11 June 2025 (Wednesday)
Saint Barnabas, Apostle on Wednesday of week 10 in Ordinary Time.
Saint Barnabas, Apostle Obligatory Memorial.
Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:
First Reading : Acts 11:21‐26,13:1‐3
A great number believed and were converted to the Lord. The church in Jerusalem heard about this and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. There he could see for himself that God had given grace, and this pleased him, and he urged them all to remain faithful to the Lord with heartfelt devotion; for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith. And a large number of people were won over to the Lord. Barnabas then left for Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him he brought him to Antioch. As things turned out they were to live together in that church a whole year, instructing a large number of people. It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians.’ In the church at Antioch the following were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. One day while they were offering worship to the Lord and keeping a fast, the Holy Spirit said, ‘I want Barnabas and Saul set apart for the work to which I have called them.’ So it was that after fasting and prayer they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
Responsive Psalm : Psalm 97(98):1‐6
The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations.
Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders. His right hand and his holy arm have brought salvation.
The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations.
The Lord has made known his salvation; has shown his justice to the nations. He has remembered his truth and love for the house of Israel.
The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout to the Lord, all the earth, ring out your joy.
The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations.
Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp with the sound of music. With trumpets and the sound of the horn acclaim the King, the Lord.
The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations.
Gospel : Matthew 5:17‐19
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved. Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.’
For our reflection today:
Jesus' style is unmistakeable: it is the characteristic style of God who likes to do great things in a poor and humble manner. The Covenant of Sinai was accompanied by cosmic signs that terrified the Israelites; the beginnings of the Church in Galilee, on the contrary, were exempt from such manifestations and reflect the docility and compassion of Christ's Heart although they foretold another battle, another upheaval, inspired by the forces of evil. Christ gave to the Twelve, we heard, "authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity" (Mt 10: 1). The Twelve must cooperate with Jesus in establishing the Kingdom of God, that is, his beneficial, life-giving lordship, and life in abundance for the whole of humanity. The Church in essence, like Christ and together with him, is called and sent out to establish the Kingdom of life and to drive out the dominion of death so that the life of God may triumph in the world; so that God who is Love may triumph. Christ's work is always silent, it is not spectacular; the great tree of true life grows even in the humility of being Church, of living the Gospel every day. Precisely with these humble beginnings the Lord encourages us so that in the humility of the Church today too, in the poverty of our Christian lives, we may see his presence and thus have the courage to go to meet him and make his love, this force of peace and of true life. (Pope Benedict XVI, Pastoral visit to Brindisi, 15 June 2008)
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