One thing that our Lord tells us, is that the acquisition of wealth can be an addiction. He is not talking about gambling addictions or dreaming of hitting the lottery…but rather is pointing out how we cannot serve both an addiction and God at the same time. This truly goes for all addictions…whether it’s money, pornography, alcohol, marijuana/drugs, gluttony…whatever the addiction, we become slaves to it.
The Holy Spirit reached so many that no one, not even the devil himself, could stop the flood…although God knows he has tried. In those early days, he sent persecutors like Nero and Diocletian, who despite their best efforts couldn’t stop the flow of the life giving waters to God’s people. In more recent decades, the devil tried to stop the flow by getting into the hearts of people like Joseph Stalin and Nicolae Ceausescu…who did everything they could to dam the river…and it drowned both of them and their worldly governments.
St. Barnabas said this to the new Christians in Antioch, and he says it to us this morning. He knew that there are many who begin to walk on God’s road willingly and with excitement. Yet as soon as the first obstacles appear, we often get discouraged and fall back into our old and sinful ways. I am willing to bet that many of the people that heard these words of St. Barnabas didn’t heed them, and when the first threat was made against them, or the first passion was inflamed within them, they turned their back on Christ. Perhaps some denied Him…or cursed Him…or worse yet, simply ignored His Love and impact in their lives.
When we read from the Holy Scripture is not meant to be read as a “feel good” story that happened long ago. It isn’t written as a historical account for scholars to dissect dates or political movements. It wasn’t written as a justification for war in the Middle East. It was written for us to enter into it! We discover the depth of scripture by placing ourselves within its pages and within its Holy Words. Christ doesn’t speak to and heal people 2,000 years ago…He’s talking and healing us directly right now in the year 2026! When you read scripture this way, it’s meaning and depth is uncovered in a beautiful and profound way!
Brothers and Sisters in Christ…Be different. The winds of change in “the world”, even in our own country, are constantly howling. Right will become wrongs, and wrongs will be made right. St. Anthony the Great once said: “A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him saying: ‘You are mad; you are not like us.”
