St. Barnabas

“He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.”
—Acts 11:24 (referring to St. Barnabas)

Barnabas saw potential where other people saw risk.

When Saul first came to Jerusalem after his conversion, the Christians were afraid of him.

They remembered the man who had persecuted the Church.

They did not trust him.

Barnabas did.

He brought Saul to the Apostles and explained what had happened.

Later, when a young missionary named Mark abandoned a journey, Paul no longer wanted to take him along.

Barnabas gave Mark another chance.

That decision caused a serious disagreement between Paul and Barnabas.

But Mark eventually became a trusted worker in the Church.

Barnabas had a gift for seeing what grace could still do in someone’s life.

His name itself became associated with encouragement.

He gave generously.

He preached boldly.

He traveled as a missionary.

And he helped strengthen people who might otherwise have been left behind.

St. Barnabas, pray for us.

Who Was St. Barnabas?

St. Barnabas was one of the most important missionaries in the early Church.

His original name was Joseph.

He was a Levite from Cyprus.

The Apostles gave him the name Barnabas, which Acts explains as meaning “son of encouragement.”

The name fit him.

Again and again, Barnabas appears helping people move forward in the Christian life.

His Generosity

Barnabas first appears in Acts as a generous member of the Jerusalem Church.

He owned a field.

He sold it.

Then he brought the proceeds and placed them at the feet of the Apostles.

This happened during a period when Christians were sharing resources so that the poor among them could be cared for.

Barnabas’s missionary life began with generosity.

Saul Comes to Jerusalem

After Saul encountered Christ and became a Christian, he eventually traveled to Jerusalem.

But the disciples were afraid of him.

That fear was understandable.

Saul had participated in the persecution of Christians.

His reputation was terrible.

The disciples wondered whether his conversion could be trusted.

Barnabas stepped in.

Barnabas Defends Saul

Acts tells us that Barnabas brought Saul to the Apostles.

He explained Saul’s encounter with the Lord and how boldly he had already preached in the name of Jesus.

Barnabas became a bridge.

The man who would later be known as St. Paul was welcomed into closer fellowship with the Church partly because Barnabas was willing to speak for him.

Imagine Christian history without that act of encouragement.

Sent to Antioch

Later, Christianity began spreading rapidly in Antioch.

The Church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to investigate.

When Barnabas arrived, Acts says he “saw the grace of God” and rejoiced.

He encouraged the new believers to remain faithful to the Lord.

Barnabas did not respond with jealousy because something important was happening somewhere else.

He recognized grace.

Barnabas Finds Saul Again

The work in Antioch became so large that Barnabas needed help.

So he went looking for Saul.

He traveled to Tarsus, found him, and brought him back to Antioch.

For about a year, the two men taught the growing Christian community together.

Acts tells us that it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

The First Missionary Journey

The Holy Spirit eventually called Barnabas and Saul to missionary work.

The Church at Antioch prayed and fasted.

Then they laid hands on them and sent them out.

Barnabas and Saul traveled through Cyprus and regions of Asia Minor, preaching the Gospel and establishing Christian communities.

They faced opposition.

They also saw conversions.

Barnabas and Paul

During the missionary journey, Saul increasingly became known as Paul.

Paul also appears to take a more prominent leadership role as the mission continues.

Barnabas does not seem threatened by this.

That itself reveals something about his character.

A person who truly wants the Gospel to succeed does not always need to remain the most important person in the room.

The Council of Jerusalem

Barnabas and Paul later became involved in one of the most important disputes in early Christianity.

Some argued that Gentile converts needed to be circumcised and observe the Mosaic Law in order to be fully included among God’s people.

Paul and Barnabas strongly opposed that requirement.

They traveled to Jerusalem to discuss the matter with the Apostles and elders.

The resulting Council of Jerusalem, described in Acts 15, affirmed that Gentile Christians did not have to become Jews before becoming Christians.

Grace for the Gentiles

Barnabas had personally witnessed God working among Gentiles.

He and Paul reported the signs and conversions they had seen during their missionary work.

Their testimony helped show the Church that God was bringing the nations into the covenant through Christ.

This was a major turning point in the spread of Christianity.

The Disagreement Over Mark

Eventually, Paul wanted to revisit the communities from their earlier missionary journey.

Barnabas agreed.

But Barnabas wanted to bring John Mark.

Paul refused.

Mark had left them during the earlier mission.

Paul apparently did not trust him to complete the work.

Barnabas saw things differently.

Barnabas Gives Mark Another Chance

The disagreement became so sharp that Paul and Barnabas separated.

Paul took Silas.

Barnabas took Mark and went to Cyprus.

Scripture does not tell us that one man was completely virtuous and the other completely wrong.

Both were serious missionaries.

But Barnabas’s decision fits what we already know about him.

He believed people could recover from failure.

Mark’s Restoration

Years later, Paul himself speaks positively about Mark.

In 2 Timothy, he asks that Mark be brought to him because Mark is “useful” in ministry.

Whatever went wrong earlier did not define Mark forever.

Barnabas had been willing to invest in him during the difficult period.

That patience seems to have borne fruit.

Christian tradition later remembers Mark as the author of the Gospel according to Mark.

Barnabas the Apostle

The New Testament sometimes uses the term apostle more broadly than the Twelve.

Acts refers to Barnabas and Paul as apostles in this missionary sense.

Barnabas was not one of the original Twelve chosen during Jesus’ earthly ministry.

But he was an important apostolic missionary sent by the Church.

His work helped establish Christian communities beyond Jerusalem.

Was Barnabas the Author of Hebrews?

For centuries, some Christians proposed Barnabas as a possible author of the Letter to the Hebrews.

Other candidates have also been suggested, including Paul, Apollos, Luke, and others.

The ancient Church never reached certainty about its human author.

The Catholic Church receives Hebrews as inspired Scripture without requiring us to know exactly who wrote it.

The Letter of Barnabas

An early Christian work known as the Epistle of Barnabas survives.

Despite the title, most scholars do not believe St. Barnabas himself wrote it.

The work probably dates from the late first or early second century.

It remains historically interesting, but it is not part of the New Testament canon.

His Later Mission

The New Testament does not provide a detailed account of Barnabas’s later life.

Ancient Christian tradition associates him strongly with Cyprus, his homeland.

Tradition also holds that he eventually suffered martyrdom there.

The precise details of his death are not historically certain.

What is certain from Scripture is that Barnabas gave years of his life to missionary work.

What St. Barnabas Teaches Us

St. Barnabas teaches us to look for what grace is doing in people.

Saul had a terrible past.

Barnabas welcomed him.

Mark had failed on a mission.

Barnabas gave him another chance.

That does not mean ignoring danger or pretending failure never matters.

It means refusing to believe that a person’s worst moment must be their final identity.

Barnabas also teaches us how to encourage others without making ourselves the center.

Sometimes the greatest thing we do may be helping someone else become who God is calling them to be.

When Is the Feast of St. Barnabas?

The Catholic Church celebrates the Memorial of St. Barnabas, Apostle, on June 11.

He is remembered as an early missionary, companion of St. Paul, defender of Gentile converts, and the great “son of encouragement” of the early Church.

Prayer Inspired by St. Barnabas

Lord Jesus Christ,

give us the generous and encouraging spirit of St. Barnabas.

Help us recognize Your grace at work in people others have written off.

Give us wisdom to know when someone needs another chance.

Free us from jealousy when others succeed.

Strengthen missionaries and all who build up Your Church.

And make us people who help others become faithful disciples of You.

St. Barnabas, pray for us. Amen.