Saint Luke (Oct. 18th)

 
What do you call someone that graduates from medical school with the lowest grades ?

A doctor.

  We are all glad to have competent doctors around when we need them and Saint Paul in his epistle to Timothy was very glad to have the doctor Saint Luke with him.

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2 Timothy IV:11 “Only Luke is with me.”

 

  In this second epistle to Timothy St. Paul is writing from prison as he is soon to be put on trial for his faith.

 

   He doesn’t expect to be released.

 

   He expects to be executed (which he in fact was).

 

   This is his last known letter.

 

  Others that Paul had counted as friends had left him, but Luke was still with him.

 

  St. Luke, who we remember each October 18th, was not a Jew, but most scholars think that he was a Greek.

 

  We have no information about his conversion, but we do know that he was a physician.

 

  The information for St. Luke’s Gospel came from, (as he says in the introduction), those who were ”eyewitnesses and servants of the word”.

 

 Luke in it gives us information about the birth of Jesus and our only information about his childhood.

 

 He tells us of six of our Lord’s miracles and eighteen parables not recorded in the other Gospels.

 

 

  Luke’s Gospel tells us of the Annunciation, Mary’s visit to Elizabeth, and the Presentation of Christ in the Temple.

 

  St. Luke also was the author of the book of Acts and was with St. Paul for many of his

travels.

 

   We don’t know much about Luke’s life after St. Paul’s death, but tradition is that he was martyred along with St, Andrew at the age of 84.

 

 

  It was St. Luke’s goal in life to bring others to the knowledge of God’s great love for mankind.

 

  The saving love of Christ’s sacrifice that reconciled helpless sinners to God.

 

   He spent his time spreading the “Good News” of the gospel story to others so that they might know the peace found only through Jesus.

 

       As we remember St. Luke each year, we should remember that we each as Christians should be doing what we can to assist Christ’s Church to continue to lead others to the saving power of Jesus throughout the whole course of our lives.

 

  Like St. Luke we each need to stay faithful and do our part no matter what hardships we may encounter.

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Let us pray

O ALMIGHTY God, who hast called us to faith in thee, and hast compassed us about with so great a cloud of witnesses; Grant that we, encouraged by the good examples of thy Saints, and especially of thy servant Saint Luke, may persevere in running the race that is set before us, until at length, through thy mercy, we, with them, attain to thine eternal joy; through him who is the author and finisher of our faith, thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.