Homily for Thursday of the 10th Week in Ordinary Time Cycle II
Theme: WE ARE ALL EVANGELIZERS
By: Rev. Fr. Jacob Aondover ATSU
Homily for Thursday June 11 2020
MEMORIAL OF ST. BARNABAS APOSTLE
READINGS: ACTS 11:21b-26;13:1-3, PSALM 98, MATTHEW 10:7-13
The call to evangelize is a tasking and demanding one. It is one that necessarily entails a radical detachment from the cares, pleasures and joys of this world and a complete attachment to the ways of the master – Jesus Christ. Today he tells his disciples to go out ready for duty and travel, UNENCUMBERED by excess material goods in order not to be distracted or delayed.
What do we see happening in our church and society today? Do we REALLY see ourselves as people saddled with the responsibility of preaching the word and bringing the lost sheep back to the fold where they will be sheltered from the cold? Do we give without charge? Do we leave behind our purses, not to talk of carrying gold, silver, or even coppers? Are we ever ready and willing to be sent like the disciples of Christ and Barnabas? These never gave excuses but obeyed and went on evangelizing. Do we encourage others to remain faithful to God as Barnabas did to the Antiochians (Acts 11:23) or we constitute stumbling blocks for the spiritual growth of others? Can it be said of us “We are good people” as scripture says about Barnabas (Acts 11:24)? Do we behave like a people led by the spirit of God? Do we even have faith in God enough to convince others to follow him (God)? Are we ever like Barnabas and his fellow preachers who taught the people of God in word and deed and earned for followers of Christ the name ‘Christian’?
Barnabas gave his all as he preached Christ crucified. In Acts 13:2 God himself called and set Barnabas and Saul apart for his mission and indeed, these went wherever they were led. All of us like Barnabas have been called, commissioned and set apart by God for the mission of evangelization. Fathers/husbands, mothers/wives, teachers, leaders of the world, bosses and indeed everyone of us is supposed to permeate the society with the values of the gospel. However, the material gains, the cares, anxieties and encumbrances of this world may be a distraction. Jesus therefore, exhorts us to give up everything and travel light. That so, we may cover more grounds, touch more lives, stay more focused and of course avoid distractions.
The world has to know that the kingdom of God is real and imminent. It has to realize that the final judgment is also very real. The world must know that hell fire is real and punishment for sin will prevail when God’s justice is evoked. Your church and pulpit could be your family, your office, school, playground, hospital, prison yard, market square, hotel, street corners and so on. The world should HEAR you and SEE you live like disciples of Jesus called and commissioned at our baptisms to be priests and prophets bringing Christ nearer to those who don’t know him.
St Barnabas, Pray for us…
FEED ONE!