Word to the Wise
Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - ST. LUKE, EVANGELIST
[2 Timothy 4:10-17B and Luke 10:1-9]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.
The four gospels make up an unique literary genre and receive a particular veneration from the Church. In the Eastern rites of the church, the procession with the gospel book, which is elaborately covered, is a glorious event. The Latin rite, to which most of my Belove Congregation belongs, is a bit more sober but there is now a procession with a large Book of the Gospels, at least on Sundays. Given the veneration of the Church for the gospels, the celebration of a feast day in honor of the person to whom or with whom the particular gospel book is attributed is understandable. In scholarly circles, the gospels are referred to as First, Second, Third and Fourth because the authorship is not 100% certain. The Gospel According to Luke is the THIRD GOSPEL. It has its own peculiar emphases even though it borrows heavily from the First Gospel (Mark). Yet, it has some stories all its own (The Good Samaritan and the Martha/Mary story, for instance). The Acts of the Apostles is traditionally attributed to the same author due to some similarities in style and language. The emphasis on poverty, the sympathetic portrayal of women, the strong role of the Holy Spirit are all background themes to the ministry of Jesus and the subsequent ministry of the disciples. Of course, the traditional stories of the annunciation and the birth of Jesus and John the Baptist are also part of the Lucan "corpus." If you can find about 15-30 minutes for a quick read at least of the Gospel (if not ACTS, too) for this feast day, I think the effort would be much rewarded. Anyone who has preserved such a precious memory of Jesus for us is worth listening to! AMEN
config
view
logs
4096.0 KB
390 ms
4
