Wednesday, October 17, 2012

St Luke, Evangelist

"Luke is the only one with me." 2 Tim 4:11

Luke's gospel is often called the gospel to and for the gentiles. The only gentile writer in the New Testament, Luke was a constant companion of St. Paul, and most scholars speak of the gospel of Luke  and Acts of Apostles as the gospel of Paul. More important for our purposes, Luke was faithful to Paul, and Paul was properly appreciative. As Paul says in second Timothy, Luke is the only one with me.

That Luke was a faithful and good companion to St. Paul is high praise. Paul is not shy is expressing his displeasure with some of his companions. He struggled with Peter about circumcision and dietary laws for gentiles, (Gal 2) and fought with Barnabas about whether to include Mark on their missionary journeys. (Acts 15: 36-41) Clearly, Paul had a vision about what it meant to announce good news and he did not brook much disagreement, must less interference.

All of us know what it means to have someone with us on our pilgrim journeys, and even though we may quarrel with our "soul friends" along the way, their steadfastness is a great gift. None of us is always easy to be with, and like St. Paul, we need Luke's around, friends who listen carefully to what we say, carefully disseminate what is really important, and help us remember that God is at the center of life and faith, not us.

Today, be grateful for those who always accompany you in faith.

What are the qualities of a good soul friend?

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