Daily Gospel Reflection
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October 18, 2024
The Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two disciples
whom he sent ahead of him in pairs
to every town and place he intended to visit.
He said to them,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.
Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;
and greet no one along the way.
Into whatever house you enter,
first say, ‘Peace to this household.’
If a peaceful person lives there,
your peace will rest on him;
but if not, it will return to you.
Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you,
for the laborer deserves payment.
Do not move about from one house to another.
Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,
eat what is set before you,
cure the sick in it and say to them,
‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.'”
Reflection
Imagine the concept of leaving on a journey and having “no money bag, no sack, no sandals” or any other supplies for the mission ahead, as Jesus instructed his disciples in today’s gospel. The idea requires faith in God to provide essentials. It is remarkable how the hand of God allows us to accomplish exactly what we are asked to do.
For many years, our team of medical missionaries traveled to South America to provide medical care to the poor. Often we faced significant barriers in accomplishing our goals. One year we transported a supply of gently used, sophisticated electronic equipment to foster a new minimal-access surgery program in the large hospital in which we worked. All of it was functional, but we had no spare parts. The electrical current is different there, and any misstep in voltage would fry the gear.
I asked one of our volunteers what type of work he usually does, and he replied, “I’m an electrical engineer.” We paired “Dave” with one of the hospital’s biomedical engineers, and even though they did not speak each other’s language, everything worked. Over the course of 13 missions, even shipping supplies six months in advance, our equipment arrived on time only twice. Somehow, we were able to complete all of the scheduled surgeries safely, piecing together supplies one way or another.
Over time, it became clear that our results were more about trusting in God to provide and less about our humble human abilities. God sent our team forth and provided, just as the disciples were sent forth, and they built our church. We should plan carefully and then rely on our faith in God, just as the disciples did.
Prayer
Loving God, we give thanks for the way you entrust your work to us and let us share in your mission of bringing about your Kingdom. You send us among wolves wielding nothing but peace. Bring peace to the troubled parts of our lives so that we can more and more depend on it and then begin to witness it to others. We ask that you continue to call more people to join us in your work. Amen.
Saint of the Day
The little biographical information that we possess about the Evangelist Luke comes from his brief mentions in Paul's letter to the Colossians and Second Timothy. In Colossians 4:14, Paul describes one of his companions, "Luke the physician," who has since become traditionally identified as the writer of the third Gospel. Some scholars support this assertion by citing the more detailed descriptions of several diseases and bodily afflictions that Christ encounters in Luke's Gospel, crediting these descriptions to the author's medical knowledge.
Throughout the book of Acts of the Apostles, the author uses first person plural language, thus leading scholars to believe this companion Luke traveled with Paul throughout Paul’s travels among the Christian communities he founded around the Mediterranean.
Because Luke was not Jewish, but rather a Greek gentile from Antioch, he wrote his Gospel for a non-Jewish, Greek audience. The beginning of his Gospel states that he had gathered information from several sources about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus:
Although Luke is certainly responding to various oral or written accounts of Jesus ministry, and like the other Synoptic Gospels, Mark and Matthew, (called "synoptic" because they include many of the same narratives and story-telling perspectives), Luke makes use of plenty of his own unique material in his Gospel. Luke’s Gospel begins with a unique infancy narrative that commences with the story of John the Baptist's birth. Then, Luke narrates the story of Incarnation, when Mary received the message of the angel Gabriel, inviting her to become the mother of God. The story of the angel Gabriel's annunciation is followed by the only Gospel account of the Visitation—when Mary runs to visit her cousin Elizabeth and proclaims her joy in God's salvation through the words of her Magnificat. By intertwining these two stories, Luke emphasizes the importance of John the Baptist as a forerunner of Christ. In addition to these unique opening narratives, Luke's Gospel contains several beloved parables that are unique to his Gospel, such as the parables of the Good Samaritan, the Rich Man and Lazarus, and the Prodigal Son.
Because Luke was writing for a Gentile audience, Luke's Gospel emphasizes Christ's mission to the poor and the marginalized, particularly the Gentiles. In Luke's account, Jesus' public mission is constructed as a long journey from Galilee to Jerusalem. Once Jesus arrives in Jerusalem, his death and Resurrection open up salvation to the whole world. Thus, in the Acts of the Apostles, Luke narrates the story of Christ's salvation spreading from Jerusalem—where the early Church first gathered—to Antioch, to Greece, and finally, to Rome, the heart of the secular empire. Acts begins with the story of Pentecost—of the Holy Spirit pouring out onto all the nations gathered in Jerusalem—and, after following the activities of Peter, the second half of the book focuses on Paul's conversion and his subsequent travels—which Luke accompanied him on—and persecution.
Luke is the patron saint of physicians and surgeons. He is also the patron saint of painters and artists because an ancient tradition maintained that he painted an icon of Mary. A subsequent Polish Christian tradition holds that painting is the famous icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa. Many pious legends purport that the source of Luke's infancy narrative and some of his additional Gospel stories come from Mary, who, through the words of Luke's Gospel, shares with Christians all the memories that she has been "pondering in her heart."
Luke is often depicted with a symbol of an ox or calf. The stained glass image of the ox above comes from the chapel in Morrissey Hall. Above the altar in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on campus, there is a large gold mural depicting the four Evangelists between four prophets, where Luke is also painted with an ox.
St. Luke, whose Gospel captures the merciful mission of Christ to the poor—pray for us!