Tugging on Threads

Making joy, the Holy Spirit and Mary part of our lives

10/18/2022

Lk 10:1-9 The Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves payment. Do not move about from one house to another. 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.’”

What did you do during the COVID pandemic when most people stayed indoors? One thing I did was produce videos of four Bible studies, one of which was on the gospel of Luke, called “Hearts on Fire.” I also did a sequel on the gospel of Luke based on Luke’s second volume, The Acts of the Apostles. That video series was called Axe of the Apostles, like an axe you use to chop down a tree.

The apostles used the axe of the Good News – Hebrews 4:12 refers to the Word of God as a two-edged sword – to clear the world of pagan trees and build the Church, the house of God. Together, Luke and Acts make up a whopping 27.5% of the whole New Testament, contributing more than any other New Testament writer, even more the prolific St. Paul. Today is the feast of St. Luke.

There are three themes that run like golden threads through Luke-Acts: (1) the theme of joy, (2) the Holy Spirit, and (3) Mother Mary. Let me say a word about each of these threads and sort of tug on them a little so you can see them more clearly. The gospel of Luke both begins and ends on a note of joy. It begins with the joy of the announcements of the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus.

The joy comes from their miraculous births: one woman was too old to have a baby (Elizabeth), and one woman was too young to have a baby (Mary). And Luke’s gospel ends on a note of joy. After the Ascension of Jesus, in Luke 24:52 (the penultimate verse), we read: “They did him homage, and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy.” My friends, is joy a chief characteristic of your Christianity? If not, ask for St. Luke’s prayers and read his gospel. Let his joy infect you.

The second thread-like theme in Luke-Acts is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Of course, we know that in Luke 1 it is the Holy Spirit that is responsible for the miraculous conception of Jesus in Mary’s womb. The angel Gabriel said in Luke 1:35: “The holy Spirit will come upon you (Mary), and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” But a strikingly similar “birth" occurs when the Church, the Body of Christ, is conceived.

We read in Acts of the Apostles 2:4, “And they were filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.” That was the great Pentecost event, also known as the birthday of the Church. And just like the Holy Spirit guided the footsteps of Jesus throughout the gospels, so the Holy Spirit guided the work of the apostles as they wielded the axe of the apostles, which St. Paul would call in Ephesians 6:17, “the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.”

My friends, are you docile to the promptings and power of the Holy Spirit in your life? Or is the spirit of this world guiding your footsteps. We are all guided by one spirit or the other. Ask for the intercession of St. Luke that like the Holy Spirit guided Jesus and the early Church, so the Spirit may guide and direct your life.

And the third thread in Luke-Acts is the presence and prayer of Mother Mary. His own Blessed Mother is Jesus’ first and best disciple, and she is therefore our role-model. If there is one verse that summarizes Mary’s faith it is Luke 1:38, where she replies to the angel Gabriel: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” And Mary is there with the apostles at the beginning of Acts. We read in Acts 1:14, “All these devoted themselves to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”

My friends, do you have some Marian devotion as part of your prayer life? Some like to pray the rosary (like me!), others put flowers on Mary’s altar. Still others have Miraculous Medals or Fatima statues or the Immaculate Heart of Mary images at home. Marian devotion is not optional for true Christians; it is part and parcel of our faith, just like we see in nearly one-third of the New Testament in Luke-Acts.

Folks, if someone were to tug at the threads that make up our lives, what would they find? Today, pray for St. Luke’s intercession that they might find joy, the Holy Spirit, and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Don’t wait for another pandemic before you begin to read almost one-third of the New Testament.

Praised be Jesus Christ!