Feast of Saint Luke, Evangelist

According to ancient legends, Saint Luke interviewed
the Blessed Mother and "wrote" her icon. 

Lectionary: 661

Demas, enamored of the present world, deserted me and went to Thessalonica, Crescens to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. Luke is the only one with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is helpful to me in the ministry.


We remember Saint Luke especially for his gospel but the man, a disciple of Paul, appears more clearly in the New Testament than the other three evangelists. Saint Paul speaks of him as the beloved physician and "the only one with me."  

Saint Paul is always a character to be dealt with. He had an enormous affection for a lot of people, and he intensely disliked others. Very likely, they felt the same toward him He knew reconciliation also, as to Saint Mark. The young Mark had stayed with Barnabas when Paul and Barnabas split up and Paul, for whatever reason, took offense at that. 

In today's reading from Paul's second letter to Timothy, Saint Luke appears as the one who remained faithful when others abandoned or betrayed Paul. 

My sister Mary Lou

Since Holy Week of this year I have often pondered this mystery of betrayal and loyalty. Meeting with groups of Veterans who are setting out on the road of sobriety, sanity and serenity, I have insisted they will experience betrayal along the way. "People who have been sober for years will start drinking again; rumors and gossip will violate the confidentiality of your meetings; your loved ones will want you to drink with them...." 

It happens.  It happens so often it seems a vital part of the story:

The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.” (Matthew 26:24)

After Jesus' ascension Saint Peter spoke of Judas' treason as fulfilling certain prophecies: 

My brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled which the holy Spirit spoke beforehand through the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus. He was numbered among us and was allotted a share in this ministry. He bought a parcel of land with the wages of his iniquity, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his insides spilled out. This became known to everyone who lived in Jerusalem, so that the parcel of land was called in their language ‘Akeldama,’ that is, Field of Blood. For it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘Let his encampment become desolate, and may no one dwell in it.’And: ‘May another take his office.’ (Acts 1:16-20)

Saint Paul encountered that mystery in his ministry and never hesitated to complain about it. He took it personally and it's hard to imagine anyone taking such unexpected, unwarranted betrayal with equanimity. It is a dimension of the cross we bear, and perhaps its most painful. 

Our modern conceptions of Jesus' passion and death are colored by the medieval fascination with its macabre pain; the Gospels are more aware of the twin mysteries of betrayal and loyalty. 

Saint Luke's gospel accentuates the loyalty of Jesus' disciples without denying the betrayal of some. He recalls the women who accompanied Jesus like a praying congregation. They beat their breasts and wailed as he died. They observed the tomb where he was laid and returned after the Sabbath to anoint his body. Simon of Cyrene helped to carry the cross and one of the condemned spoke kind words to him. Even his executioners expressed faith in him. 

My sister Cathy and my aunt Pat

As we celebrate the Feast of Saint Luke we should ponder this mystery of betrayal. We pray that we ourselves will not betray the Lord, even as we recall that every sin of omission and commission is a kind of betrayal. We should pray that, when we are betrayed we will turn immediately to prayer, finding support in God as Saint Paul did,

But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it.

Finally, we should pray that we will not take these incidents terribly personally. "Her sin is not about me." Found in that spirit, we will be worthy to pray, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."