Today the Church celebrates the Memorial of St. Barnabas. Barnabas, meaning ‘son of encouragement’, plays a pivotal role in the early Church. He is the one who presents Paul to the Apostles in Jerusalem and was very active in the proclamation of the Gospel and building up of the Church. He reminds us of the role of each Christian: to be a missionary disciple. Each of us has a role to play in the proclamation of the Gospel, the mission and purpose of the Church.
The Second Vatican Council taught “the mission of the Church is carried out by means of that activity through which, in obedience to Christ’s command and moved by the grace and love of the Holy Spirit, the Church makes itself fully present to all men and people.” (Ad gentes, #5) We must remember that the Church is not just the Pope, Bishops, priests and those who ‘work’ for the Church, but all the baptized. We all have a role and responsibility in this mission.
The reading from Acts speaks of the Church ‘worshipping the Lord’, ‘prayer’ and ‘fasting’. At the heart of the everything the Church does is prayer. This is so that the activity of the members of the Church is a carrying out of the will of God and ensuring that the Lord is the foundation of the lives of all Christians.
Living in Love with God 
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