St. Barnabas

Scripture readings may be found at Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle | USCCB

Today we celebrate the feast Saint Barnabas, apostle. He was one of the first followers after the ascension of Jesus into heaven. He preached the gospel at Antioch and was a companion of Saint Paul. 

As we hear from in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, many people came to know Jesus through his preaching. It was in Antioch that the early followers were called Christians.

It was during this time the Christians were being persecuted following the death of Saint Stephen, deacon and the first martyr.  So, as a result, it took a great deal of courage for Saint Paul and Barnabas to continue preaching, even though they knew they could face certain death for preaching Jesus Christ. What helped Saint Barnabas, St. Paul and the others was that that they were filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gave them strength and courage to continue to preach about Jesus Christ, and the fact that he is Savior and Messiah. In their own ways Barnabas and St. Paul were devoted to the Sacred Heart. It is through them that we have our faith today. We are called in some way to do as Saint Barnabas and Saint Paul did in sharing our faith in Jesus Christ with those in our lives. We may meet with resistance, but we are called to be vigilant in letting others know about Jesus Christ, and our faith in him. Through our baptism and confirmation, we are, too, are filled with Holy Spirit.

In anticipation to celebration Sacred Heart of Jesus tomorrow, let’s pray the words that Padre Pio gave us in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus:

O Sacred Heart of Jesus,
for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted,
have pity on us miserable sinners
and grant us the grace which we ask of you,
through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary,
your tender Mother and ours.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

 Scripture reading for this reflection can be found at https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060426.cfm

In our Gospel for today, our Lord is teaching us the most central meaning of what it means to be his follower: Love of God and love of neighbor. At first, it sounds easy, but it really isn’t as easy as it sounds. 

Love of God needs to be primary in our lives. In all our daily activities we need to act in ways that clearly show that we are followers of Jesus Christ.  We need to love God with our whole mind, heart and soul. God must be central in all our thoughts and activities. We need to act with love and integrity in all our activities during the day  

The next challenge is to love our neighbors as ourselves. This can be very difficult since many people are challenging to even to like. But we are not called to like them, we are called to love them.

As you go through your day today, try to keep God central in your  thoughts as you do your daily activities. Also, as you deal with people, treat them with love and respect as children of God. In this way we are bringing God’s love to all that we encounter.