Homily for Thursday 18th October 2018
_“Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me.” *2 Timothy 4:10-11.*_
Behind the success of St. Paul as a Preacher and a great evangelizer was a man called Luke, the author of _The Gospel According To Luke_ as well as _The Acts of the Apostles_. This man, Luke was not only a great writer, he was also a trained physician.
Something striking about Luke was that he was a Gentile converted to the faith by St. Paul himself. This conversion took place while Luke was treating Paul during an illness in the course of his second missionary journey. St. Jerome and St. John Chrysostom describes the Gospel of Luke as St. Paul’s Gospel. In other words, while the New Testament contains many letters Paul wrote to the Churches he had earlier preached to, the Gospel of Luke may be said to be the content of what Paul preached while he was there physically.
Of all the four Gospels, Luke is a winner when it comes to powerful storytelling skills. In particular Luke laid so much emphasis on Christian purity, poverty, joyfulness. For the graphic descriptions of the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Birth and Early Life of Jesus, only a person who had the privilege of having a one on one contact with Mary herself could have been so detailed. Luke is said to have interviewed Mary in the course of his composition. In fact, Luke is credited to have painted a portrait of Mary. Another fact about Luke’s Gospel was his special focus on the dignity of women.
What does it take to be an evangelist? Is it just to write homilies or preach sermons? Luke’s life tells us it is more than that. To be an evangelist is to walk the talk, it is to live the life. When the going became so tough, Paul in today’s first reading writing to Timothy described how some left him, but then as he carefully mentioned: “Luke alone is with me!”
Luke stood by Paul when it seemed most inconvenient. Luke didn’t just talk. His actions also spoke for him. Will I be spoken well of like this? Or will I be remembered for doing harm like the case of Alexander the Coppersmith? Will I abandon the work of God to chase after the pleasures of the world like Demas?
In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus said: “The harvest is rich, but the labourers are few…” When we look at Christianity in our society today, I think the opposite has become the case: “The labourers are rich but the harvest is few!” The lifestyle of today’s ministers gives a picture of ministry that contradicts that of Christ who had nowhere to lay his head, who was so poor that he could afford to pick heads of grains and eat while working through a corn-field during one Sabbath.
Jesus said “carry no bag, no sandals, no purse” to mean the labourer must be detached from the world’s riches and pleasures while depending solely on God’s providence through those he ministers to. As Jesus said: “Eat what is set before you.” Let us pray for our ministers and support them as much as we can especially those who live in work in places where the people do not have anything to set before them.
Jesus also added, “heal the sick in it and say to them: ‘The kingdom of God has come near you.” Healing the sick goes beyond treating working miracles, it includes casting of demons from the possessed, teaching the truth, being an example and bringing back to God those stuck in the sickness of immorality and evil. In the case of Luke, he was not only a spiritual healer, he was also a physician.
Dear friends, you don’t have to be a preacher to evangelize. Whatever be your field of endeavour you can win souls for Christ. It all begins by letting your light shine. Be that teacher who not only imparts knowledge but adds discipline and morality. Be that businessman or woman who does not tell lies. Be that doctor who apart from treating diseases will also treat reckless lifestyles. We are not told if Luke became a priest or a bishop but as an evangelist, we celebrate him today as the physician who treated St. Paul, got converted, assisted Paul in his ministry and eventually became an Evangelist.
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, use me as much as you want to as your instrument in promoting the Gospel. Amen. St. Luke, the Evangelist, pray for us.
*Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Feast of St. Luke, the Evangelist. Thursday of the 28th week in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: 2nd Timothy 4:10-17, Psalm 145:10-18 and Luke 10:1-9).
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