’. (2024)

11th June ->> Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies for the Feast of Saint Barnabas, Apostle (Inc. Matthew 10:7-13): ‘Proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand’.

Feast of Saint Barnabas, Apostle

Gospel (Except USA)Matthew 10:7-13You received without charge: give without charge.

Jesus said to his apostles, ‘As you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. You received without charge, give without charge. Provide yourselves with no gold or silver, not even with a few coppers for your purses, with no haversack for the journey or spare tunic or footwear or a staff, for the workman deserves his keep.‘Whatever town or village you go into, ask for someone trustworthy and stay with him until you leave. As you enter his house, salute it, and if the house deserves it, let your peace descend upon it; if it does not, let your peace come back to you.’

Gospel (USA)Matthew 10:7-13Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.

Jesus said to the Twelve: “As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give. Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick. The laborer deserves his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it, and stay there until you leave. As you enter a house, wish it peace. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you.”

Reflections (5)

(i) Feast of Saint Barnabas, Apostle

In the gospel reading, Jesus sends out the twelve apostles on mission within Galilee, to proclaim the good news that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. In the first reading, the church of Antioch send out Paul and Barnabas on mission to places far beyond Antioch, to Cyprus and parts of modern-day Turkey. Paul and Barnabas were leading lights of the church in Antioch and yet the members of the church were happy to share these two leaders with others, far beyond their shores. Of the two, Paul is better known to us because of his extraordinary missionary journeys and the many letters that have come down to us from him. Yet, Barnabas was very significant in another way. It was Barnabas who created an opening in the early church for Paul, when others were still suspicious of him because of his past persecution of the church. As today’s first reading says, it was Barnabas who went looking for Paul in Tarsus, his native city, and brought him to Antioch because Barnabas saw that there was a great opening for Paul’s gifts in this city where the gospel had been preached to pagans for the first time. Barnabas was what we can today an ‘enabler’. It is not surprising that his nickname in the early church, according to the Acts of the Apostles, was ‘son of encouragement’. That role of enabler or encourager remains a vital role in the church today. We all have the capacity to create openings where the gifts of someone else can flourish for the service of the whole church. It takes a certain humility to create a space where others can flourish to their potential in the service of the Lord. It is the attitude of John the Baptist expressed in his comment with regard to Jesus, ‘He must increase, but I must decrease’. The feast of Barnabas invites us to ask, ‘What can I do for someone so that Jesus may increase today?’

And/Or

(ii) Feast of Saint Barnabas, Apostle

Barnabas was known in the early church as the ‘son of encouragement’, according to the Acts of the Apostles. As nicknames go, it is one of the nicer ones. It was clearly a term that reflected the nature of the man. He had that marvelous ability to recognize the good qualities in people and to draw them out so that they could be placed at the service of the church. We find two examples of this in this morning’s first reading. The first community of believers was all Jewish, but in Antioch there emerged a community of believers that comprised Jews and non-Jews. When Barnabas was sent from Jerusalem to investigate this new development, he was delighted with what he saw and ‘he urged them all to remain faithful to the Lord with heartfelt devotion’. Then, sometime later Barnabas recognized that Saul, the former persecutor of the church, could make a wonderful contribution to this mixed church in Antioch and so he set out all the way to Tarsus to find Paul and bring him to Antioch. Paul went on to become a leading member of the church in Antioch. Recognizing the gifts of others, and creating openings for those gifts to flourish – this was the strength of Barnabas. We all have it in us to be a Barnabas within the church and within the wider community. We may not have the gift for a particular task, but we can have the ability to recognize that gift in others and to create a space for their gift to flourish. This is one of the ways that we can all respond to the Lord’s call in today’s gospel reading to go out and proclaim that the kingdom of God is close at hand.

And/Or

(iii) Feast of St Barnabas, Apostle

Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Barnabas. He was born in Cyprus and became a leading member of the church in Jerusalem. He had a reputation in the early church for giving encouragement to others. Indeed Barnabas is a kind of nickname which means ‘son of encouragement’. We see him engaged in that ministry of encouragement in this morning’s first reading. There was something new happening in the church of Antioch. The gospel had been preached to pagans as well as Jews for the first time. A new kind of church was emerging there, a church which was a mixture of Jews and non-Jews. Barnabas was sent down to take a look at what was happening and he immediately recognized it as the work of the Lord and gave great encouragement to this new development. He was right; it was the work of the Lord. The Lord is always at work in new and creative ways among us and it is a great gift to be able to recognize the work of the Lord wherever it is to be found, and to celebrate and encourage that work. Barnabas had this gift of noticing where the Lord was a work because as that first reading says he was filled with the Holy Spirit. We need to be open to the Spirit, to be filled with the Spirit, to recognize the work of the Spirit. As Saint Paul says in one of his letter, spiritual things are discerned spiritually.

And/Or

(iv) Feast of St Barnabas, Apostle

According to an earlier verse in the Acts of the Apostles, Barnabas’ real name was Joseph, but he was given the name Barnabas, which means ‘son of encouragement’, as a kind of a nick name by the apostles. In this morning’s first reading we can see Barnabas living up to his nick name. News reached Jerusalem of a new development in Antioch. The gospel had been preached to non-Jews for the first time, resulting in the formation of a mixed church of Jewish and Gentile Christians. When the church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to Antioch to check on this, he saw immediately that this new development was God’s doing and he encouraged all involved. He went further and he encouraged Paul to come from Tarsus and to get involved in this new departure. As a result, Paul made a great contribution to the life of this mixed church of Antioch, and this church, in turn, became a spiritual home for Paul and a base for his missionary work. You could say that Barnabas was a facilitator, an enabler; he supported the good that people were doing and he opened doors for people’s gifts. We always need people like Barnabas around and we can all become a Barnabas for others. The ministry of encouragement is one in which we can all share, and it is one of the most needed ministries today. On this his feast day, we pray for something of the spirit of Barnabas in our own lives and in the life of our church.

And/Or

(v) Feast of Saint Barnabas, Apostle

Barnabas does not feature in the gospels but he is a significant presence in the Acts of the Apostles, Luke’s story of the early years of the church. He was originally a leading member of the church in Jerusalem. According to today’s first reading he was instrumental in encouraging a new development that took place in the city of Antioch, where the gospel was preached to pagans for the first time. He clearly saw the hand of the Lord in this new phenomenon. According to our reading, Barnabas encouraged Saul or Paul to leave the church in Tarsus, Paul’s home city, and to come to the church in Antioch because he recognized that Antioch would be an ideal location for this great apostle to the pagans. Barnabas himself seems to have become a leading member of the church of Antioch. He worked alongside Paul there and together they were sent out on mission by the church of Antioch, travelling to Cyprus and beyond. Barnabas is portrayed in the Acts of the Apostles as an enabler, an encourager. What he enabled and encouraged others to do turned out to be just as significant as what he did himself. In the gospel reading, Jesus says to his followers, ‘You received without charge, give without charge’. One of the ways we give is by creating a space for others to give and to grow. This is where Barnabas comes into his own. He recognized and encouraged the workings of the Spirit in the lives of others. He didn’t try to do everything himself; he stepped back and allowed the Lord to work through others. That takes a certain generosity of spirit, a willingness to rejoice in the gifts of others and allow them to find expression. We can all learn from Barnabas that delicate art of creating space for others to flourish.

Fr. Martin Hogan.