A few weeks ago Barnabas showed up in the daily Mass
readings and I preached about how we can be encouraging. This was based off Barnabas’ name,
which means son of encouragement and
a line from our first reading today: “When
[Barnabas] arrived and saw the grace of
God, he
rejoiced and encouraged them all…”
This
morning I would suggest three ways we can be more encouraging in our daily
lives. First, be present to those
around you. One of my pet peeves
is when I go to a family’s house, out to dinner or spend time with friends,
only to have everyone on their cell phones. I bug our kids at youth group by asking, “Who can you be
texting when you have friends right here?!” Simply giving a person attention is a way to encourage them.
Second,
use words of affirmation. We all
love hearing compliments yet don’t always give them ourselves. Take time to tell someone, “Good work,”
or “I appreciate you”.
Finally,
remember that you can never say thank you
enough. These two simple words
convey gratitude and it is in a spirit of gratitude that encouragement is born.
Like
St. Barnabas—the son of encouragement—may
we encourage our spouse, children, coworkers, friends and strangers today,
especially in their walk of faith.
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