The Feast of St. Luke
Saturday, October 18th Readings Reflection: Feast of Saint Luke, Evangelist
Today is the Feast of St. Luke, author of the Gospel that bears his name as well as of the Acts of the Apostles. St. Luke was friends with St. Paul, who called St. Luke the “most dear physician” (Col 4:14 DRB). According to tradition, St. Luke was a Greek Gentile who converted to the Faith. He was a physician by profession, as revealed by St. Paul’s words about him. While we do not know the details about St. Luke’s conversion, we do know that he traveled to Macedonia and Philippi with St. Paul. He remained in Macedonia for several years to spread the Gospel in that area before rejoining St. Paul in Troas. From there, the two traveled to various other cities spreading the Gospel (source: Catholic Online). From St. Paul’s Epistles, we know that St. Luke alone remained with the apostle during his imprisonment (see 2 Tim 4:11).
From St. Luke’s Gospel, we know many beautiful details about Our Lady. According to tradition, he interviewed her when writing his Gospel. While the Gospels, like all of Sacred Scripture, are inspired by the Holy Ghost, the human authors still wrote freely. The Holy Ghost opened their minds to understand perfectly what they were to write, preserving them from error. However, the human authors still relied on the experiences of themselves and other eyewitnesses in writing the events of the Gospels. Since St. Luke was not himself a direct eyewitness of the events in his Gospel, he interviewed many who were eyewitnesses, including the Blessed Virgin Mary.
During his time with Our Lady, St. Luke painted four icons depicting her. These are the first Christian icons ever to be painted, as well as the first images of the Blessed Virgin Mary. One of these is the famous Virgin salus populi Romani icon now housed in the Basilica of St. Mary Major. Because of his contributions to early Christian iconography, St. Luke is a patron saint of artists.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus sends the seventy-two disciples out in pairs to spread the Gospel. He commissioned them to enter any town in which they were welcome and to proclaim that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Through his preaching, writing, and painting, St. Luke remains a timeless witness to the Gospel, showing all who respond with an open heart the way to Heaven through the Word of God and through Our Blessed Mother.
St. Luke, ora pro nobis!
Excellent!!!!
Holy Apostle and Evangelist Saint Luke, pray for us!