Today we celebrate St. Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church. He was born in 293 and lived until May 2, 373. He was a stalwart defender of the Nicene statements about Christ and was persecuted for it, having to flee Alexandria on several occasions. Today we might say bad things about an opponent. In his day, people wanted to kill him. He is a Doctor of the Church because he was such a prolific writer, having 20 books to his name. Two of my favorites are On the Incarnation of the Word and the Life of St. Anthony (of the Desert). In 367 he published the list of books that eventually became the books of the New Testament. Bruce Metzger, a New Testament scholar, wrote, “The year 367 marks, thus, the first time that the scope of the New Testament canon is declared to be exactly the twenty-seven books accepted today as canonical.” We today stand on the shoulders of great men and women and St. Athanasius is certainly one of them.

The first reading tells the story of other good men and women who caused the Church to grow. Deacon Stephen had been killed and the persecution began in earnest. Christians were scattered but that only caused the faith to spread. Antioch had many believers and the apostles sent Barnabas to encourage them. His birth name was Joseph but they began to call him Barnabas which means “son of encouragement.” What an epitaph: “he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.” I find it interesting that the disciples of Jesus were not called Christians in the beginning. This term originated in Antioch. Jump forward a few years to the writings of St. Ignatius of Antioch who was the first in print to refer to the Church as the Catholic Church. The folks in Antioch appear to have had a way with words.

In the Gospel reading, Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father's hand.” No one can make me turn my back on Jesus. God has the power over all of our enemies. Yet, Barnabas encouraged the Christians in Antioch “to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart….” Only I have the power to remove myself from God’s hand. He won’t force me to stay, if I am determined to become unfaithful to him.

So, brothers and sisters, let us hold onto Jesus. Let us encourage one another. Let us trust in the power of God to protect us, even as he protected St. Athanasius. And, if like St. Stephen, we lose our lives to remain faithful, let us die knowing that even death cannot snatch us out of the Father’s hand.

O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.