Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle
When God calls, God equips.
Jesus sent his apostle Barnabas and his disciples to proclaim the Kingdom of God and gave them the power to do what he called them to do. At the same time, he told them to give without pay, reflecting the principle of selfless service.
Saint Peter Julian Eymard indicated the mission of the Society he founded to its members: “For us, the earth is a cenacle. A mission entrusted to the Church so that, in the history of this world, by the fire of the Eucharist and the Holy Spirit, men and women of every country, language, race, and culture may be gathered to the banquet of the Kingdom.”
It is also interesting to take note of how the congregation should work for the salvation of one’s neighbor (PM 9,7): “Society works on them with its spirit; it would instead leave a great good to be done than to do so by the sacrifice of what it calls its life, its glory, the grace of its successes, that is to say, its simple, modest and disinterested; this is what will always make her magnanimous; this is what will always make his children always ready, [?] to [go] elsewhere, wherever there is good to be done, under the grace of obedience, to the ends of the world, strong and sufficiently protected by the grace of God and the protection of the Blessed Virgin.”
The Gospel passage and Father Eymard’s teaching show that Jesus’ message of the Kingdom of God is for all, regardless of social status.
Following Jesus’ command to proclaim the Kingdom will involve or require a great deal of self-denial and renunciation, not only of what one has or wants to have but also of what one is. Nevertheless, God’s grace given to those he calls will always be sufficient.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, may each one of us devote ourselves, according to the gift of your grace and under the humble guidance of obedience, to the greater glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, burning with love, to the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist. For his unremitting labors, may we have no other ambition than, to make Jesus Christ grow and reign in all. (Taken from RR 27t,9: Article 2. Apostolic life/writings of Saint Peter Julian Eymard)
