A VIRTUOUS CHRISTAN MAN


SAINT BARNABAS, APOSTLE 

Acts 11:21-26,13:1-3; Ps 98:1-6; Mt 5:20-26

Acquisition of Heavenly Virtues

The essence of the Sermon on the Mount is to lay a solid foundation for Christian spirituality. Because it ought to be a spirituality based on the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, as the Saviour of humankind, the Mosaic Law does not satisfy the requirements. So, obedience to the Law and the Prophets is not sufficient, though it is necessary. Salvation flows from the redemptive work of the Son of Man and not from individual works of each of us. There must be an essential connection, on the three levels of body, soul, spirit, of each person to Christ, for the salvation or grace to flow in full capacity. On this basis, we have understood and explained the necessity of receiving a new birth different from our natural birth by human parents. The old Law makes reference to Moses and his deliverance of the people of Israel from physical and psychological bondage in Egypt. The Gospel of grace makes reference to Jesus Christ and his deliverance of the human race from our original fall and bondage to sin, evil, and demonic principles. Subsequently, natural virtues are good habits formed by living in accordance with the principles of our rational nature; virtues in the Old Testament are good habits formed by living in accordance with the dictates of the Law and the Prophets. These do not capture the essentials of Christian virtues made for heavenly life.

A Christian is deemed virtuous when he forms good habits in consonance with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christian virtues are good habits formed by living in accordance with the teachings of Jesus Christ. They are essentially constituted by following Jesus Christ every day. The Son of Man, who taught us that he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, is the very root of every Christian virtue. Our love for Jesus Christ, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, is the origin of every Christian virtue as the prompt of our daily actions. Therefore, every action that does not spring from our love for Christ cannot build or contribute to the making of Christian virtue. This is the reason for the revision of the Law and the Prophets by our Lord. “If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.” Love must prompt every one of our actions to build up Christian virtues in us.      

The Lord summarised the Law and the Prophets as the love of God with all our hearts, minds, and will or strength. But we cannot love God that much without encountering Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man for our salvation. When we confess faith in Jesus Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit, who enables us to love God and neighbours. It is love that roots out every expression of anger and hatred in our hearts, enabling us to own and offer ourselves to God in honesty of spirit. Saint Barnabas was one man whom the scripture testified to his Christian virtues. “The church in Jerusalem heard about this and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. There he could see for himself that God had given grace, and this pleased him, and he urged them all to remain faithful to the Lord with heartfelt devotion; for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith.” He was born in Cyprus. He was one of the early converts in Jerusalem and vouched for Saint Paul when he appeared before the elders there. He was with Paul in their first missionary journey. After, he went to Cyprus with his cousin John Mark, also known as Mark the evangelist, to preach the Gospel there. He is believed to have suffered martyrdom at Salamis in Cyprus, before 61 AD. Let us open our hearts to the Gospel of Jesus Christ as Barnabas did, that we may develop genuine Christian virtues, for the fruitful preaching of the Gospel.

Let us pray: O God, who decreed that Saint Barnabas, a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit, should be set apart to convert the nations, grant that the Gospel of Christ, which he strenuously preached, may be faithfully proclaimed by word and by deed. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. 

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