THE WORD AND THE SAINT
October 18, 2023: Celebrating St. Luke, the Evangelist2 Timothy 4: 10-17; Luke 10: 1-9
Luke alone is with me...writes Paul.
One salient feature that is often pointed out about St.Luke's gospel is the contrasting images that he uses in his narration... the beatitudes and the woes, Martha and Mary, the prodigal and his brother, the rich man and Lazarus, the good thief and the bad thief... these are typical to Luke-s narration!
Today's Gospel too highlights one: a person of peace and a person who is not of peace; those who respond to the Lord and those who do not. It follows the same logic of the contrast... where does the contrast lie and what message does it give us today?
The message is obvious: Luke challenges his readers with absolute choices - for or against the Lord; with or away from the Lord! A value that he seems to have dominated his own life - he chose to remain with Paul in his difficult ministry! The radical choices that a disciple has to make according to Jesus in the Gospel today, were very clear for Luke and he made those choices his own!
The feast of St.Luke invites us to make an absolute choice for God: on a daily basis, at work and at home, on the streets or in a public transport; in company or alone - we are what we choose to be! Let us fearlessly choose to belong to the Lord, always!