Today is the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist, a special friend of St. Paul. In fact, the First Reading outlines this (see 2 Tim 4:1-11). Luke was a missionary with St. Paul in the first Christian century (hence the Gospel choice of Lk 10:1-9). This missionary activity must be the main experience which informed him extensively about the life of our Lord and formed him thoroughly on the Christian values. The Gospel of Luke in fact is known to be the Gospel of the poor, the oppressed, the women. Luke’s Gospel is also of justice and of God’s tenderness. Thus, Jesus’ proclamation of his program in Lk 4:18-19 - "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."
A Catholic website expands this special Gospel predilection of Luke for these group of people. He is the one who tells the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man who ignored him. Luke is the one who uses "Blessed are the poor" instead of "Blessed are the poor in spirit" in the beatitudes. Only in Luke's gospel do we hear Mary 's Magnificat where she proclaims that God "has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty" (Luke 1:52-53). Luke also has a special connection with the women in Jesus' life, especially Mary. It is only in Luke's gospel that we hear the story of the Annunciation, Mary's visit to Elizabeth including the Magnificat, the Presentation, and the story of Jesus' disappearance in Jerusalem. It is Luke that we have to thank for the Scriptural parts of the Hail Mary: "Hail Mary full of grace" spoken at the Annunciation and "Blessed are you and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus" spoken by her cousin Elizabeth. Forgiveness and God's mercy to sinners is also of first importance to Luke. Only in Luke do we hear the story of the Prodigal Son welcomed back by the overjoyed father. Only in Luke do we hear the story of the forgiven woman disrupting the feast by washing Jesus' feet with her tears. Throughout Luke's gospel, Jesus takes the side of the sinner who wants to return to God's mercy. Reading Luke's gospel gives a good idea of his character as one who loved the poor, who wanted the door to God's kingdom opened to all, who respected women, and who saw hope in God's mercy for everyone.
Luke is known as the patron of physicians and surgeons. According to the early Church historian Eusebius Luke was born at Antioch in Syria. Some scholars have also argued that he might have been born a slave and it was not uncommon for families to educate slaves in medicine so that they would have a resident family physician. Not only do we have Paul's word ( see Colossians 4:14), but Eusebius, Saint Jerome, Saint Irenaeus and Caius, a second-century writer, all refer to Luke as a physician.
For our prayers today, then I suggest we remember all the categories of persons mentioned here and ask the special prayers of St. Luke for them. We also need to storm heaven and join together in prayer for the two Syro-Catholic priests kidnapped in Iraq last Saturday, that the Lord may protect and restore them to their Christian communities.
Luke is known as the patron of physicians and surgeons. According to the early Church historian Eusebius Luke was born at Antioch in Syria. Some scholars have also argued that he might have been born a slave and it was not uncommon for families to educate slaves in medicine so that they would have a resident family physician. Not only do we have Paul's word ( see Colossians 4:14), but Eusebius, Saint Jerome, Saint Irenaeus and Caius, a second-century writer, all refer to Luke as a physician.
For our prayers today, then I suggest we remember all the categories of persons mentioned here and ask the special prayers of St. Luke for them. We also need to storm heaven and join together in prayer for the two Syro-Catholic priests kidnapped in Iraq last Saturday, that the Lord may protect and restore them to their Christian communities.
