A Generous Missionary!

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Feast of St. Barnabas, Apostle

Acts 11:21b-26; 13:1-3; Mt 5:17-19

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Barnabas, known as the ‘Son of Encouragement.’

Why is Barnabas called the ‘Son of Encouragement’? Several instances from his life attest to the fact. 

1. The first mention of Barnabas is found in Acts 4:37, where he submits the proceeds to the Church after selling his property. While the act of selling his property to support the Church shows his spirit of radical detachment, submitting the proceeds to the Church proves how his faith had made him generous. 

2. Barnabas extends his spirit of generosity toward Paul after his conversion when the apostles and the Christian community showed initial reluctance to accept the former oppressor of Christians. Paul certainly needed Barnabas to find acceptance and welcome. Later, when the church in Antioch was thriving, Barnabas recognized the need for Paul’s talents to build up the growing community in faith. One cannot overlook the generosity of Barnabas to think only of God’s mission in faithfully standing by and promoting Paul. 

3. Paul and Barnabas became the face of collaborative ministry when they succeeded in their missionary journey. Yet again Barnabas revealed the strength of his character when disagreements arose between them over John Mark. While they both parted ways thereafter, Barnabas stood by John Mark, just as he once did with Paul. However, in an interesting turn of events, Paul, who rejected Mark, later finds him as a valued companion, as his words reveal, “Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry” (2 Tim 4:11). It appears that the Son of Encouragement could see through who Mark would become so that he did not let him down in his hard times. 

The Church of today needs persons like Barnabas who can foster vocations, uplift others without bias, recognize their talents, and use them for God’s mission without egoistic motivations. 

Let us pray that, walking in the footsteps of Barnabas, we may exemplify encouragement, generosity, and hospitality. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar