June 11 -- Feast of Saint Barnabas

There are times that I will learn something and marvel that I had not wondered about it earlier.  Barnabas played a much bigger role in the formation of the early Church than I knew; in fact, I hadn't considered that the role itself had been necessary, but of course it was.

the martyrdom of St. Barnabas -- death by stoning

The apostles were Jews living in Greater Jerusalem.  Saul, who had never met Jesus, was a Jew working to stamp out Christianity.  As you probably know, Saul had a conversion experience on the road to Damascus and became an ardent Christian.  In fact, he accepted the mission to spread Christianity to the Gentiles.  Paul, more than any other person, made the Christians a separate religious identity rather than just a sect of Judaism like the Essenes, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees. 

Question:  Why would Peter and the boys, having seen Saul execute their followers, suddenly embrace Paul and welcome his involvement in their religious movement?

If it had occurred to me at all, I probably would have chalked it up to the Holy Spirit.  One gets used to Deus ex homine in the stories of the saints.  The Book of Acts, however, has a much more practical explanation: Barnabas made the introductions.

Picture it this way -- Paul heads back and the Christians are shunning him.  He protests that he's not Saul anymore, he's Paul and he talked to Jesus.  They smell a trap and wish him zei gezunt.  (Yes, I know it's Yiddish and not Hebrew.  It's the best this goy can do, okay?) So he looks up his old pal Joseph, who used to study with him in Rabbi Gamaliel's Talmudic Theory class.  He's calling himself Barnabas (son of encouragement) now, but who is Saul / Paul to judge?   They split a jug of the good stuff and talk about the old days. Paul confides his conversion experience; Barnabas recognizes his sincerity.  Introductions are made; prayers are prayed.  Forward to Martyrdom. 

Johnny Depp and Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins -- is Depp supposed to look like Michael Jackson?

Barnabas had a long, illustrious career as an evangelist, ending in a painful martyrdom on the island of Cyprus.  His name, of course, is more closely associated with vampires, especially with this summer's release of Dark Shadows, starring Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins. By the way, I am not ashamed of myself for including this summer movie tie-in.  On the contrary, I am just proud of myself for not leading with it.