Tag Archives: Sundays

Feast of St Luke: October 18

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Luke copy

The Feast of St. Luke is October 18th.  If you’re beginning to read the New Testament  Luke’s Gospel is a good place to start. His gospel is the longest gospel, followed by the Acts of the Apostles. Together they present a magnificent picture of the life of Jesus followed by the life of his church.

Luke’s gospel provides many  of  readings for the various liturgical feasts we celebrate yearly in the church, especially the feasts celebrating Jesus’ early life, like those in the Christmas season, for example. We are reading from Luke’s Gospel these days.

Luke takes over into his gospel about 65% of Mark’s Gospel, which he modifies for his own purposes. He shares with Matthew’s Gospel material from another source, and he also offers material not found in the other gospels–the infancy narratives, for example. (Luke 1-2). He must be the companion St.Paul mentions in his letter to Timothy, read in today’s Mass. “Luke is the only one with me.” (2 Tim 4: 10 ff) He’s the narrator of Paul’s missionary journey in Acts.

Like other evangelists, Luke has his own plan. In his commentary on Luke’s gospel, Timothy Johnson speaks of the way Luke’s positive outlook on the world influences his writings:

“Luke-Acts is positive toward the world, not only as God’s creation but also as the arena of history and human activity. It is perhaps the least apocalyptic of the NT writings, and the least sectarian. Not only is Luke relatively unconcerned about the end time, his historical narrative bestows value on time itself. Luke is also generally approving of those outside the Christian movement. Outsiders-not counting the Jewish opponents who are not outsiders at all– are generally regarded as reasonable and open-minded, which is a high compliment paid by apologetic literature.” (The Gospel of Luke, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Md. 1991)

Carry the cross with me each day, Jesus says,  and don’t worry or be anxious. Be vigilant and prayerful each day, the Lord will return on the clouds of heaven. No, we don’t know the day or the hour, but we’ll we ready for the last day if we prepare for that day each day. Jesus says we can stand strong and fearless on that day, if we live each day well in the meantime. Be especially mindful of the poor. Luke emphasizes that teaching of Jesus in his writings especially.

Isn’t that  good advice for times like ours when enormous problems confront our world and clear solutions and grand designs are nowhere to be found? We can so easily fall into pessimism (a form of spiritual sleep) and lose hope. We can also turn away from the poor.

We can use Luke’s optimism today.

Father,
you chose Luke the evangelist to reveal by preaching and writing
the mystery of your love for the poor.
Unite in one heart and spirit all who glory in your name,
and let all nations come to see your salvation.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

2nd Sunday of Easter: Thomas Doubts

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For this week’s homily, please play the video below:

For this week’s homily please watch the video below.

readings here

This is the Second Sunday of Easter. Notice we don’t say the Second Sunday after Easter. We say it’s the 2nd Sunday of Easter because Easter isn’t a one day feast. It’s celebrated every Sunday of the year. Every Sunday is a little Easter. After the yearly feast of Easter we continue to celebrate it for fifty days.  Easter isn’t  for  one day.  

Why do we celebrate Easter so extensively? Because the resurrection of Jesus is the center of our faith. It’s central to what we believe. We believe in God who created us and all things. We believe in Jesus Christ, who came among us, died and rose from the dead on the third day. That belief has tremendous consequences for us and for our world.

                                                                                                                                                              The story of Thomas the apostle in today’s gospel offers another reason why we celebrate easter as often as we do. Thomas was one of Jesus’ closest followers, “one of the twelve” who heard him teach and saw him work wonders, but Thomas won’t believe the others who tell  him they saw Jesus, risen from death.

He’s deeply skeptical. You can hear skepticism in his words:  “Unless I see the marks of the nails, and put my finger into the nailmarks, and put my hand into his side, I won’t believe.”

Certainly Thomas isn’t the only one who’s skeptical. You can hear skepticism in the way the other disciples after Jesus rises from the dead. Thomas represents human skepticism, the slowness of us all to believe, the distrust we all have. What’s unique about Thomas is he represents skepticism at its worst.  

It’s all right to have some skepticism, you know. We shouldn’t believe everything we hear. We need to check things out. We have to make sure that facts are facts,  we need a certain caution in life. 

But Thomas’ skepticism seems more than the ordinary. He’s a strong doubter. Yet still, the next Sunday–notice it’s a Sunday–Jesus comes and says  “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”


Thomas answer, “My Lord and my God!” That’s a beautiful act of faith. 

What about us? We’re described in today’s gospel as “those who have not seen, but believe.” and Jesus called us blessed. Yet, we can relate to Thomas. In fact, we live today in skeptical times. We’re skeptical about politics, about our institutions, about our churches, about ourselves.  There’s a deep distrust today in the way we speak and in the way we think. We’re wary of others, especially people different from us.  It affects our faith too. 

Yet, as he did to Thomas,  Jesus never abandons us. He  gives us the gift to believe. His mercy is always at work. He strengthens us when he comes in the signs of the Eucharist; he strengthens us through the faith we share with each other, week by week, day be day.   

Our Sundays may not be the dramatic experience that Thomas had, but  something happens here. Our Sundays are always little easters. Jesus come into the room where we are, with our fears and lack of trust. He tells us, as he told his disciples: “Peace be with you.” He shows us the signs of his love and enters our lives.  Every Sunday is a happy Easter. Jesus gives us life.