Iron & Altar

When Barnabas arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart, for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. - Acts 11:23-24a

Barnabas is the man who believed in Paul before anyone else would. When Paul came to Jerusalem after his conversion and everyone was afraid of him, Barnabas vouched for him. When Paul was in Tarsus and the mission in Antioch needed him, Barnabas went and found him. The gift of Barnabas is the recognition of gift in others - and the willingness to advocate for what he sees.

He saw the grace of God and rejoiced. That is the whole of his arrival in Antioch. Not an assessment or an audit or a program evaluation. He saw grace and he rejoiced. Then he encouraged. The order matters: recognize first, rejoice second, encourage third.

Freely you received, freely give. The mission is stripped of accumulation. No gold, no silver, no copper, no sack. The laborer deserves his keep - that is the full extent of the economic logic. Everything else is freely given from what was freely received.

Be a Barnabas this week. Name one man in your immediate world - your household, your band of brothers, your workplace - in whom you can see a gift or a grace that he may not fully see himself. Name it to him. Encourage him to remain faithful in firmness of heart. And carry [name] into the sending: Lord, fill him with Holy Spirit and faith. Let him be a good man.

Lord, give me eyes to see the grace of God in the people around me, and a heart that rejoices at it rather than threatens from it. Let me be a Barnabas for the person who needs one. Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in you. Amen.