Who was St Luke? Tradition has it that he has a Gentile background, that he did not grow up as a Jew, and that he was a physician. He also probably accompanied St Paul on some of his missionary journeys. Luke came from Antioch in Syria. In the Early Church, Antioch emerged as an important center of Christianity. Not much after the time of St Luke, the influential theologian and Church leader Ignatius of Antioch was the Bishop there. The city of Antioch was also an important center of culture and learning. Most biblical scholars believe that the intended audience for the Gospel of Luke was Gentile.
When Jesus sends out his disciples for their missionary journey, I think of the journeys we take and how we prepare for them. When I go on a hike, I am so careful as to what I take. Everyone little item - down to a paper clip or safety pin - has to have a purpose. I always take the minimal amount of things, because I don’t want anything weighing me down. That is the approach Jesus takes when sending out his disciples on mission. So much can weigh us down, even when we don’t realize it. On our journey, we are weighed down by our anger, our hurt feelings, our lack of forgiveness, our lack of courage and patience and fortitude, our inability to live by the morals and virtues of our faith. And all of that weighs us down on our journey, whether we realize it or not.
Pope Francis calls us to learn from the missionary saints and martyrs during the Extraordinary Missionary Month that he has declared. Luke, the apostles, and the fathers and mothers of the Early Church have so much to teach us. The hardships Luke and this contemporaries went through in order to practice their faith and to bring Christ’s Good News to others is hard for us to imagine today. St Luke, we unite our prayers to your prayers today as we celebrate your feast day. St Luke - pray for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment