The Roman Catholic Church honors the life and apostolic ministry of St. Barnabas on June 11. The Scripture Readings in reflecting him and his ministry are: Acts 11:21b-26; 13:1-3 and Matthew 5:13-16.
The First Reading (Acts11:21b-26; 13:1-3) describes Barnabas’
work for the nascent church in Antioch before going on a mission journey with
Paul. As the new church in Antioch grew and its news reached Jerusalem, the
Apostles sent Barnabas to this city in Syria (Acts 11:22). Luke describes
Barnabas and his work in Antioch with these words:
When he arrived and saw the grace of God,
he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness
of heart, for he was a good man, filled with the holy Spirit and faith. And a
large number of people was added to the Lord (Acts 11:23-24).
Barnabas was, indeed, a great encourager, for his name,
Βαρνάβας (Barnabas) means, “son of encouragement” (yἱὸς παρακλήσεως/huitos
parakleseos)(Acts 4:36), while, in Hebrew, his name means “son of speaker
or prophet”( בר /bar נביא /nabi).
The Greek word, “παράκλησις/paraklesis”, means “encouragement, comfort,
consolation” (παρακλήσεω/parakleseos is the possessive form). The Greek
and Hebrew meanings associated with his name, Barnabas, make him a man to be by
the side of a person or people, whom he is called to encourage or console or to
speak Christ’s Good News, as the word, “παράκλησις/paraklesis”(encouragement,
comfort), literally means “calling to someone’s aid or consolation” is closely
related to the word that Jesus used to describe the Holy Spirit in John 14:16, “Παράκλητος”(Parakletos),
which means, “called to be by the side of, to help”(παρά/para (by the
side of) + καλέω/kleo (to call)),
translated in English as, “Advocate” or “Comforter”.
Barnabas was sent to Antioch to see the condition of
the new church and to encourage the faithful to remain faithful – as salt
retains its taste and as lamp light shines to all peoples to glorify the heavenly
Father (Matthew 5:13-16). And, Barnabas himself remained to be salt and light of
the world to those whom he ministered to and encouraged, for them to grow
further.
Then, Barnabas sent to Tarsus to bring Paul to
Antioch, and they worked together there for a year, teaching and making the
nascent church there grow further (Acts 11:25-26).
It was not the first time for Barnabas to see Paul,
though it was the first time to see him in Antioch. In fact, Barnabas had met Paul
before, as it was Barnabas to assure the genuineness of Paul’s conversion and
credential of his preaching in Damascus in helping the Apostolic community in
Jerusalem to accept him (Acts 9:26-27). Though he was able to preach in
Jerusalem for a while but was sent to Tarsus for his safety, as the Hellenists,
the Greek-speaking Jews, whom he debated for Christ, tried to kill him (Acts
9:29-30). Tarsus is Paul’s hometown (Acts 21:39; 22:3).
Barnabas was truly “Barnabas”, as his name stands for,
being a son of encouragement and comfort, being called to be by the side of
people whom he ministered. And he was an eloquent preacher in adding more
people to the growing nascent church in Antioch, before he went on with Paul on
Paul’s first mission (Acts 13:1-3). Luke describes him “a good man, filled
with the Holy Spirit and faith”(Acts 11:23) and a rejoicing encourager to
the faithful in Antioch in helping them remain strong in faith (Acts 11:22).
This makes Barnabas a great example to serve the heavenly Father as “the salt
of the earth with its taste remaining strong” (Matthew 5:13), for he kept his
faith strong, as he was filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 11:23). And he was
also “the light of the world”, shining publicly in his effective
teaching, for being a great נביא /nabi נביא /nabi (speaker, prophet).
And he served the growing church in Antioch by making the faithful to be “the salt
of the earth” and “the light of the world”.
Therefore, Barnabas was, indeed, yἱὸς παρακλήσεως/huitos parakleseos
(son of encouragement, comfort), being “παράκλητο/parakletos”, called to
stand by the side of the faithful, whom he ministered to. He served in light of
the Παράκλητος/Parakletos, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit sent by the
Father in Jesus’ name (John 14:16), to stand besides people for encouraging
advocacy and consolation. Indeed, he was an advocate for Paul to the Apostolic
community (Acts 9:27) and for his cousin, Joh Mark, to Paul (Acts 15:36-37).
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