St. Luke: A Friend in Faith

St. Luke: A Friend in Faith Today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Luke, evangelist. Luke wrote his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. Together, they represent approximately twenty-five percent of the New Testament’s scripture. Interesting, Luke begins his Gospel. Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received. Luke: A Man of Many Talents Luke is not one who walked with Jesus. He heard the teachings of the Apostles and read all that was written about Jesus and His ministry. Assembling all this information, he sits down and creates an orderly account . . . which becomes the Gospel. Luke was an extraordinary writer . . . and more. He was a physician and was well educated. He was also a painter. There was a time when people questioned why having four Gospels was a good idea, since Luke’s Gospel was so well written. What is important was Luke followed Paul and heard him speak. In doing so Luke converts to Christianity based on the strength and testimony of Paul’s teachings of Jesus Christ. Luke: A Follower and Friend to St. Paul When this happens, he becomes a companion of Paul. When Paul is imprisoned, Luke (secretly) visits him to learn further of Paul’s experiences, mission and wisdom. It is based on these conversations and Paul’s experiences that we have the Acts of the Apostles. When we hear in the first few chapters of the Acts of the Apostles about the Resurrection, we are hearing and understanding St. Paul’s description of this amazing event. Paul mentioned that several companions of Paul . . . we might even call them disciples of Paul . . . abandoning him. However, Luke remained. Luke was a dear friend of Paul in faith. Paul suffers in chains in prison. But he has a friend in Luke with him. Hear more in the Homily! Interesting, Luke is the only Gospel that tells us about the “72” disciples going out two-by-two. This is today’s scripture reading. The Homily tells us these ministers were not sent alone, but in pairs. We also hear more on the Topic: Friends in Faith are friends to gather together to pray. We all need friends in faith, even today. It is important within our Spiritual Journey. Understand why this is important. Listen more within the Homily. Hear more in this Meditation Media and understand its message for our own Spiritual Journey. Listen to: St. Luke: A Friend in Faith ----------------------------- Mary in the Gospel of St. Luke The Queen previously published two separate sets of articles reviewing Mary in the Gospel of St. Luke. They can be found in the Long Running Article Series. The two sets of articles are: Mary, In The Gospel of Luke: The Annunciation Series and Mary, In The Gospel of Luke: The Infancy Narratives. ----------------------------- Image: 16th-century Russian version showing copy of the Theotokos of Vladimir: Vladimir Mother of God As we hear in the Homily, St. Luke was multi-talented. He was a painter. Tradition has it that he painted the Blessed Mother. Read more about this on the QoAH’s website post. Please check out the two links above on the QoAH's website displaying other images of Our Lady influenced by St. Luke. ----------------------------- Gospel Reading: Luke: 10: 1-9 First Reading: 2 TIM: 4: 10-17