The truth will make you free

[Weedy]

The truth will make you free

The Lord Jesus poses the same question to us today. Do you accept the
claim of Jesus--that the Father in heaven sent his only begotten Son
into the world to set us free from slavery to sin and to give us
eternal life (John 3:16-18). Many want to mold Jesus to their own way
of thinking and preferences and to reject or ignore whatever is
disagreeable to them. Jesus came to give us the greatest freedom
possible--freedom from ignorance, deception, and sin, and the freedom
to live as sons and daughters of God in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Do you know the joy and freedom of living according to God's word of
truth, joy, and eternal life?

"Lord Jesus, your word is life and truth. Instruct my heart that I may
grow in the knowledge of your truth and live according to your word."

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June 11th - St. Barnabas
(Died c. 60)

St. Paul is called the “Apostle to the Gentiles”. It is too often
forgotten that his colleague in his early mission to the Gentiles was
St. Barnabas.

Barnabas’s given name was Joseph. He was a Jew of the Tribe of Levi, a
tribe whose male members were dedicated to divine service. Although he
was a native of Cyprus, he moved to the Holy Land, and it was there
that he became one of the early disciples of the living Christ.

The Acts of the Apostles tell us that the earliest followers of Christ
in Jerusalem showed wonderful charity to each other, even selling
their property to provide for their needy members. Acts mentions one
such donor by name: Joseph Barnabas. (The disciples had probably given
him the nickname Barnabas because he had a special gift of inspiring
other people. Barnabas means “son of Encouragement”.)

Before long St. Peter received a special heavenly revelation that the
preachers of the Word needed no longer to restrict their message to
Jews, but could now approach Gentiles as well. Soon the report came
back to the Church in Jerusalem that some Christian teachers in
Antioch had made converts of a number of pagans. Barnabas, as “a good
man, full of the Holy Ghost and faith”, was sent to Antioch to study
the new development. He was enthusiastic about it. Able to make
converts himself of a number of non-Jews, he went off to Tarsus to
seek the assistance of Saul, who from an anti-Christian, Jewish
persecutor had become a zealous champion of the Christian faith.
Barnabas and Saul spent a very successful year evangelizing at
Antioch. But note well that it was Barnabas who first defended the
gentility of Saul’s conversion, and who first welcomed him to the
official apostolate.

While they were at Antioch, the Holy Spirit ordered the Christian
leaders there to impose hands upon the pair and commission them to
travel west on their new mission to both Gentiles and Jews. Taking
with them John Mark (the future St. Mark the evangelist), they first
went to Barnabas’s homeland, Cyprus, where they began a fruitful
preaching career. (This was where Saul changed his name to Paul.) Then
they turned back to Asia Minor, again with remarkable missionary
success, although not without persecution. They ended up back in
Antioch.

St. Paul, with the approval of the church leaders in Jerusalem, now
charted a 2nd missionary journey, planning to revisit the churches
already established and to carry the Gospel still farther afield. This
time Paul took over the leadership. After a disagreement between them,
Barnabas went back to Cyprus and continued there the work he had
earlier begun.

The Acts of the Apostles tell us nothing further about Joseph
Barnabas. Legend says that he died a martyr in Cyprus, presumably
before AD 60. He left no writings: the famous so-called “Epistle of
Barnabas” was not his but another’s, for it was not written until 130.

The Church honors St. Barnabas with the title “apostle”. That word,
which means “one sent”, was first used in the New Testament of any
Christian missionary, and only later restricted to “The Twelve” who
had been chosen especially by Our Lord, (plus St. Paul, because of his
special calling). The title is applied to Barnabas in the broader
sense. There can be no doubt, however, that St. Barnaby (as he is
called in English), was “a good man”. He spent his wealth to help the
poor and his lifeblood to spread the Gospel. Truly he was “one sent by
God”.
–Father Robert F. McNamara


Saint Quote:
He who truly loves God prays entirely without distraction, and he who
prays entirely without distraction loves God truly. But he whose
intellect is fixed on any worldly thing does not pray without
distraction, and consequently he does not love God.
--St. Maximos the Confessor

Saint Quote:
Faith resembles a lamp. As a lamp lights the whole house, so the light
of Faith illuminates the whole soul.
--St. John Chrysostom


Bible Quote:
Let love be without dissimulation. Hating that which is evil, cleaving
to that which is good, Loving one another with the charity of
brotherhood: with honour preventing one another. [Romans 12:9-10] DRB


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Prayer in the Time of Illness

Almighty Master, Physician of our souls and bodies, who both humbles
and uplifts, who chastises and heals; visit me with Your mercy in my
time of illness. Stretch forth Your arm that is full of health and
healing, and heal me, and allow me to leave my sick-bed. Banish my
weakness and pains, heal my wounds, quench my fever, and prevent a
relapse. If I am guilty of sins or transgressions, loose, remit and
forgive them for the sake of Your love toward mankind. Yes, O Lord,
pity me, Your creature, through Jesus Christ our Lord with Whom You
are blessed , together with Your all-holy, gracious and life-giving
Spirit, now and ever and forever. - Amen.