The Catholic Calendar for Friday, June 11, 2004
 Friday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
 St. Barnabas, apostle

Scripture from Friday's Liturgy of the Word:
 Acts 11:21-26; 13:1-3
 Psalm 98:1-6
 Matthew 5:27-32

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

If I were given the choice of which apostle to meet personally, I think I'd choose Barnabas. While not strictly one of the twelve, he was most definitely a key player in the story of the early Church. His name means "son of encouragement", and that's exactly what he did--promoting Paul, insisting that he was trustworthy, encouraging the Christians at Antioch, traveling with Paul on an arduous missionary journey.

Barnabas quite evidently had a precious and special gift of easing difficult situations, and of picking up people's drooping spirits. Yes, I would definitely like to meet Barnabas.

The next best thing to meeting Barnabas would be to imitate his virtues. I find that people need encouragement. There is too much depression in people's hearts these days. We need to encourage them and love them, really work at pulling them out of the "dumps." Mother Teresa of Calcutta gave as part of her spiritual advice, "Never, never, never give in to discouragement."

Lord, help me to put on a cheery smile, help me to utter a cheery word, help my heart to be filled with joy even in the face of sickness, pain, and heartbreak. In so doing, I will be another Barnabas, building the kingdom in my neighborhood.

- Msgr. Paul E. Whitmore
(smartins at twcny dot rr dot com)

posted by joachim at 5:00 AM