Podcast appearances and mentions of saint barnabas

Fr. Andrew invites us to consider our call as stewards in building community at Saint Barnabas through three lessons from 1 Chronicles 29.

+ Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew 5: 13 – 16 Jesus said to his disciples: You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father. The Gospel of The Lord

Today's Topics: 1) Gospel - MT 5:13-16 - Jesus said to His disciples: “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle Saint Barnabas, pray for us! Bishop Sheen quote of the day 2) Daily marijuana use outpaces daily drinking in the US https://apnews.com/article/marijuana-cannabis-alcohol-drinking-daily-use-b91c2c5957fdb2d48e6616c3baa14c13 3) Meet the modern-day "devil's advocate" in the process of canonization https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/257813/meet-the-modern-day-devil-s-advocate-in-the-process-of-canonization 4) We need a West Point for Catholic Bishops https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2024/06/07/a-west-point-for-bishops/  

Saint Bartholomew was one of the Twelve Apostles, a Galilean; the Gospel accounts say little more about him. It is said that, after receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, he traveled in the service of the Gospel to Arabia and Persia, and brought to India a translation of the Gospel according to Matthew. Eusebius writes that one hundred years later Pantaenus, an illustrious Alexandrian scholar, found this gospel when he traveled in India. By most accounts Bartholomew ended his life in Armenia, where he met his martyrdom by crucifixion. According to many, he and Nathaniel are the same person: the Gospel accounts that speak of Bartholomew do not mention Nathaniel; and St John's Gospel,which mentions Nathanael as one of the Twelve, does not mention Bartholomew. But according to the Greek Synaxarion, Bartholomew and Simon the Zealot are one and the same.   Saint Barnabas was one of the Seventy, from Cyprus, a Levite and at one time a fellow-student with St Paul under Gamaliel. After Christ's Ascension, he led the Seventy until the Apostle Paul's conversion. He is mentioned often in the Acts of the Apostles, which describes some of his travels as a companion of St Paul. By all accounts, he was the first to preach the Gospel of Christ in Rome and in Milan. His wonder-working relics were discovered on the island of Cyprus in the time of the Emperor Zeno; on this basis the Church of Cyprus was established as an independent Church, since it had an apostolic foundation.

Saint Bartholomew was one of the Twelve Apostles, a Galilean; the Gospel accounts say little more about him. It is said that, after receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, he traveled in the service of the Gospel to Arabia and Persia, and brought to India a translation of the Gospel according to Matthew. Eusebius writes that one hundred years later Pantaenus, an illustrious Alexandrian scholar, found this gospel when he traveled in India. By most accounts Bartholomew ended his life in Armenia, where he met his martyrdom by crucifixion. According to many, he and Nathaniel are the same person: the Gospel accounts that speak of Bartholomew do not mention Nathaniel; and St John's Gospel,which mentions Nathanael as one of the Twelve, does not mention Bartholomew. But according to the Greek Synaxarion, Bartholomew and Simon the Zealot are one and the same.   Saint Barnabas was one of the Seventy, from Cyprus, a Levite and at one time a fellow-student with St Paul under Gamaliel. After Christ's Ascension, he led the Seventy until the Apostle Paul's conversion. He is mentioned often in the Acts of the Apostles, which describes some of his travels as a companion of St Paul. By all accounts, he was the first to preach the Gospel of Christ in Rome and in Milan. His wonder-working relics were discovered on the island of Cyprus in the time of the Emperor Zeno; on this basis the Church of Cyprus was established as an independent Church, since it had an apostolic foundation.

Gospel Matthew 5:13-16 Jesus said to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” Reflection I've always loved this passage because one of the things that is clear when you look at what salt is, salt never loses its flavor. You don't have stale salt without any seasoning power. And also a light, once even a match is lit in a totally dark universe, that light is not extinguished by the darkness. It gives us an image of the power of the love that God has created for us to dwell within us, to bring light to those around us. Closing Prayer Father, your Spirit within us is unlimited in its ability to do the work you call us to do. Give us that trust in what you've given us, not in what we ourselves think we need to create. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen.

Full Text of ReadingsMemorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle Lectionary: 580/360The Saint of the day is Saint BarnabasSaint Barnabas' Story Barnabas, a Jew of Cyprus, comes as close as anyone outside the Twelve to being a full-fledged apostle. He was closely associated with Saint Paul—he introduced Paul to Peter and the other apostles—and served as a kind of mediator between the former persecutor and the still suspicious Jewish Christians. When a Christian community developed at Antioch, Barnabas was sent as the official representative of the church of Jerusalem to incorporate them into the fold. He and Paul instructed in Antioch for a year, after which they took relief contributions to Jerusalem. Later Paul and Barnabas, now clearly seen as charismatic leaders, were sent by Antioch officials to preach to the gentiles. Enormous success crowned their efforts. After a miracle at Lystra, the people wanted to offer sacrifice to them as gods—Barnabas being Zeus, and Paul, Hermes—but the two said, “We are of the same nature as you, human beings. We proclaim to you good news that you should turn from these idols to the living God” (see Acts 14:8-18). But all was not peaceful. They were expelled from one town, they had to go to Jerusalem to clear up the ever-recurring controversy about circumcision, and even the best of friends can have differences. When Paul wanted to revisit the places they had evangelized, Barnabas wanted to take along his cousin John Mark, author of the Gospel, but Paul insisted that since Mark had deserted them once, he was not fit to take along now. The disagreement that followed was so sharp that Barnabas and Paul separated: Barnabas taking Mark to Cyprus, Paul taking Silas to Syria. Later they were reconciled—Paul, Barnabas and Mark. When Paul stood up to Peter for not eating with gentiles for fear of his Jewish friends, we learn that “even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy” (see Galatians 2:1-13). Reflection Barnabas is spoken of simply as one who dedicated his life to the Lord. He was a man “filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. Thereby, large numbers were added to the Lord.” Even when he and Paul were expelled from Antioch in Pisidia—modern-day Turkey—they were “filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.” Saint Barnabas is the Patron Saint of: Cyprus Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

Friends of the Rosary, Today, June 11, we celebrate the memorial day of St. Barnabas. Though not one of the 12 apostles chosen by the Lord Jesus, he is traditionally regarded as one of the 72 disciples of Christ. He was responsible for welcoming St. Paul into the Church. St. Barnabas was born to wealthy Jewish parents on the Greek-speaking island of Cyprus, probably around Christ's birth. He studied at the school of Gamaliel (who also taught St. Paul). Later on, when Christ's public ministry began, Barnabas may have been among those who heard him preach in person. At some point, either during Christ's ministry or after his death and resurrection, Barnabas decided to commit himself most radically to the teachings he had received. He sold the large estate he had inherited, contributed the proceeds entirely to the Church, and joined Christ's other apostles in holding all of their possessions in common. Both Paul and Barnabas received a calling from God to become the “Apostles of the Gentiles,” preaching and suffering persecution and hardships for the sake of establishing Christianity among those of a non-Jewish background. The reference to the “laying-on of hands” in Acts, chapter 13, suggests that Paul and Barnabas may have been consecrated as bishops on this occasion. Barnabas was stoned to death by a mob in Cyprus around the year 62. St. Luke described Barnabas as “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith (Acts 6:24).” He was known for his exceptional kindliness, personal sanctity, and openness to pagans. Ave Maria! Jesus, I Trust In You! Come, Holy Spirit, come! To Jesus through Mary! + Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York • ⁠June 11, 2024, Today's Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Join Father Kevin Drew as he preaches on this Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle. Today's readings First Reading: ACTS 11:21B-26; 13:1-3 Psalm: PS 98:1, 2-3AB, 3CD-4, 5-6 Gospel: MT 5:13-16 Catholic Radio Network

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Today is the feast of Saint Barnabas, one of Saint Paul's coworkers. Barnabas means son of encouragement. Listen to this reflection to find out how much Paul thought we need encouragement.

ROSARY - SORROWFUL MYSTERIES today.  DIVINE MERCY CHAPLET for Tuesday.  

Hey, friends! Today's Saint Friend personally knew the Twelve Apostles as well as our old friend Saint Paul. He traveled with Paul “around the world” and spread the message of Christ to the Gentiles. Let's find out why sometimes even Saints don't agree with our new friend: Saint Barnabas, the apostle.

Son of Encouragement --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/john6345/message

Memorial of Saint Barnabas, ApostleMt 10:7-13Jesus said to the Twelve:"As you go, make this proclamation:'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.'Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons."

Delivered by Father Peter Tukan, SDB from Salesian Don Bosco Gerak in Labuan Bajo, Diocese of Ruteng, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 11: 21b-26; 13: 1-3; Rs psalm 98: 2-3ab.3c-4.5-6; Matius 10: 7-13 THE GIFT OF A CREDIBLE PERSON   The theme for our meditation today is: The Gift of A Credible Person. There are four children in the family. The eldest was a 14-year-old son and he was expected by his parents to look after his three younger siblings. The expectation was realized with the role of the eldest son who became a good and responsible brother and guard. Whenever parents were on their trip and happened to spend the night outside, they believed that the eldest and his younger siblings would be fine and safe.   The eldest son is a trusted child. He is considered a supporter, guardian, and giver of security and comfort. One word that can represent all these is a credible person. A credible person who can be trusted to carry out a responsibility is a sign of maturity as human being. When Jesus left the apostles and disciples to go up to heaven, he knew that they were all ready with their credibility. They must take over the missions of Jesus Christ to be the signs and bearers of good news to the whole world.   One of them was Saint Barnabas, a contemporary apostle during the missionary service and mission of the Early Church with Saint Paul. Credibility is a gift of virtue that everyone can have, through a process of becoming mature or stable. But what happened to Saint Barnabas was something unique. The uniqueness is like this. A Historical record relating to the Acts of the Apostles tells us that his real name was Joseph. This Joseph's name is a popular name for the Jewish people. We remember the name of Jesus' adoptive father, Saint Joseph.   Joseph was entrusted by the Early Church in Jerusalem to be with Paul to take care of the rapidly growing Church in Antioch. Why was a disciple of Jesus, Joseph, chosen? Because he was a credible person. As the partner of the great apostle Paul, he must be someone who is also great and qualified, so that the Church can be nurtured and maintained in accordance with what the Lord Jesus Christ and the Church desired. On that basis, the name "Joseph" was replaced with "Barnabas". This new name does mean "credible son" or a trusted and convincing person.   In the city of Antioch, for the first time the community of followers of Christ which was very well organized by Barnabas as leader of the church and Paul as his apostle, was called Christian. The name "Christian" that we have today certainly needs to be linked with the credibility of the followers of Christ. We need to continue to strive to be credible followers of Christ, with the support of the prayers and blessings of the apostle Barnabas.   Let's pray. In the name of the Father... O Lord Jesus Christ, grant us Your blessing that we may become Your credible disciples to witness the Kingdom to the world. Glory to the Father ... In the name of the Father ... --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/media-la-porta/message

For 11 June 2024, Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle, based on Acts 11:21-26

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Mt 5:13-16 Jesus said to his disciples:“You are the salt of the earth.But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?It is no longer good for anythingbut to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.You are the light of the world.A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;it is set on a lampstand,where it gives light to all in the house.Just so, your light must shine before others,that they may see your good deedsand glorify your heavenly Father.”

Just a little encouragement, in the spirit of Saint Barnabas. 

Bishop Ackerman makes a visitation to Saint Barnabas on All Saints Sunday for confirmations and receptions and teaches about the call to be saints upon the lives of all who profess faith in Jesus.

Matthew 10:12-13. | Saint Barnabas, trans. June 2023 meditations are written and recorded by Terry J. Stokes.   Forward Day by Day is published and produced by Forward Movement. Explore our other podcasts, books, and blogs at forwardmovement.org

Bro. Tom preaches on the significance of our name and identify in Christ on the feast of Saint Barnabas, our namesake.

Saint Bartholomew was one of the Twelve Apostles, a Galilean; the Gospel accounts say little more about him. It is said that, after receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, he traveled in the service of the Gospel to Arabia and Persia, and brought to India a translation of the Gospel according to Matthew. Eusebius writes that one hundred years later Pantaenus, an illustrious Alexandrian scholar, found this gospel when he traveled in India. By most accounts Bartholomew ended his life in Armenia, where he met his martyrdom by crucifixion. According to many, he and Nathaniel are the same person: the Gospel accounts that speak of Bartholomew do not mention Nathaniel; and St John's Gospel,which mentions Nathanael as one of the Twelve, does not mention Bartholomew. But according to the Greek Synaxarion, Bartholomew and Simon the Zealot are one and the same.   Saint Barnabas was one of the Seventy, from Cyprus, a Levite and at one time a fellow-student with St Paul under Gamaliel. After Christ's Ascension, he led the Seventy until the Apostle Paul's conversion. He is mentioned often in the Acts of the Apostles, which describes some of his travels as a companion of St Paul. By all accounts, he was the first to preach the Gospel of Christ in Rome and in Milan. His wonder-working relics were discovered on the island of Cyprus in the time of the Emperor Zeno; on this basis the Church of Cyprus was established as an independent Church, since it had an apostolic foundation.

Saint Bartholomew was one of the Twelve Apostles, a Galilean; the Gospel accounts say little more about him. It is said that, after receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, he traveled in the service of the Gospel to Arabia and Persia, and brought to India a translation of the Gospel according to Matthew. Eusebius writes that one hundred years later Pantaenus, an illustrious Alexandrian scholar, found this gospel when he traveled in India. By most accounts Bartholomew ended his life in Armenia, where he met his martyrdom by crucifixion. According to many, he and Nathaniel are the same person: the Gospel accounts that speak of Bartholomew do not mention Nathaniel; and St John's Gospel,which mentions Nathanael as one of the Twelve, does not mention Bartholomew. But according to the Greek Synaxarion, Bartholomew and Simon the Zealot are one and the same.   Saint Barnabas was one of the Seventy, from Cyprus, a Levite and at one time a fellow-student with St Paul under Gamaliel. After Christ's Ascension, he led the Seventy until the Apostle Paul's conversion. He is mentioned often in the Acts of the Apostles, which describes some of his travels as a companion of St Paul. By all accounts, he was the first to preach the Gospel of Christ in Rome and in Milan. His wonder-working relics were discovered on the island of Cyprus in the time of the Emperor Zeno; on this basis the Church of Cyprus was established as an independent Church, since it had an apostolic foundation.

Full Text of ReadingsSolemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ Lectionary: 167The Saint of the day is Saint BarnabasSaint Barnabas' Story Barnabas, a Jew of Cyprus, comes as close as anyone outside the Twelve to being a full-fledged apostle. He was closely associated with Saint Paul—he introduced Paul to Peter and the other apostles—and served as a kind of mediator between the former persecutor and the still suspicious Jewish Christians. When a Christian community developed at Antioch, Barnabas was sent as the official representative of the church of Jerusalem to incorporate them into the fold. He and Paul instructed in Antioch for a year, after which they took relief contributions to Jerusalem. Later Paul and Barnabas, now clearly seen as charismatic leaders, were sent by Antioch officials to preach to the gentiles. Enormous success crowned their efforts. After a miracle at Lystra, the people wanted to offer sacrifice to them as gods—Barnabas being Zeus, and Paul, Hermes—but the two said, “We are of the same nature as you, human beings. We proclaim to you good news that you should turn from these idols to the living God” (see Acts 14:8-18). But all was not peaceful. They were expelled from one town, they had to go to Jerusalem to clear up the ever-recurring controversy about circumcision, and even the best of friends can have differences. When Paul wanted to revisit the places they had evangelized, Barnabas wanted to take along his cousin John Mark, author of the Gospel, but Paul insisted that since Mark had deserted them once, he was not fit to take along now. The disagreement that followed was so sharp that Barnabas and Paul separated: Barnabas taking Mark to Cyprus, Paul taking Silas to Syria. Later they were reconciled—Paul, Barnabas and Mark. When Paul stood up to Peter for not eating with gentiles for fear of his Jewish friends, we learn that “even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy” (see Galatians 2:1-13). Reflection Barnabas is spoken of simply as one who dedicated his life to the Lord. He was a man “filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. Thereby, large numbers were added to the Lord.” Even when he and Paul were expelled from Antioch in Pisidia—modern-day Turkey—they were “filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.” Saint Barnabas is the Patron Saint of: Cyprus Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

The “scarlet thread” that runs throughout the scripture is the salvation of man found only in Jesus Christ. It is scarlet because the salvation is ultimately found in the blood of Jesus, and it is a thread because it is foreshadowed and preached about in the Old Testament before being realized in the New. This podcast features readings from the two-year daily lectionary, specifically the lectionary proscribed by the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and used in For All the Saints, published by the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau (www.alpb.org). The two-year daily lectionary moves you through the high points of the Bible with a daily reading from the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Gospels. I will also include a reading from the Psalter or Proverbs. There will be no special effects or background music; just the plain reading of God's Word. And no fundraising, either! However, feel free to rate the show if you enjoy it as that helps its visibility. After the two-year cycle, you will have gone through the high points of the Old Testament one time and most of the New Testament about 2 times. While this is not a complete reading of the Bible, it is a great way to grow in familiarity with the main narrative of the Bible. As it follows the liturgical year, festival and saint's days will also be observed. This podcast uses the  Revised Standard Version (RSV) of the Bible. It is sponsored by First Lutheran in Houston (www.flhouston.org). You may also be interested in the Theology on Air Podcast which is a Christian apologetics radio program. Find it at the iTunes Store by searching for Theology on Air. You can contact me directly by email: pastor@flhouston.org.

Feast of St. Barnabas: You Are My Friends Acts 11:22-30 & St. John 15:12-16 by William Klock Today the usual scripture lessons for the Second Sunday after Trinity gets bumped as the Church commemorates St. Barnabas.  Most of what we know about St. Barnabas is found in the book of Acts, although Paul mentions him in some of his epistles.  We know that his given name was Joseph, that he was a Levite, and that his family came from the island of Cyprus.  For centuries Jews had been scattered all over the known world—we call that the Jewish Diaspora—and Barnabas was part of that.  “Barnabas” was what the other apostles called him and it means something like “son of exhortation” or “son of consolation”.  The word can refer to encouragement and exhortation, but it can also refer to comfort and consolation and in some way Barnabas was characterised by this—obviously enough that that's what the others named him.  I take that to mean he was a great preacher and that he was probably also very caring in the way he ministered the gospel and the grace of God to others. And, I guess it should be obvious from the fact that the feast refers to him as St. Barnabas the Apostle that he was an apostle.  I don't think I've ever preached on what it means to be an apostle.  But since there are plenty of folks running around today claiming to be apostles, I think it's worth taking a minute to define what makes an apostle.  It's a little difficult, because the New Testament uses the word and title in quite a few different ways.  The word itself simply refers to someone who is sent by another.  The Church Father, Origin, gives the basic definition: “Everyone who is sent by someone is an apostle of the one who sent him.”[1]  In the civil sphere it could refer to all sorts of representatives: envoys, ambassadors, and people like that.  And in the Bible, an apostle is a messenger—it could be a human being or it could be an angel—sent by God—and that includes Jesus—to deliver a message or to proclaim the gospel.  In the very broadest biblical sense of the word, we are all apostles.  But the New Testament also uses “apostle” in a narrower sense, which is usually how we think of it.   The problem of false apostles goes all the way back to the days of the early church, so we see the actual apostles, the ones who had lived with and been sent by Jesus himself, hammering out a definition in Acts.  In Acts 1:21-22 they defined an apostle as “one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us.”  They especially emphasized that the apostles were witnesses of the resurrected Jesus.  In 2 Corinthians, Paul adds that the real apostles were known by “the signs of an apostles”, which meant “signs and miracles and wondrous deeds”.  And Peter stresses that the duty of the apostles was to teach the words of the prophets and of Jesus to the churches.  That first part is why Paul, at least at first, was seen as an outsider by the other apostles—and, of course, it didn't help that he'd been one of their greatest enemies before he met Jesus.  Paul hadn't walked with Jesus during his ministry, but because of his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was an eyewitness to the resurrection and he was commissioned and sent by the Lord just as the others were.  But that was a unique situation for Paul.  Barnabas was not one of the twelve, but Jesus had many other disciples.  Tradition says that Barnabas was one of the seventy that Jesus sent out earlier in his ministry and that made him a bona fide apostle.  So if you meet someone and he (or she) tells you that he's an apostle, you can say, “Awesome!  So am I!”  And if he tries to tell you that it's something else, that he's got special authority that other Christians don't have, or if he says that he speaks for the Lord in a way other Christians don't, well, I'd probably run away—because no one alive today is going to have those credentials.  My observation is that most folks making this claim today, make it because they're preaching false gospels and false doctrines.  If you're preaching the Bible, that's all the authority you need, but these folks are preaching something else and so they claim to be apostles teaching new revelations from God.  Run away from anyone who does that. So our Epistle today, from Acts 11, tells us that Barnabas was a member of the Jerusalem church.  And Luke writes that after the martyrdom of Stephen, a number of people from the church there were in fear of their lives and ran off—some as far away as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch in Syria—where they began proclaiming the gospel amongst the Jews of those places.  Some of those who heard and believed in Antioch were what Luke calls “Hellenists”—Greek-speaking Jews of the Diaspora, people like Barnabas.  When the apostles in Jerusalem heard this, they naturally sent Barnabas to Antioch to be their representative and to give leadership to the churches that were starting to form there.  And verses 23-24 say: When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.   It fits right in with his nickname, “son of exhortation”.  He came to a group of new believers, many of them believing but struggling as new believers often do, and he exhorted them.  Luke says he was a good man, but first and foremost, Barnabas ministered to these brothers and sisters in the power of the Spirit and, empowered by the Spirit, the gospel did what it always does: it brought many to the Lord. And it would seem that many of those people were Gentiles.  That posed a problem for the early church.  They were Jews.  Jesus was their Messiah.  He'd come to announce coming judgement on faithless Israel, to deliver those who would follow him, and to create a new Israel.   So Jesus and the gospel were very much part of their story.  Jesus changed everything.  But there was still a lot that was the same.  Even though this new people gathered to worship on Sundays, they continued to gather with the synagogues and to visit the temple.  They kept the torah: they circumcised their children, they observed the Sabbath, they watched what they ate.  And if there were any Gentiles—and there were some, but not very many, and most of them were pretty keen on the torah already—they expected those Gentiles to be converts to Judaism if they were going to follow Jesus.  But as more and more Gentiles heard the message, as those first Jewish believers saw the promises spoken by the prophets beginning to come true—as Gentiles saw that God was with them, took hold of them, and followed them back to their meeting places to give glory to the God of Israel—well, it started raising questions.  Did Gentiles really need to be good Jews to be good followers of Jesus?  Did they have to be circumcised?  Did they have to keep the Sabbath and watch the things they ate?  These kinds of questions confronted that growing community in Syrian Antioch—and they confronted Barnabas.  And then, Luke says, Barnabas thought of his old friend Saul, who was in Tarsus.  Tarsus was just around the northeast corner of the Mediterranean from Antioch.  It wasn't an easy journey overland, but it was a quick trip by ship.  Luke doesn't give us all the details, but I suspect that when the two of them had been together in the past, Barnabas had listened as Saul spoke out loud, working through this very problem of the inclusion of Gentiles in the covenant community. You see, if we go back to Acts 9, we read about Saul's encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus and his coming to faith.  At first the Christians were afraid of him, because they'd heard how he had persecuted the church in Jerusalem, wreaking havoc amongst those who invoked the name of Jesus.  But then he began preaching there and the Christians loved him, but he was preaching the good news about Jesus in the synagogues and, Luke says, giving proof that Jesus really was the Messiah, so then the non-believing Jews became afraid of him and hatched a plot to kill him.  But the secret got out, Saul's friends heard about it, and lowered him over the wall in a basket at night.  At that point, Saul decided to go to Jerusalem to join the disciples—the Twelve.  But they wanted nothing to do with Saul and didn't believe his story.  This was the man that stood by supervising the stoning of Stephen.  This was the man who arrested their brothers and sisters and had them dragged before the Jewish authorities to be put to death.  But Barnabas believed.  It sounds as though Barnabas had heard confirming reports of what Saul had been doing in Damascus.  And so after the other disciples had driven Saul away, Barnabas went after him, brought him back to the others, and pleaded his case, telling them how Saul had met the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus and telling them of the reports of his powerful preaching of the gospel there.  And the others believed, they received Saul, and pretty soon he was boldly preaching Jesus in Jerusalem. So Barnabas travelled to Tarsus and set out to look for Saul, and when he found him, he took him back to Antioch.  And for a whole year, Luke says, Barnabas and Saul met with the church there and taught the people.  And Luke gives an interesting little side note, that this is when and where Jesus' disciples were first called Christians—or you could say, “Messianists”, since Christ isn't Jesus' name, it's his title, the Greek way of saying “Messiah”.  It shows that the good news was getting around, and whether people really believed or not that Jesus was actually the Messiah, they knew that that's what these “Christians” believed, and that's what they called them: followers of the Messiah. Saul—whom we usually refer to by his Greek name, but we don't see that in Acts until he and Barnabas are sent off on their first joint missionary journey—but Saul or Paul gets all of our attention.  That's for good reason.  But without Barnabas acting as his advocate, we may never have heard anything about Paul.  He wasn't just the “son of exhortation” to the saints at Jerusalem, but he was the “son of exhortation” for Paul when he was rejected by the other apostles, and he was the “son of exhortation” when he went to Tarsus to find the very man whom he knew would have the solution to this problem of the Gentiles.  And he was surely the “son of exhortation” when, with Paul, he took up a generous collection from amongst the saints in Antioch, so that the two of them could deliver it to Jerusalem for the relief of the church there, when they were hit by the prophesied famine. Now let's look at our Gospel today.  I cam across something interesting when I was researching why our lectionary gives us our Epistle and Gospel today.  The Gospel is about love and I thought that was interesting.  We often talk about St. John as the apostle of love, because he's the one who so stressed Jesus' theme of love in his Gospel and in the epistles he wrote.  Today's Gospel might seem more appropriate for his feast day.  But our Gospel today, John 15:12-16, was originally, back in the middle ages, what's called a “common Gospel”.  In this case, it was a common Gospel lesson appointed to be read on the feast of any apostle for which there wasn't some other Gospel lesson appointed.  And while, gradually and through the years, various other Gospels were appointed to be read on the feasts of the other apostles, this common Gospel about love stuck to St. Barnabas and his feast day.  And while we don't know very much about him, it fits.  It fits with what we know of his defense of Paul, it fits with what we know of his care for his poor and struggling brothers and sisters, and it fits with the nickname the other apostles gave him: “son of exhortation”. Let's look at that short Gospel again.  It's John 15:12-16, part of the long discourse that Jesus spoke to his friends after the Last Supper, before he was arrested and taken off to be crucified.  Here's what Jesus said to them: This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command you.  No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.   I have to think that these words—and so many others like them—that Jesus spoke to his disciples were running around the head of Barnabas all the time.  “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”  You and I might just hear in that that Jesus is give us something to do—another commandment that we didn't have before.  But “commandment” said something very clear to anyone who was Jewish.  “Commandment” pointed them straight to torah, to the law.  The torah was full of commandments.  Thou shalts and thou shalt nots, over and over and over.  And you'll remember that that law was about showing the people of Israel how to live as the Lord's covenant people.  He had called them, he had delivered them from Pharoah's bondage, he had brought them through the Red Sea, and at Mt. Sinai he gave them his law.  The law was the covenant charter.  The Lord promised to be their God and he promised to give them the promised land and to be with them and to make them fruitful and to multiply them in that land.  And, for their part, they promised to be his people, to worship him and him alone, and to be a light to the nations—to show everyone what it was to live in the presence of our Creator.  And the law was what set them apart from everyone else in the world: initiating them into the covenant by circumcision, reminding them of the covenant in the Passover, showing them how to be holy, and giving them instructions for making things right with their God after those times they would break his commandments.  The law was their way of life as the Lord's people.  And Jesus' disciples were all steeped in it.  It defined them as a people. And now, as he's about to give his life for theirs, he says to them, “This is my commandment…”  He's repeating what he told them two chapters earlier at the start of his discourse, those words that we read every year on Maundy Thursday, “I give you a new commandment—that you love one another.”  Those words, “I give you a new commandment” would have got the attention of Jesus' disciples.  If anyone else had spoken those words, it would have been tantamount to blasphemy.  A “new” commandment?  Impossible.  The Lord had given his law through Moses and he gave it carved on stone to make a point that it was to stand unchanged, unchanging, and forever.  For Jesus to say that he was giving them a new commandment was like saying that he was giving them a new law—as if I stood here and announced that I'm giving you a new book to add to your Bibles. But then what Jesus said: “love one another as I have loved you”—that, without the “as I have loved you” part, that was already in the law.  “You shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the Lord,” said Leviticus.  So, on the one hand, this was just kind of reiterating what they already knew to be in the law, but the way Jesus said it—the part of about giving a new commandment—that sounds like Jesus was giving a new law.  And that's just what he was doing.  It's where the torah was pointing all along, but now that love becomes the great theme.  As William Cowper wrote in that great hymn we sometimes sing: “Redeeming love has been my theme and shall be 'til I die”.  The law is, at the same time, the same and profoundly different and new and all because of Jesus.  It's that “as I have loved you” part.  The disciples wouldn't have understood quite yet, but they would soon.  Jesus hints at it.  “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”  We have often taken this verse out of context.  There are times when giving your life for the sake of your friends—or your enemies—is the ultimate demonstration of love, but Jesus wasn't talking here about just anyone giving his life for his friends.  He was talking very specifically about the sacrifice that he was about to make, the sacrifice that would literally change everything and the sacrifice that would become the cornerstone of this new commandment. Think about the old law.  We sum it up every Sunday in the words of Jesus: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbour as yourself.  And there are parts of the law, torah, that are easy to understand in light of that.  If you love your neighbour, you don't steal his stuff, you don't tell lies about him, you don't kill him, you don't move the boundary markers of his property, you don't speak harshly to him.  But there are a lot of things in the law that don't translate nearly so easily.  There were some things in the law that God's people just had to do in obedience, trusting that it made sense—that somehow it equated to either “Love God” or “Love your neighbour”.  Under the old covenant, Jesus says, these men were like servants.  They did what their Lord told them to do, even when they didn't understand or it didn't make sense.  But Jesus says that those days are over.  He calls them his friends, not his servants, and he tells them that—well, first, because he's going to die for them as a demonstration of just how much he loves them as friends, but also because his death and resurrection will establish a new covenant and it will be like the sun has risen and driven away every shadow like the light of the sun at noon, because of that everything about this new covenant will make perfect sense in light of what Jesus has done.  If someone just tells you to love your neighbour, that leaves all sorts of questions.  What about this situation or that situation?  What if your neighbour is annoying?  What if your neighbour does something to offend you?  What if your neighbour sins against you?  What if loving your neighbour means you come up short-handed or hurt?  And, of course that ever-present question: Who am I obligated to consider or to treat as a neighbour?  But Brothers and Sisters, when the cross of Jesus stands before us at the centre of this new covenant, every one of those questions fades away and the answer stands out clear and bright as day.  At the cross Jesus has shown us what love looks like.  If we love like Jesus, it doesn't matter if your neighbour is annoying, if he sins against you, or even if loving him means coming up short yourself.  Jesus gave his life.  That's love.  Period.  And that Jesus-like love is the law of the new covenant.  It's what shapes the life of us, this new covenant people.  It's the fruit we bear. Of course, this new law of love is overwhelming.  The disciples didn't yet understand.  Today's Gospel tells us what the new law is and that the cross of Jesus is the lens through which we understand it, and it's his cross—his death for us—that motivates our love for him and for each other.  But if this is all we have from Jesus, the new covenant people will fail at this new law as miserably as the old covenant people failed at keeping the old law.  So it's providential that we remember St. Barnabas and celebrate his feast day so close to Pentecost.  Our Gospel today comes from the same discourse we've been reading throughout Easter and Ascensiontide in preparation for Pentecost and so we can't read today's Gospel without also remembering Jesus' promise and gift of God's own Spirit to indwell his people.  When we hear his commandment to love each other unconditionally and to the uttermost end it sounds impossible.  And then we see his own sacrifice for us at the cross and our hearts well up with gratitude and we know that what he deserves from us in return is that same kind of love—for him and for each other.  And we want to love that way.  But on our own—even as our hearts well up with gratitude for what he's done for us—we can only get so far, because the cost is too great or because that person or this person is just too much or too hard.  Brothers and Sisters, that's when the Spirit does his work.  He transforms our affections so that our hearts well up not only with our own gratitude for what Jesus has done for us, but our hearts also well up and overflow with the very love of God.  We see that love in Barnbas.  He risked everything for the sake of his Lord, Jesus, and to proclaim the good news of the cross and the resurrection.  He new that it might cost him everything to come to the defense of Saul, whom his friends had unanimously rejected.  And we see the love of Jesus, implanted in him by the Spirit, as he worked for the relief of his brother and sister saints when they were starving.  It was an act of love that demonstrated the unity of God's people, the gentiles and the hellenised Jews, giving generously from what they had, to provide for the Jewish believers in Jerusalem.  And we also see that love—love for Jesus and love for neighbour, as he set off, first with Paul and later with John Mark—those are wonderful stories in themselves, but they'll have to wait for another time—but in them we see again a love that only the cross of Jesus can motivate and that only the Spirit can keep alive, a love that risks everything for the sake of Jesus.  Brothers and Sisters, that the same love we know ourselves, the same love we're reminded of when we come to the Lord's Table to participate in the great events of our salvation, the same love that the Spirit has poured into our hearts just as he did Barnabas.  So go forth to love and serve the Lord, my friends, and as you do so, let St. Barnabas the Apostle be a reminder of just what that looks like. Let's pray: O Lord God Almighty, who endowed your holy apostle Saint Barnabas with special gifts of the Holy Spirit: Do not leave us destitute of your many gifts, nor of grace always to use them to your honour and glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen. [1] Jo. 32.17, ed. Preuschen 1903: 453, 17

Saint Barnabas is one of the fathers of the faith who is probably not well known to most people. More people are aware of St Paul of course, or even St Nicholas and St Valentine. But we actually know a lot more about Barnabas than we know about those other two. Barnabas is a prominent man in the early church, a companion of Paul on his first missionary journeys. As Luke writes in Acts, Barnabas was “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith.”

June 11: Saint Barnabas, Apostle Early First Century–c. 62 Memorial; Liturgical Color: Red Patron Saint of Cyprus A multi-talented disciple recruits Saint Paul Today's saint was an Apostle in the exact same sense in which St. Paul was an Apostle. Saint Barnabas was not one of the Twelve original followers of Christ nor a replacement for one of the Twelve, like Saint Matthias. But the term “The Twelve” quickly disappeared after the Gospel events, because “The Twelve” themselves propagated into dozens, hundreds, and then thousands of successor Apostles, known alternatively as Episcopoi or Prebyteroi: Overseers or Elders. Saint Barnabas is among that generation of Christian leaders whose name first surfaces immediately after the Resurrection. So although he was not in the circle of “The Twelve,” he stood in the next outer ring.The earliest name for the movement initiated by Jesus of Nazareth was “The Way.” This term is used in the Acts of the Apostles and in the ancient catechetical document known as the Didache. But “The Way” was replaced early on by another term. The Acts of the Apostles explains: “Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for an entire year they met with the church and taught a great many people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians'” (Ac 11:25–26). We owe Saint Barnabas, then, the credit for the word “Christian” as the standard description of the followers of Jesus Christ. The persecution and martyrdom of Saint Stephen forced many Christian leaders to flee Jerusalem. The unforeseen effect of Stephen's assassination and the subsequent persecution of Christians was the spread of the Gospel into greater Syria, the Greek Islands, and North Africa. This expansion led to contact with Greek and Roman Gentiles, or non-Jews, a growth presaging the transformation of Christianity from a localized Jewish sect into a multiethnic worldwide Church. When some converts from North Africa and Cyprus went to Antioch, the capital of the Roman province of Syria, they converted a great number of Greek speakers. And when “news of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem...they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast devotion; for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith” (Ac 11: 22–24a). Saint Barnabas played a crucial role in the first unfurling of the Gospel message beyond Palestine. Acting as a kind of talent scout, he lassoed Saul from his hometown of Tarsus to begin the extraordinary missionary efforts which would forever change the Church and the world. Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas are repeatedly mentioned together in the Acts of the Apostles as they traverse the port cities, the waters, and the dusty highways of the Eastern Mediterranean world. Together, they call down the Holy Spirit, commission new Apostles, confront Jews and Roman citizens alike, challenge a magician, speak to governors, and, of utmost consequence for the Church's future, convince the other Apostles not to force new converts to become Jews first and Christians later. Saint Barnabas was a dynamic force of nature who spun like a tornado from town to town in the early Church. He was a giant of that first generation of risk-taking, manly, apostolic leaders. The citizens of Lystra in Asia Minor compared him to the Greek God Zeus. They were so impressed that they tried to crown him with garlands and to sacrifice the blood of oxen to both him and Saint Paul (Ac 14:12–18). After numerous adventures in tandem, Paul, the better preacher, writer, and organizer, ultimately sails off on his own. The last we hear of Barnabas, he is returning to the Island of Cyprus, his native land.  When Saint Paul writes from his Roman prison in about 62 A.D., he mentions that Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, is with him (Col 4:10). Barnabas' absence at Paul's side in his hour of need is a clue that Barnabas is likely dead by the year 62. Tradition tells us that Barnabas was martyred on Cyprus, perhaps by a Jewish mob angered at his successful preaching in the synagogue of Salamis. His relics and memory are particularly honored on Cyprus to this day. Saint Barnabas, you gathered infant Christianity from its cradle and carried it into the world beyond. You poured the message of salvation into new wineskins without any guile. May all Christians be so confident, so convincing, and so successful through your intercession. 

Today's Topics:  1, 2, 3) Revolution in Tiara & Cope: A history of Church infiltration, part 2   https://onepeterfive.wpengine.com/revolution-in-tiara-and-cope-a-history-of-church-infiltration-pt-2/                                   4) Catholics celebrate the memory of Saint Barnabas on June 11. Though not one of the 12 Apostles chosen by the Lord, Jesus, he is traditionally regarded as one of the 72 disciples of Christ and a most respected man in the first century Church after the Apostles themselves  https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-barnabas-apostle-496

We'll continue to use the same reflection and examen for the rest of the week. New reflections will be added every Sunday. *Due to Covid-19, our 2020 reflections are re-purposed from earlier examen episodes.

Saint Bartholomew was one of the Twelve Apostles, a Galilean; the Gospel accounts say little more about him. It is said that, after receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, he traveled in the service of the Gospel to Arabia and Persia, and brought to India a translation of the Gospel according to Matthew. Eusebius writes that one hundred years later Pantaenus, an illustrious Alexandrian scholar, found this gospel when he traveled in India. By most accounts Bartholomew ended his life in Armenia, where he met his martyrdom by crucifixion. According to many, he and Nathaniel are the same person: the Gospel accounts that speak of Bartholomew do not mention Nathaniel; and St John's Gospel,which mentions Nathanael as one of the Twelve, does not mention Bartholomew. But according to the Greek Synaxarion, Bartholomew and Simon the Zealot are one and the same.   Saint Barnabas was one of the Seventy, from Cyprus, a Levite and at one time a fellow-student with St Paul under Gamaliel. After Christ's Ascension, he led the Seventy until the Apostle Paul's conversion. He is mentioned often in the Acts of the Apostles, which describes some of his travels as a companion of St Paul. By all accounts, he was the first to preach the Gospel of Christ in Rome and in Milan. His wonder-working relics were discovered on the island of Cyprus in the time of the Emperor Zeno; on this basis the Church of Cyprus was established as an independent Church, since it had an apostolic foundation.

Full Text of ReadingsMemorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle Lectionary: 580/364All podcast readings are produced by the USCCB and are from the Catholic Lectionary, based on the New American Bible and approved for use in the United States _______________________________________The Saint of the day is Saint BarnabasBarnabas, a Jew of Cyprus, comes as close as anyone outside the Twelve to being a full-fledged apostle. He was closely associated with Saint Paul—he introduced Paul to Peter and the other apostles—and served as a kind of mediator between the former persecutor and the still suspicious Jewish Christians. When a Christian community developed at Antioch, Barnabas was sent as the official representative of the church of Jerusalem to incorporate them into the fold. He and Paul instructed in Antioch for a year, after which they took relief contributions to Jerusalem. Later Paul and Barnabas, now clearly seen as charismatic leaders, were sent by Antioch officials to preach to the gentiles. Enormous success crowned their efforts. After a miracle at Lystra, the people wanted to offer sacrifice to them as gods—Barnabas being Zeus, and Paul, Hermes—but the two said, “We are of the same nature as you, human beings. We proclaim to you good news that you should turn from these idols to the living God” (see Acts 14:8-18). But all was not peaceful. They were expelled from one town, they had to go to Jerusalem to clear up the ever-recurring controversy about circumcision, and even the best of friends can have differences. When Paul wanted to revisit the places they had evangelized, Barnabas wanted to take along his cousin John Mark, author of the Gospel, but Paul insisted that since Mark had deserted them once, he was not fit to take along now. The disagreement that followed was so sharp that Barnabas and Paul separated: Barnabas taking Mark to Cyprus, Paul taking Silas to Syria. Later they were reconciled—Paul, Barnabas and Mark. When Paul stood up to Peter for not eating with gentiles for fear of his Jewish friends, we learn that “even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy” (see Galatians 2:1-13). Reflection Barnabas is spoken of simply as one who dedicated his life to the Lord. He was a man “filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. Thereby, large numbers were added to the Lord.” Even when he and Paul were expelled from Antioch in Pisidia—modern-day Turkey—they were “filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.” Saint Barnabas is the Patron Saint of: Cyprus Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

Saint Barnabas - On Fire For The Gospel by Fr. Barry Braum

Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle

On this feast day of Saint Barnabas, Father talks about how he got his name which means “Son of encouragement”. Pope Benedict refers to Saint Barnabas when he spoke of working together with brothers and sisters in Christ to reconciliation.

The “scarlet thread” that runs throughout the scripture is the salvation of man found only in Jesus Christ. It is scarlet because the salvation is ultimately found in the blood of Jesus, and it is a thread because it is foreshadowed and preached about in the Old Testament before being realized in the New. This podcast features readings from the two-year daily lectionary, specifically the lectionary proscribed by the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and used in For All the Saints, published by the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau (www.alpb.org). The two-year daily lectionary moves you through the high points of the Bible with a daily reading from the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Gospels. I will also include a reading from the Psalter or Proverbs. There will be no special effects or background music; just the plain reading of God's Word. And no fundraising, either! However, feel free to rate the show if you enjoy it as that helps its visibility. After the two-year cycle, you will have gone through the high points of the Old Testament one time and most of the New Testament about 2 times. While this is not a complete reading of the Bible, it is a great way to grow in familiarity with the main narrative of the Bible. As it follows the liturgical year, festival and saint's days will also be observed. This podcast uses the Revised Standard Version (RSV) of the Bible. It is sponsored by First Lutheran in Houston (www.flhouston.org). You may also be interested in the Theology on Air Podcast which is a Christian apologetics radio program. Find it at the iTunes Store by searching for Theology on Air. You can contact me directly by email: pastor@flhouston.org.

JOYFUL MYSTERIES today.  Incline my heart, O God, to your decrees; and favor me with your law. (Ps 119:36a, 29b)

June 11 Saint Barnabas, Apostle Memorial “But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out among the multitude, crying, ‘Men, why are you doing this? We also are men, of like nature with you, and bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things... Enter Prayer

Ribbon Placement: Liturgy of the Hours Vol. III: Ordinary: 651 Psalter: Saturday, Week II, 959 Common of the Apostles: 1664 (verse) Proper of Seasons: 345 (first reading) Proper of Saints: 1463 (second reading, concluding prayer) Office of Readings for Saturday in Ordinary Time, the Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle God, come to my assistance. —... Enter Prayer

June 11 Saint Barnabas, Apostle Memorial “But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out among the multitude, crying, ‘Men, why are you doing this? We also are men, of like nature with you, and bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things... Enter Prayer

Saint Bartholomew was one of the Twelve Apostles, a Galilean; the Gospel accounts say little more about him. It is said that, after receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, he traveled in the service of the Gospel to Arabia and Persia, and brought to India a translation of the Gospel according to Matthew. Eusebius writes that one hundred years later Pantaenus, an illustrious Alexandrian scholar, found this gospel when he traveled in India. By most accounts Bartholomew ended his life in Armenia, where he met his martyrdom by crucifixion. According to many, he and Nathaniel are the same person: the Gospel accounts that speak of Bartholomew do not mention Nathaniel; and St John's Gospel,which mentions Nathanael as one of the Twelve, does not mention Bartholomew. But according to the Greek Synaxarion, Bartholomew and Simon the Zealot are one and the same.   Saint Barnabas was one of the Seventy, from Cyprus, a Levite and at one time a fellow-student with St Paul under Gamaliel. After Christ's Ascension, he led the Seventy until the Apostle Paul's conversion. He is mentioned often in the Acts of the Apostles, which describes some of his travels as a companion of St Paul. By all accounts, he was the first to preach the Gospel of Christ in Rome and in Milan. His wonder-working relics were discovered on the island of Cyprus in the time of the Emperor Zeno; on this basis the Church of Cyprus was established as an independent Church, since it had an apostolic foundation.