Today, Wednesday of the 18th Week of the Year, 2022, Priests, Religious and interested Lay Catholics could be found doing this 2nd Reading from the Office of Readings of this Day: (From the letter attributed to Barnabas) “First for the Way of Light; and here a man who would make the pilgrimage to his appointed home must put his whole heart into his work. To aid our steps on the road, illumination has been given to us then – love your Maker; fear your Creator; give glory to Him who redeemed you from death. Practise singleness of heart, and a richness of the spirit. Shun the company of those who walk in the Way of Death. Abhor anything that is displeasing to God, and hold every form of hypocrisy in detestation. Be sure that you never depart from the commandments of the Lord. Do not exaggerate your own importance, but be modest at all points, and never claim credit for yourself. …
Love your neighbour more than your own life. Never do away with an unborn child, or destroy it after its birth. Do not withhold your hand from your son or your daughter, but bring them up in the fear of God from their childhood. … Do not set your eyes on being intimate with the great, but look for the company of people who are humble and virtuous. Whatever experience comes your way, accept it as a blessing, in the certainty that nothing can happen without God. Never equivocate, either in thought or speech. A double tongue is a fatal snare.
Give your neighbour a share of all you have, and do not call anything your own. If you and he participate together in things immortal, how much more so in things that are mortal? Never be in a hurry to speak, for the tongue is a fatal snare. For your soul’s sake, be as pure as you can. … Cherish as the apple of your eye anyone who expound the word of the Lord to you.
Day and night keep the day of judgment in mind. Seek the company of God’s people every day; either labouring by word of moth – that is to say, by going among them for purposes of exhortation, and striving to save souls by the power of speech – or else working with your hands, to earn a ransom for your own sins.
Never hesitate to give; and when you are giving, do it without grumbling; you will soon find out who can be generous with his rewards. Keep the the traditions you have received, without making any additions or deductions of your own. Never cease to detest evil. … Do nothing to encourage dissensions. Bring the disputants together and compose their quarrel. And make confession of your own faults; you are not to come to prayer with a bad conscience. That is the Way of Light.”