Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Barnabas was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith. Barnabas, although referred to as an apostle, was not among the original twelve who were called by Jesus to be companions with him in mission. However, like Paul who also referred to himself as an apostle, albeit a lesser one, Barnabas earned the title “apostle” because of the work he accomplished. Barnabas was a Jew from Cyprus who was among the initial converts to Christianity following the preaching of the apostles. It was Barnabas who introduced Paul to the other apostles after the latter’s conversion. He accompanied Paul in his first missionary journey. Barnabas was part of the first Council of Jerusalem. After having converted many souls to Christ, he died in Cyprus during Nero’s reign. Tradition has it that he was stoned to death.
Barnabas, as the reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells us, was a man filled with the Holy Spirit. As a matter of fact, his commissioning came from the Holy Spirit. It was a commissioning that thrust him into the very mission that Jesus had given his disciples, the mission about which we hear in today’s Gospel reading. "As you go, preach the nearness of the Kingdom of heaven." The mission with which Jesus charged his disciples, in summary, is the proclamation of the kingdom. What can this possibly mean? What is the Kingdom? Pope Benedict in Jesus of Nazareth says that the phrase "Kingdom" as used by Jesus is neither a place nor a thing but rather an action word. It is a phrase that points to the active presence of God among the people, a presence that is hinged upon God's supreme sovereignty over the universe. In other words, the disciples were to go and proclaim that God is actively present to God's people. That was the easy part part. The hard part is that they were to plead God's case. God is present yes, but present through them. They were to make this presence felt. How? Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with virulent skin diseases, and drive out devils. The active presence of God can only be fully felt when there is fullness of life. The kingdom of God can only be felt when there is the fullness of life. And this is a charge given to the disciples of Jesus. Do I proclaim the Kingdom of God? Or do I, by my way of life, preach the absence of God?