Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Acts 11,19-26

Those who had scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, but they proclaimed the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, who came from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch where they started preaching also to the Greeks, proclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus to them. The Lord helped them, and a great number believed and were converted to the Lord. The news of them came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem and they sent Barnabas out to Antioch. There he was glad to see for himself that God had given grace, and he urged them all to remain faithful to the Lord with heartfelt devotion; for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith. And a large number of people were won over to the Lord. Barnabas then left for Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him he brought him to Antioch. And it happened that they stayed together in that church a whole year, instructing a large number of people. It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called 'Christians'.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The first step of the Christian community is in Antioch, the third capital, after Rome and Alexandria. It was a cosmopolitan city that was universally known for its importance not only in commerce, but also in religion and culture. Early Christian history clearly appears as the history of the preaching of the Gospel in cities, starting with the most important ones. From the very beginning, Christianity has a universal dimension aimed at a profound change in the lives of people. If the immediate motive of the first Christian mission seems to arise once again from persecution, in truth the real spiritual energy that moves the disciples of Jesus is the expansion to the ends of the earth of the evangelical preaching.
This is why, entering Antioch, those first disciples addressed their preaching not only to the Jews but also to the pagans who were part of the city, and it was in the city that the Gospel ferment needed to be laid. The success of their preaching was extraordinary. Indeed, the community grew in an extraordinary way and Barnabas, originally from Cyprus, was sent there to help the community get organized. It was right in Antioch - we are in years 38-40 - that Jesus' disciples of were first called "Christians," probably because the notable influx of pagans clearly distinguished this group from the Jewish community. Until then those who had faith in Jesus were called by different names, such as "brothers" or "believers." Now they were given this name, which specified more clearly whose disciples they were. In a few lines, Luke describes the birth of a new experience in the third great city of the empire, an experience so new that it had to be called by a new name, "Christian." Its newness did not come from a project or ideology, but from the fact that they followed Jesus, the Christ.