In this article, a parish priest finds a rich template for the parishes of today in the example of Paul and Barnabas from the Acts of the Apostles.

The current worldwide synodal process has empowered parishes and dioceses to re-engage with the rich sources of their faith as a means of renewal and discernment. As Pope Francis reminds us in his vison for a missionary Church:
Whenever we make the effort to return to the source and to recover the original freshness of the Gospel, new avenues arise, new paths of creativity open up, with different forms of expression, more eloquent signs and words with new meaning for today’s world (Evangelii Gaudium 11).

In this spirit, parishes can return to the source by listening to the great missionary book of the early Church, the Acts of the Apostles, where they will discover – among the many outstanding witnesses – the figures of Paul and Barnabas who can inspire in them a powerful, practical and timeless vision of pastoral practice.