Roman poet HoraceI neglected something very important in my earlier account of the martyrdom of the prophet Zechariah, son of Jehoiada.
(By the way, it is not the same person as the prophet Zechariah who has his own book in the Old Testament, or the priest Zechariah, father of John the Baptist. There are three different Zechariahs in the Scriptures.)
Anyway, I failed to recount Zechariah’s dying words, which he uttered as King Joash’s henchmen were killing him in the Temple:
“May the Lord see and avenge.”
Just in case you don’t remember Horace’s Third Ode word-for-word, allow me to call these lines to mind:
raro antecedentem scelestum
deseruit pede Poena claudo
“Although punishment may walk with a lame foot, she rarely allows the guilty man to run ahead.” (Tip of the hat to Fr. Haydock.)
May God give us the grace to repent of our sins and escape liability for the blood of the prophets! May His mercy allow us to run ahead of the punishment we deserve!
Also: If you missed it last year, click here for a message on the occasion of the Memorial of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.
Sts. Barnabas and Paul with the pagan priest in Lystra
The Church has dedicated a year to commemorating the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of St. Paul. Half of the books of the New Testament have St. Paul for their human author. St. Paul is one of the most famous and well-beloved saints of all time.
St. Paul made his first apostolic journeys alongside St. Barnabas.
In a comical episode in Lystra, the locals mistook Barnabas and Paul for Greek gods. They mistook Barnabas for Zeus and Paul for Hermes. Zeus is the king of the Greek gods; Hermes is Zeus’ spokesman. The locals’ mistake, therefore, leads us to believe that Barnabas seemed to be the one in charge.
During St. Paul’s second missionary journey, he and Barnabas agreed to separate and work in different territories.
Martyrdom of St. BarnabasSt. Barnabas then went on to do what St. Paul did, just in different parts of the world. St. Barnabas preached, explained the faith, wrote evangelical letters, etc.
St. Barnabas could well have written as much or more than St. Paul did. We do not know, because most of the writing of the ancient world has been lost.
The Lord, in His Providence, saw to it that a great deal of St. Paul’s writing was collected in the New Testament. St. Barnabas’ writing was not included in the canon of Scripture.
My point is: This year could just as easily have been the Year of St. Barnabas. Barnabas could have become the famous one.
St. Paul could have remained a relatively obscure saint, with just a humble Memorial every year. (N.B. Click through this link to discover a wonderful weblog with the daily Mass readings correlated with the excellent Haydock commentary!)
St. Barnabas, however, is not worried about the discrepancy. He is in heaven, after all, with St. Paul. Neither of them are concerned with earthly glory.
St. Barnabas was never worried about earthly glory. All he ever worried about was…
Father Mark White Blog 