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Thursday, 17 October 2013

St. Luke - his symbol is an OX, derived from Ezekiel’s vision (Ezekiel 1) and sometimes explained by reference to sacrifice in the Temple in the early chapters of his Gospel.

Friday 17 October
  
SAINT LUKE
Evangelist
(Feast)
        St. Luke, a physician at Antioch, and a painter, became a convert of St. Paul, and afterwards his fellow-laborer. He is best known to us as the historian of the New Testament. Though not an eye-witness of our Lord's life, the Evangelist diligently gathered information from the lips of the apostles, and wrote, as he tells us, all things in order.
        The acts of the Apostles were written by this Evangelist as a sequel to his Gospel, bringing the history .of the Church down to the first imprisonment of St. Paul at Rome. The humble historian never names himself, but by his occasional use of "we" for "they" we are able to detect his presence in the scenes which he describes. We thus find that he sailed with St. Paul and Silas from Troas to Macedonia; stayed behind apparently for seven years at Philippi, and, lastly, shared the shipwreck and perils of the memorable voyage to Rome.
        Here his own narrative ends, but from St. Paul's Epistles we learn that St. Luke was his faithful companion to the end. He died a martyr's death some time afterwards in Achaia.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]

http://www.ibreviary.com/m/breviario.php READINGS

FIRST READINGFrom the Acts of the Apostles
9:27-31; 11:19-26The Church was filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit

Barnabas took Saul in charge and introduced him to the apostles. He explained to them how on his journey Saul had seen the Lord, who had conversed with him, and how Saul had been speaking out fearlessly in the name of Jesus at Damascus. Saul stayed with them moving freely about Jerusalem, and expressing himself quite openly in the name of the Lord. He even addressed the Greek-speaking Jews and debated with them. They for their part responded by trying to kill him. When the brothers learned of this, some of them took him down to Caesarea and sent him of to Tarsus. .....
RESPONSORY
Acts 12:24; 13:48, 52

The word of the Lord continued to increase and spread everywhere
– and all who were destined for eternal life believed in it.

The disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
– And all who were destined for eternal life believed in it.
SECOND READING
St Greg Great - Typographically  

From a homily on the gospels by Saint Gregory the Great, pope
(Hom 17, 1-3: PL 76, 1139 )

The Lord follows his preachers

Beloved brothers, our Lord and Saviour sometimes gives us instruction by words and sometimes by actions. His very deeds are our commands; and whenever he acts silently he is teaching us what we should do. For example, he sends his disciples out to preach two by two, because the precept of charity is twofold—love of God and of one’s neighbour.

The Lord sends his disciples out to preach in twos in order to teach us silently that whoever fails in charity toward his neighbour should by no means take upon himself the office of preaching. 

Rightly is it said that he sent them ahead of him into every city and place where he himself was to go. For the Lord follows after the preachers, because preaching goes ahead to prepare the way, and then when the words of exhortation have gone ahead and established truth in our minds, the Lord comes to live within us. To those who preach Isaiah says: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. And the psalmist tells them: Make a way for him who rises above the sunset. The Lord rises above the sunset because from that very place where he slept in death, he rose again and manifested a greater glory. He rises above the sunset because in his resurrection he trampled underfoot the death which he endured. Therefore, we make a way for him who rises above the sunset when we preach his glory to you, so that when he himself follows after us, he may illumine you with his love.

Let us listen now to his words as he sends his preachers forth: The harvest is great but the labourers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into his harvest. That the harvest is good but the labourers are few cannot be said without a heavy heart, for although there are many to hear the good news there are only a few to preach it. Indeed, see how full the world is of priests, but yet in God’s harvest a true labourer is rarely to be found; although we have accepted the priestly office we do not fulfil its demands.

Think over, my beloved brothers, think over his words: Pray the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into his harvest. Pray for us so that we may be able to labour worthily on your behalf, that our tongue may not grow weary of exhortation, that after we have taken up the office of preaching our silence may not bring us condemnation from the just judge.

RESPONSORY
Cf Luke 1:3, 4; Acts 1:1

He carefully traced the whole story from the beginning and wrote his gospel
– so that we might understand
the truth of the teaching we had received.

He gave us a record concerning all that Jesus did and taught.
– So that we might understand
the truth of the teaching we had received.

 

Symbols of the Four Evangelists
compiled by Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D.  
   http://catholic-resources.org/Art/Evangelists_Symbols.htm   
Christian tradition has long connected the authors of the four canonical Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) with the four "living creatures" that surround God's throne, as described in Rev 4:7, in the following pairs:

Matthew = Human/AngelMark = LionLuke = OxJohn = Eagle
(These four small stained glass windows were designed by artist Pat Haegar of San Jose, CA.)
(They are located near the altar of Our Lady of Mercy Parish, Daly City, CA -- used here with permission.)
However, various traditions about four heavenly creatures, are already found in several older biblical texts:
  • Ezekiel 1:1-14 - vision of four heavenly creatures with four faces each:  human being, lion, ox, eagle.
  • Ezekiel 10:1-22 - throne vision of cherubim with four faces each:  cherub, human being, lion, eagle.
  • Daniel 7:1-8 - vision of four beasts representing four empires:  lion, bear, leopard, a terrible fourth beast with iron teeth and ten horns.
Moreover, early Christian writers connected the four evangelists with the four living creatures in various combinations: 

Early Christian AuthorHuman/AngelLionOxEagle
St. Irenaeus of LyonsMatthewJohnLukeMark
St. Augustine of HippoMarkMatthewLukeJohn
Pseudo-AthanasiusMatthewLukeMarkJohn
St. JeromeMatthewMarkLukeJohn
Click on the  authors'  names  above to read the full texts.
The four "living creatures" (not to be confused with other "beasts" in the Book of Revelation) have captured the imaginations of Christian artists throughout the centuries. The following links are just some of the artistic depictions available on the Internet:
The Symbols of all Four Evangelists together:
My Photos:
Depictions in Ancient and Medieval Art available on the Internet:
Depictions in Modern Art available on the Internet:
Return to my collection of Photos of Italy
Return to my list of Materials on the Four Gospels
Return to the Introductory Materials for the Fourth Gospel

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