Saint Barnabas Apostle
Patron of Our Cathedral Feast
Gospel Reading – Matthew 5:20-26
Jesus said to his disciples: “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven. “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.
But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court.
Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”
The Gospel of the Lord
The Mass intention is for M P K Intentions
Reflection:
Today is the feast of Saint Barnabas. The Gospel speaks about the teachings of Jesus to his disciples on how to announce the Good News of the Kingdom to “the lost sheep of Israel”.
At the time of Jesus there were various movements which, like him, were seeking a new way of living and of living together with others. For example, John the Baptist, the Pharisees, the Essenes and others. Many of them formed communities of disciples and had their missionaries.
But there was a great difference! The Pharisees, for example, when they went on mission, provided for their needs. They thought that they could not trust the food that people would offer them because it was not always “ritually pure.” Because of this they always carried a sack and money so as to be able to take care of what they would eat. In this way, the observance of the law of purity, instead of helping to overcome divisions, weakened the living of community values even more.
The proposal of Jesus is different. His method was seen in the counsels which he gives to the apostles when he sends out them on mission.
The announcement that the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Jesus invites the disciples to announce the Good News. They should say, “The kingdom of Heaven is close at hand!” What does it mean that the Kingdom is close at hand? It does not mean the closeness of time, in the sense that it is only a short time and then the Kingdom will come.
“The Kingdom is close at hand” means that it is already within reach of the people, it is already “in your midst”. It is good to take a new look to be able to see its presence or proximity. The coming of the Kingdom is not the fruit of our observance, as the Pharisees wanted, but it becomes present in the actions which Jesus recommends to the Apostles: to cure the sick, to raise the dead, to cleanse the lepers, to drive out demons.
- How would you announce the Kingdom among us today? To whom would you need or want to announce it?
Fr John