Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the Church and taught a large number of people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians. (Acts 11:21b-28; 13:1-3)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061122.cfm
Barnabas seeking out Saul becomes one of the most important moments in the life of the early church. Saul, of course, becomes Paul, the preacher to the Gentiles. And “it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians” . . . or as the Cotton Patch version of the New Testament says: And it was here in Mobile that the disciples were first labeled “Christians.” And today’s picture is of my hometown Mobile, Alabama, at sunset.
These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
Saint Barnabas, Apostle, June 11
