St. Barnabas 4. The African Memory of His Extended Family.       This week we look at St. Barnabas’ background from a new perspective.       In Thomas C. Oden’s “The African Memory of Mark,” [1] Dr. Oden relates the African tradition as to Mark’s family. Recall from our first article on St. Barnabas that John Mark is Barnabas’ sister’s son ( Col4:10 ), and we also mentioned that the Orthodox tradition has St. Aristobulus ( Ro16:10 ) as Barnabas’ brother. The African Coptic tradition understands this “brother” to be what we call brother-in-law inasmuch as Barnabas’ sister, Mary ( Ac 12:12 ), was married to Aristobulus, which makes John Mark the son of Mary and Aristobulus. [2]       Furthermore, the African tradition is that St. Peter’s wife was named Strapola, and she was a relative of Aristobulus.       Dr. Oden tells it this way, quoting Coptic scholar Girgis: “‘Peter was married to Strapol...

  Barnabas 3. Disciple of Gamaliel with Saul?       It is important for us as Christians to learn from our Christian and Jewish ancestors in the faith, so we are exploring the life of St. Barnabas mentioned in the New Testament. We’ve seen the likely possibilities that St. Barnabas (Joseph) and St. Paul (Saul) were born around the same time (about 5 AD) and were trained together as disciples under Rabban Gamaliel the Elder in Jerusalem. What might their companionship have been like?        In his novel titled, The Apostle  [1], the Jewish Polish American novelist Sholem Asch (1880-1957) imagines both Joseph and Saul as hearing some of St. Peter’s preaching during the Pentecost festival, seven weeks after Jesus’ crucifixion.       These Galileans, Asch writes, typically wear “a robe of sackcloth [with] bony, protruding arms and legs, high heads thickly covered with black curls, tangled beards, flashing eyes” and speak ...

St. Barnabas 2. The Youth.       Last week we began a series on St. Barnabas. He was “a Levite” ( Ac 4:36 ), a title which includes being born of the tribe of Levi, but more specifically designating that he was of the lowest order of Levitical priesthood. The Levites were those who cared for the service of the Temple sanctuary but did not function as priests at the altar. [1]       The 1946 mystical vision of Maria Voltorta (referenced in last week’s article) also says that as a child, Barnabas’ parents, grateful to the Lord for having him, entrusted him to relatives in Jerusalem so that he might be of service at the Temple. [2] This is plausible if Barnabas’ sister Mary’s house in Jerusalem ( Ac12:12 ; Col 4:10 ) was family property during Barnabas’ childhood. Valtorta’s same vision says that while serving in the Temple, Barnabas met Rabbi Gamaliel and became “his diligent and loved disciple.”       Both ideas are consist...

St. Barnabas 1. The Apostle.       During the Easter Season our first Biblical reading at Mass is from the Acts of the Apostles about the beginnings of the early Church. Now in the Acts we are introduced to St. Barnabas, a wonderful saint for us to get to know.       The online 1907 Catholic Encyclopedia  says the Church ranks St. Barnabas as an Apostle with the Twelve, like St. Paul [1]. Did you know that? We can see from the book of Acts why this is the case, although it takes a sharp eye.       In telling the early Church’s story, St. Luke (the author of the book of Acts) initially gives priority to St. Barnabas over that of St. Paul, then still called “Saul” by Luke. In fact, Barnabas is initially emphasized and placed first with only later reference to Saul ( Ac11:22, 25, 30 ; 12:25 ; 13:1-2, 7 ). But then St. Luke’s priority changes. During Barnabas’ and Paul’s missionary journey together (Paul’s first), a mirac...

"Love Is Had Only by Loving"       Thursday, April 29, is the feast day of St. Catherine of Sienna (1347-1380), an incredibly remarkable woman. She was the 23rd of 24 children, and the year after her birth the plague (“Black Death”) wiped out half the population of Sienna, Italy. At age six she had a vision of Christ that led her to dedicate her life to God, and clearly God guided her spiritual growth from then on, teaching her the first commandment to love God with all her heart, then teaching her the second commandment of love of neighbor.       St. Catherine left behind numerous writings, and her many letters can be quite direct and full of wisdom. In one such letter she raises the question of how to acquire love. Her answer: “Love is had only by loving. If you want love, you must begin by loving – I mean you must want to love.” Simple enough. Easy? No. She says, “Once you want it, you must open the eye of your understanding to see where and ho...

Easter Jubilation: Victimae Paschali Laudes       The Easter Season is my favorite time of year. The joyful exuberance of praise for Christ’s majestic glory in his resurrection is mirrored in the beauty and joy of Earth’s Spring. Our souls are renewed in hope once again. The music of the season (sadly missed in public worship in these Covid-19 times) both expresses and enhances our joy and jubilation.       Speaking of jubilation, the exuberant charismatic gift of tongues the Apostles experienced on Pentecost has continued throughout Church history in various forms, most especially a well-known form of spontaneous prayer called “jubilation.” In the Middle Ages the prayer of jubilation was incorporated into the Liturgy of the Mass after the “Alleluia” and before the reading of the Gospel. The people would extend the singing of the “Alleluia” through spontaneous jubilation, even shouting loudly, and the jubilation could last for 20 minutes. In some ...

Rich in Mercy       As last Sunday was Divine Mercy Sunday we might take a look at the 1980 encyclical letter of Pope St. John Paul II, Dives in Misericordia , or in English, Rich in Mercy .       St. John Paul II says, “The events of Good Friday and, even before that, in prayer in Gethsemane, introduce a fundamental change into the whole course of the revelation of love and mercy in the messianic mission of Christ.” Christ, who really and terribly suffers, prays to God the Father, the Father of love, but he is not spared from his terrible suffering. As St. Paul says, “For our sake God made him to be sin who knew no sin” (2 Cor. 5:21).       The absolute holiness of God is revealed in the justice required of God’s Son in his passion and death. But precisely there, God’s extraordinary mercy is revealed because this justice now makes possible man’s redemption, restoration to the love of God, adoption as children of God (cf. ...

  Divine Mercy Sunday       St. John Paul II established Divine Mercy Sunday for the entire Church on April 30, 2000, when he canonized St. Mary Faustina Kowalska. At that occasion the former Pope said that by so doing, he intended to pass on the message of Divine Mercy to the new millennium.       He quoted from St. Faustina’s “Diary” of her experience of Jesus speaking to her, “My daughter, say that I am love and mercy personified” (Diary, p. 374), and “Humanity will not find peace until it turns trustfully to divine mercy” (Diary, p. 132).       In regards to proclaiming Divine Mercy Sunday (a feast day Jesus has asked St. Faustina to promote), St. John Paul noted that the present liturgical readings for the day already focus on mercy.  “In the various readings, the liturgy seems to indicate the path of mercy which, while re-establishing the relationship of each person with God, also creates new relations of fraternal s...