(Please read the Scripture passage before the homily.)
We have good news, the word of God continued to grow. The Church in Antioch was very cosmopolitan. It had people like Symeon, who was black; like Lucius of Cyrene, from Africa; like Manaen, who grew up with Heron; like Barnabas who had come from Jerusalem, and like Paul, a staunch Jewish rabbi some faraway place called Tarsus.
The work of the apostles included only Jewish people at first, until God sent them to the Gentiles. A persecution against those who believed in Jesus spread the good news to other pagans. To the group, the Spirit said, “Set apart Paul and Barnabas for the work to which God had called them.”
From this I learn that God is in charge of the Church and will continue to direct the Church. I also learn that God calls each of us to particular work in the Church and excludes no one from this duty,
If we follow this program, then it can be said of our time that the “word of God continued to grow.”