If we have to choose a name, whether for ourselves or for someone or for something, what criteria would we use.
What do we think a name should have, or should be?
Certainly a name must have a good meaning. No one would choose a name with a strange or funny meaning.
By the way, Teresa (the name of our patron saint) means “harvester”.
A name should also have a nice sound to it. And it should also be easily pronounced by aunties and grandmothers, because a difficult-to-pronounce name might displace their dentures.
With all these considerations, what would we think of the name “Barnabas”?
Although that name is found in the New Testament, it is not that common or popular a name.
But it has a good meaning. It means “son of consolation” or “son of encouragement”.
The apostles gave that name to the convert who sold away his property and gave the money to the apostles.
And Barnabas, who was that convert, lived up to his name. He went around preaching the Good News that brought consolation to those in distress, and he encouraged the Christian communities to stand firm in their faith in the face of trials.
St. Barnabas was indeed a great figure in the early Church, and his feast day is on the 11th June.
So the name Barnabas has the meaning of “one who consoles and encourages”.
Consolation and encouragement are two qualities that also express the love and mercy of God.
Consolation and encouragement are also two qualities that people yearn for in times of grief and brokenness.
In the gospel, we heard that Jesus was on His way to a town called Naim with His disciples and a great number of people.
When He was near the gate of that town, there was another crowd coming out.
It was a funeral procession of a dead man, the only son of a woman, who was a widow.
In that moment, a celebrity was met with a tragedy; life was met with a death.
When Jesus saw the widow, He felt sorry for her. His heart went out to her.
Then He told her, “Do not cry.” He then went up and put His hand on the bier, and the next thing He said was, “Young man, I tell you to get up.”
And then the young man was brought back to life, and with that the people were filled with awe and praised God.
Jesus felt for the widow. His heart went out to her. He consoled her, and He even brought her son back to life.
With that, Jesus gave the widow and the people the faith in God and the courage to face the trials of life.
In what Jesus said and did, He taught the people about the heart of God – the heart of God that goes out to us to console us and to encourage us.
There is a story by an unknown writer and the title is “The most important part of the body”. The story goes like this.
My mother used to often ask me what the most important part of the body was. Young as I was, I thought sound was very important to us as humans. So l’d say, “My ears, Mommy!"
“No!” she would say. “There are so many people who are deaf! But you keep thinking and I will ask you again soon.” And so it went on until several years passed before she asked me again.
Since making my first attempt, I contemplated on the correct answer. Or so I thought I had!
So this time I told her, “Mommy, sight is very important to everybody, so it must be our eyes.”
She looked at me and told me, “You are learning fast, but the answer is not correct because there are many people who are blind.”
Stumped again, I continued my quest for knowledge and after a few years, mother asked me a couple of times more and always her answer was, “No. But you are getting smarter every year, my child!”
Then one year, my grandfather died. Everybody was sad and everybody was crying.
Even my father wept. I remember that especially because that was only the second time in my life that I had ever seen him cry.
My mom looked at me when it was our turn to say our final good-bye to grandpa. She asked me, “Don’t you know the most important body part yet, my child?”
I was shocked when she asked me this now. I always thought this was a game between her and me.
She saw the confusion on my face and told me, “This question is very important. It shows how you have lived your life. For every body part you gave as the answer in the past, I have told you that it was wrong, even giving you the reason why. But today is the day you need to learn this important lesson.”
She looked down at me as only a mother can. I saw her eyes welling up with tears. She said, “My dear, the most important part of the body is your shoulder.”
“Is it because it holds up my head?” l asked.
“No,” she replied, “it is because it can hold the head of a friend or a loved one when they cry. Everybody needs a shoulder to cry on sometime in life, my dear. l only hope that you have enough love and friends that you will always have a shoulder to cry on when you need it.”
Then and there I knew that the most important body part is the part that shows sympathy to the pain of others.
People will forget what we said. People will forget what we did. But people will NEVER forget how we made them feel.
Our names may not be Barnabas, it doesn’t matter. Our shoulders may not be broad and strong, it doesn’t matter either.
But let us be a consolation and an encouragement for others so that they can feel the heart of God and a shoulder to cry on.
In times of grief and anguish, in sorrow and in pain, let us be a consolation and encouragement for others, so that they will know that God has visited them to give them life and hope.