June 11--St. Barnabas, Apostle

He was known as the "son of encouragement", the generous benefactor of the Jerusalem community, the man who pulled St. Paul from obscurity in Tarsus, a representative of the Antioch community, a member of the Council of Jerusalem, a missionary, and even Zeusl! He may be the most obscure saint in the New Testament, but he was the saint who got things done.

St. Barnabas sold some of his property and gave the proceeds to the Jerusalem community. He introduced Paul to the apostles, vouching for Paul's change from persecutor to proponent of Christianity. When Paul escaped from Damascus back to his hometown of Tarsus, it was Barnabas who brought him to the Christian community of Antioch. Barnabas and Paul were also chosen to go forth and spread the Good News to the Jewish communities in Asia Minor. When the Jews did not believe, the Gentiles did. Some even called Barnabas the god Zeus and Paul the god Hermes. They were chosen to represent Antioch at the Council of Jerusalem in order to explain their success in converting Gentiles to Christianity. However, Barnabas and Paul had a falling out over whether or not to take Barnabas's cousin John Mark on a second missionary trip. They did eventually reconcile.

So, have you ever felt like the person who got things done, but didn’t necessarily get the recognition? Are you the behind-the-scenes person who does the planning, the organizing, the phone-calling, the recruiting, the writing, the cleaning, the donating? Have you had difficulties because your vision didn’t match your colleagues? Have you still worked cooperatively, because the goal was more important than you? You are valuable! You are a modern St. Barnabas!