18 October 2021
Feast of Saint Luke, evangelist
Today the Church celebrates the Feast of Saint Luke, the evangelist. The true identity of Luke is not known, but tradition usually ascribes the gospel to the Luke referred to in the Second Letter of Timothy. Luke appears to be a companion of Paul, and from the early Church scriptural authorities, his proximity to the disciples guarantees Luke’s witness to the Christian gospel. Depictions of Luke in churches usually include an ox.
With the feast day of any of the evangelists, it is an opportunity to pause and reflect on the unique contribution that the evangelist makes in revealing Jesus Christ to us. The early Church experimented with collapsing the distinctiveness of each Gospel account into one harmonized narrative, the first monumental attempt with Tatian’s Diatessaron in 160 C.E. The approach of the Church is to appreciate each Gospel for its particular lens by which to view the Mystery of Jesus.
One of Luke’s themes is understanding Jesus’ mission includes Israel, and stretches beyond it to the whole world. In our gospel passage today, we see Jesus’ reliance on others to preach with him that the Kingdom of God is at hand. This mission will continue in Church to be a herald of the good news. In the Book of Acts, Luke continues the story of Christ with the gift of his Spirit in the Church. Another theme pertinent to mention is that the Kingdom of God is good news for all, especially for the poor and vulnerable in the world. The appeal for the disciples to heal the sick shows the reverberating echoes of Jesus’ reign in our world.
On this feast, let’s take a moment to consider the way we spread the good news of Jesus in our lives. It was the first and continuing task entrusted to us: to announce the Kingdom of God is at hand.