Memory of the apostle Barnabas, companion of Paul in Antioch and on his first apostolic journey. Read more
Memory of the apostle Barnabas, companion of Paul in Antioch and on his first apostolic journey.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If we die with him, we shall live with him,
if with him we endure, with him we shall reign.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Acts 11, 19-26
Those who had scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, but they proclaimed the message only to Jews.
Some of them, however, who came from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch where they started preaching also to the Greeks, proclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus to them.
The Lord helped them, and a great number believed and were converted to the Lord.
The news of them came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem and they sent Barnabas out to Antioch.
There he was glad to see for himself that God had given grace, and he urged them all to remain faithful to the Lord with heartfelt devotion;
for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith. And a large number of people were won over to the Lord.
Barnabas then left for Tarsus to look for Saul,
and when he found him he brought him to Antioch. And it happened that they stayed together in that church a whole year, instructing a large number of people. It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called 'Christians'.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If we die with him, we shall live with him,
if with him we endure, with him we shall reign.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Today the Church remembers the apostle Barnabas. Although he was not one of the twelve, Barnabas receives the title of apostle for his important role in the first Christian community. Joseph, who the disciples gave the name Barnabas, which means “son of consolation”, was from Cyprus. He sold his field and gave his possessions to the apostles. With this gesture, Barnabas demonstrated that he understood that only by giving up one’s riches can one follow Jesus and participate in the building up of a community of love. The apostles chose him to send to Antioch, the third capital of the Roman Empire, where the Gospel was preached not only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles. For the first time, disciples of Jewish origin did not exclusively make up the community. And it was in Antioch that the disciples of Jesus were first called “Christians,” probably because of the notable influx of Gentiles who had markedly distinguished the new community from those of Jewish background. One of the great, imperial cities, amid its complex and convulsive life, Antioch saw a new light shine that gave hope to many. Barnabas, knowing of Paul’s conversion, invited him to Antioch to witness to all his encounter with Christ. He also brought Paul to Jerusalem to present him to the other apostles and to defend the preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles without submitting them to circumcision. Together with Paul and John Mark, his nephew and young witness of the Lord’s passion, he undertook the first great apostolic journey. The Christian community, obedient to the Spirit, crossed over its borders to communicate the Gospel to the ends of the earth. With Paul, he defended the evangelization of the Gentiles at the council of Jerusalem. According to tradition, after having preached in Rome and Milan, he went to Salamina where he was martyred. His witness underlines the urgency today with which we should communicate the Gospel not only to the ends of the earth, but on new human, ethical and social horizons opening up before us at the beginning of this new millennium. The example of Barnabas pushes us to follow these new paths, strengthened only by the Gospel and by the Lord’s fellowship. The Church’s mission is not born from human initiatives or from a desire to expand. The Spirit of the Lord that Jesus promised to the apostles and to those who would follow, urges the disciples of every era to follow the ways of the world and of the heart to communicate the Gospel of love. Also today the Christian communities ought to listen to the Spirit and will hear again the voice that says: “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” And each disciple can hear this invitation from the Lord and apply it to him or herself.
Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!
For the sick, in memory of the dead, for peace
