Beloved Luke

Feast of Saint Luke 18 October

Luke 10:1-9

Acts of the Apostles (9:27-31; 11:19-26)

The Monastic Lectionary offers us four alternative Readings on Saint Luke.  The first choice was served best for the Night Office in both translation and content.

Second Reading        

From an unknown Greek writer of the eleventh century (PG l15, l133-l136)

When Paul, abandoning the darkness of error, accepted the true faith and joined the band of the disciples, Luke, desiring to do battle for that faith, became his travelling companion and accompanied him wherever he went. As the associate of such a soldier of Christ, Luke suffered imprisonment with him like a criminal, and joined him in spreading the light of divine knowledge to the ends of the earth. So close was he to Paul and so pleasing in every way, that in his letters to the faithful, Paul frequently refers to his beloved Luke. Luke preached the gospel with Paul all the way from Jerusalem to Illyricum, and while travelling from Judea to Rome he was imprisoned with him, he toiled and suffered with him, he was shipwrecked with him. Luke's desire was to be known as Paul's associate in everything, including his crown.

After trading with the talent of preaching with Paul, gaining many nations and bringing them to the true faith under the direction of his master, this loving and beloved disciple proved to be a sacred writer and evangelist, having first followed closely the events that had taken place among them, gaining a knowledge of them from the first disciples and receiving divine inspiration. He was the evangelist who recorded the mystery of Gabriel's mission to the Virgin to announce the joy that was coming to the whole world. He was the one who described the birth of Christ so vividly, showing us the new born babe lying in a manger, and telling us of shepherds and angels proclaiming the glad tidings. He has made known inconceivable wonders with such a love for truth and beauty that the truth of those wonders is conveyed through the very beau ty of his words, his language being worth y of the richness of his thought. He records more of the saving teachings given in parables than do the other evangelists; and just as he told us of the Word's coming down to earth, so also did he describe his going up to heaven and his return to the Father's throne.

But with Luke the grace of the Spirit did not stop at this. He did not confine himself to writing a gospel, but after recounting the wonders wrought by Christ, he went on to record the Acts of the Apostles: first the holy ascension of the Saviour into heaven; then the descent of the Spirit upon the apostles in tongues of fire; then the stoning of Stephen, the conversion of Paul - his being called by Christ from heaven, and his passing from the letter to the spirit; the times Paul was bound, imprisoned, wounded, beaten, ambushed by unbelievers; his journey from Jerusalem to Rome; his sufferings at sea, his afflictions, dangers, misfortunes, shipwrecks. Luke was not a mere spectator of all this but an actual participant, and that is why he took such pains to record it.   

     Picture St Luke: Saints.SQPN.com

Id. Star Quest Production Network.