Feast of Saint Luke, evangelist
My sister and her husband and children are missionaries in Guatemala. Almost three years ago they heard God calling them to sell their house and cars in Virginia, leave their jobs and schools and move to a foreign country to serve the poor and spread the gospel message. I mention them because today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Luke, first century evangelist and author of one of the four gospels. Luke is believed to have been a Gentile convert to Christianity. He accompanied St. Paul on many of his journeys and stayed with and tended to him during his final days in prison. Luke’s gospel is characterized by a special concern for the poor and marginalized, including women and other social outcasts at that time. His gospel shows how Jesus made the Kingdom of God present and inspired his disciples to take the gospel message to foreign lands and cultures.
Today’s first reading (2 Timothy 4: 10-17b) is a letter from Paul to Timothy in which he mentions Luke as being the only one with him after being “deserted” by others. Now he is calling on Timothy and others to join him. One of the seemingly insignificant verses in this letter is the request for Timothy to bring the cloak that Paul left, as well as papyrus rolls and parchments. This drew my attention to the very real relational aspect of the letter. Paul is addressing some practical issues of what to bring with him and for me it underlines that the letter is between two people in community; it highlights the importance of relationship with each other, especially in supporting one another in our ministries of daily life.
My sister and her family also support other missionaries by opening their home in Guatemala and providing hospitality, food and lodging for mission teams that come from U.S. churches to help serve. When a team is going to be coming, my sister and husband often have requests for those in the U.S. to bring items with them for their family or their mission work that are harder to get or not available to them where they are in Guatemala.
We also see this theme of community in the passage from Luke’s gospel in today’s readings (Luke 10: 1-9). Luke writes that Jesus sent his followers out in pairs and exhorted them to go into people’s homes where they are welcomed, and rely on them for their food and lodging. We are called to be communal people, dependent upon each other to carry out our mission as Christians, as followers of Jesus. Where the disciples are welcomed, they are instructed to say, “the Kingdom of God is at hand for you,” (vs. 9) which may lead us to ask ourselves, how are we participating in bringing about God’s kingdom?
Some of us are called to go out into the world to spread the gospel, while others of us are called to support those who are spreading the gospel. Are we being called to journey out? Or to support and encourage through sharing what we have and building each other up (via financial means, hospitality, or supportive friendship)?
On this Feast day of St. Luke, Evangelist, let us take some time to pray and reflect on how we are being called to participate in bringing about God’s kingdom today.
-Eileen Miller