Today is Oct. 18, the feast of St. Luke, evangelist.
In the Gospel for today’s feast, Jesus instructs his disciples saying, “Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you'” (Lk 10:8-9).
St. Luke’s Gospel is known as one of the synoptic Gospels. The word synoptic means “taking the same or common view.” Along with Matthew and Mark, Luke includes many of the same parables and healing stories about the Lord’s ministry.
That’s not to say that these Gospels are exactly the same. Each evangelist tells the story of the life of Jesus from his perspective. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the evangelists put their human gifts at the service of salvation. That means, it’s not unreasonable to say, that Luke included things in his Gospel that were important to him. Thanks to Luke, we know the stories of the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son and Zaccheus the tax collector.
The sending of the 72 disciples is another story unique to Luke. And it points to one of the major themes of his Gospel: discipleship. In this story, we learn that discipleship is difficult (“… behold I am sending you as lambs among wolves …”). We learn that disciples are to have confidence that God will provide for them (“Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals …”) and that disciples are to proclaim the kingdom (“… say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you …'”).
Every disciple must learn this lesson: to shirk the things of the world and prefer spiritual things. We must not prize the things of this life, but treasure the new and marvelous things of the kingdom of God!
A prayer invoking St. Luke’s intercession:
Lord God, who chose saint Luke to reveal by his preaching and writings the mystery of your love for the poor, grant that those who already glory in your name may persevere as one heart and one soul and that all nations may merit to see your salvation. Through our lord Jesus Christ, your son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
My Daily Visitor spiritual reflections are a dose of daily Catholic inspiration from Our Sunday Visitor magazine.
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