An important part of my role is to take scripture and to try to help pupils and students apply that scripture to their own lives and take learning and meaning from it. At Mass last Sunday a reading from the New Testament Letter to the Hebrews included the line: ‘The Word of God is alive and active.’ Rather than simply read the words on the page, we need to try to let the words speak to us and come alive within us.
Today, 18 October, is the feast of the evangelist, St Luke. While Luke’s Gospel shares many similarities with the other Gospels, particularly Mark and Matthew, there is a quite distinctive focus and purpose to Luke’s Gospel. This focus and purpose is evident right from near the start of the Gospel, with the birth of Jesus. Jesus was born in a stable, the most humble of surroundings. He was visited by shepherds, the outcasts of society. These are details not included in any of the other Gospels. Luke’s whole message is that Jesus is the Saviour for all people. Mercy, forgiveness, compassion, social justice, care for the poor, love of neighbour … these words and phrases are like threads running through Luke’s Gospel.
Though written nearly 2000 years ago, the Gospel of Luke is very much a Gospel for today. The demand for mercy, forgiveness, compassion, social justice, care for the poor, love of neighbour … is every bit as pressing now as it was 2000 years ago.
In the Catholic Church, encouragement to put the words of scripture into positive action comes from Catholic Social Teaching. Catholic Social Teaching encourages us to seek to meet the needs of the poor, to respect the dignity of every person, to care for the world for the good of all, to act with mercy and forgiveness and all those other virtues Luke wrote about, and to do so because we are inspired to do so by faith. When we act with compassion towards a person in need we are being like the Good Samaritan; when we forgive we are being like the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son. These two parables, perhaps the most well-known of the parables told by Jesus are known to us thanks – and thanks only – to St Luke.
May the Gospel of Luke inspire us to make a positive difference in our world.
St Luke … pray for us.
St Jeanne de Lestonnac … pray for us.
