06/11/2026
The Memorial of St. Barnabas - June 11.
Saint Barnabas is mentioned repeatedly with Saint Paul which indicates his importance and gives us a reference point of what his character may have been like.
A dedicated missionary enthusiastically sharing the Good News to evangelize the nations. His original name was Joseph (Acts 4:36), but he became known as Barnabas, which means “son of encouragement” further illuminating his personality.
What we know about him we learn by reading the Acts of the Apostles.
He sold his land and gave the money to the apostles for the Church (Acts 4:37)
The Apostles sent Barnabas as a disciple to share the Good News of Christ to the people in Antioch, because Barnabas was “a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith”. He continued to bring many people into the Church. It was here and during this time that the faithful were first called Christians (Acts 11:24-26).
He was commissioned to be a missionary by the Apostles (Acts 13).
He was considered as one who was most forgiving. When it was time to further the mission with Paul, Barnabas wanted to take Mark, a disciple who had deserted them before, but returned. Paul refused, but Barnabas gave the man the benefit of the doubt, and with Paul’s confidence in Barnabas’s missionary call, let the two take a separate path from his own (Acts 15:36-40).
