On 11 June we celebrate St. Barnabas, sometimes called the Apostle, even though he was not one of the Twelve. He was a very important evangelizer in the community of Antioch, and a faithful friend of St. Paul, taking part in some of his apostolic endeavours.
Newsroom (21/06/2023 09:00, Gaudium Press) The Sacred Scriptures, in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, narrate that a man named Joseph, a native of Cyprus, sold his land and gave it to the Apostles, so that they could share it with the first Catholic community. This act of generosity is praised in the passage in question: “He was a virtuous man… full of the Holy Spirit and of faith”.
It is in this context that St. Barnabas is inserted into apostolic society, being sent to Antioch. Note that the Holy Church still remained, for the most part, among the Hebrews, being composed of many of its converted members. In Syria there were many Hebrew communities, but it was also a foreign land. St. Barnabas’ mission, therefore, was to bring religion to the pagans.
There, the man from Cyprus found a huge family of converts. Moreover, he also saw the eager eyes of many men and women who longed for the truth. There was so much work in the Lord’s harvest that Barnabas needed an ardent preacher. He found that person in a man who was on trial at the time: Saul of Tarsus.
The meeting of two giants: Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas
Saul claimed to be converted, and wanted to preach the name of Jesus, but the Hebrew community in Jerusalem still had many reservations. After all, it was not so long ago that the synagogue was trying to kill converts. Thus, a suspicion hovered in the early Church. The Apostles, with a keen discernment of spirits, knew that St. Paul had indeed adhered to the true religion, but they were also reticent to put him to do the work of evangelization in Palestine.
On the other hand, St. Paul also knew, after having spent three years with Jesus in the desert, that his mission was not among the chosen people: the Lord had called him to rescue the Gentiles, the pagans, from the dominion of the devil and put them in the fold of the Good Shepherd.
Providentially, St. Barnabas knew how to act to prevent the impasse: he asked the Apostles to send St. Paul to Antioch to preach there. The Apostle to the Gentiles felt that his mission had been granted, for such a trip would also be good for the Hebrew community of Jerusalem. In the apostolate of the two tireless men there arose such a union and friendship that St. Paul always praised his brother Barnabas. We have many testimonies in the letters and messages sent by the Apostle of his esteem for his friend.
And evangelization was so blessed by God in Syria that there, for the first time in history, the Apostles were called Christians: those who are other Christs. It is a tremendous responsibility, but also a giant gift, to be worthy to bear the name of Jesus.
Divergence
St. Barnabas and St. Paul, however, ended up separating after the first Council in history: the two, despite going to Jerusalem together to vote against the circumcision of the new Catholics, did not return to the apostolate because of a difference of opinion over the young Mark. This dear evangelist of ours had had a youth not so committed to evangelisation, and St. Barnabas, his cousin, wanted to take him to Antioch. St Paul, on the other hand, did not want him to accompany him, because he felt he was unreliable.
At the end of his life, however, St. Paul, seeing Mark’s efforts to correct others and correct himself, praises the evangelist and asks him to come and assist him in his imprisonment. It is an authentic sign that the Saints can have different opinions on matters, and that they are also the first to put things right when necessary. Certainly, in St. Paul’s request to see young Mark, there was an implicit apology to St. Barnabas and a desire to see his old friend again.
Death of St. Barnabas
The New Testament gives us no further information about Barnabas, but some documents speak of a journey he made with St. Peter, bound for Rome, from where he proceeded to northern Italy.
There, in the present-day city of Milan, his preaching is said to have brought about various conversions which gave rise to the first Christian community in the city, and St. Barnabas is considered its first bishop.
Back in his community, however, it is said that he died in Salamina, where he was stoned by Syrian Jews in 61 AD. Barnabas’ tomb still exists today because St. Barnabas himself indicated it in a dream to the Anthemios, Bishop of Salamina, at the end of the 5th century.
With files from Vatican News
Compiled by Sandra Chisholm
