13 May 1992
Nsimalen, Cameroon

My dear Sisters and my dear Confreres,

I am very grateful to God who has brought Father Lauwerier and me here so that we could greet you and listen to you as you describe the apostolates in which you are at present engaged. For Father Lauwerier this visit must be a very special one. It was he who sent the first Vincentians here when he was Visitor of the Province of Paris. For that reason I am sure that, as Assistant for the Missions, he has a special place in his heart for the Cameroun. We could say that he has a "preferential option" for this country and its people.

The first reading of today's Mass has a decidedly mission character. The Church at Antioch sends Paul and Barnabas on a new mission. St. Luke is more precise, for he makes it clear that it was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that the two Apostles left on what we now call the "second missionary journey."

A study of the relationship between Paul and Barnabas can prove very interesting and in many ways relevant to missionary relationships today. When you read the Acts of the Apostles carefully, you will notice that, when they started on their journey, it was Barnabas who led the mission. Then gradually the natural leadership qualities of Paul took over, and St. Luke reverses the order of the names. It is quite clear that it is Paul who was taking the initiative. Barnabas did not resent this. He seems to have been an outstandingly humble man.

It is true that later he disagreed with Paul about John Mark. Paul was perhaps over-demanding in what he looked for in John Mark as a missionary, while Barnabas seems to have pleaded along the lines of "Give him another chance." Paul refused, and so Barnabas and Paul went their separate ways. But we do know that towards the end of Paul's life, he wished to be united with the man for whom Barnabas had pleaded. (cf. 2 Tim 4:11). In one word, the character of Barnabas is summed up by St. Luke who remarks on the significance of his name, "The Son of Encouragement." Barnabas wished to give encouragement to the young John Mark.

In the Irish language there is a proverb which goes: "Praise the young, and they will come along with you." All of us hopefully will remain young in heart until the end, and so a little word of praise and encouragement can go a long way in helping others along life's road. Sometimes we may be tempted to say, "If I praise him or her, the result will be a swelled head." In my experience, however, the swelling, if it does occur, will not last long. The knocks people receive in life will reduce such swellings very fast.

All of us could learn much from Barnabas. We talk a great deal about the pastoral care for vocations. Like Barnabas, we have to keep our eyes open for talents or, rather, for goodness in the characters of people who could, like Paul, become "servants of Jesus Christ." (Rom 1:1). Like Barnabas, we could learn not to be upset if those whom we bring to Community may outshine us and serve Christ and the poor in a more striking way than we do. What matters for us today and every day is that we remain united closely to Jesus Christ, that we allow Him to abide in us and we in Him. It is only in this way that He can use us for His purposes, which will never be fully clear to us in this life. What matters is that we be people of profound humility.

St. Barnabas teaches us, not so much by his words but by his attitude, to be people who not only work for unity, but who also are humble and loving enough to encourage others. All of us need encouragement in our apostolates, and no one more than those who are in the front line of the Church's missionary endeavor. We are encouraged by the words of Pope John Paul II in his encyclical, Redemptoris Missio: "The Church needs to make known the great Gospel values of which she is the bearer. No one witnesses more effectively to these values than those who profess the consecrated life in chastity, poverty and obedience in a total gift of self to God and in complete readiness to serve man and society after the example of Christ." (p69).

To each of you I address the words which St. Vincent wrote to Jacques Pesnelle: "Provided missionaries are truly humble, truly obedient, truly mortified, truly zealous and full of confidence in God, His divine goodness will make good use of them everywhere and will supply for the other qualities which perhaps they lack." (Coste VII, Fr. ed., p. 237).