Saintly Siblings

Learning and loving our spiritual brothers and sisters

10/18/2018

Luke 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.'"

I love the month of October not because it contains Halloween with it characters and costumes and candy, but because this month is star-studded with saints. Indeed, even “Halloween” means “the eve of the all holy ones,” the feast of all saints. But October itself showcases heroic saints like the Carmelites St. Therese of Lisieux and St. Teresa of Avila. Yesterday (October 17) we honored St. Ignatius of Antioch and tomorrow (October 19) we pay homage to the North American Martyrs, St. Isaac Jogues, Jean de Brebeuf and Companions. And today, October 18, highlights the holiness of St. Luke, one of the four evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

I love learning about the saints because we are really learning about our heavenly family. These are not just super holy people the Church urges us to emulate; they are our brothers and sisters in the Lord. I would argue they are more our siblings than our own flesh and blood brothers and sisters. Remember in Mt. 12:50, when people informed Jesus his mother and brothers were wanting to talk to him, how he replied? We read: “Stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said: ‘Here are my mother and brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister and mother.’” In the liturgical calendar, it is virtually like the Church “stretches out her hand” to these saintly siblings and repeats with Jesus: “here are my mother and brothers.” The saints are our siblings in a more profound and permanent way than our own pedigree, our family tree, so we should love to learn about their lives.

Let me teach you four fascinating facts about our saintly sibling, Luke. First of all, he was an evangelist and not an apostle, although those roles often overlap. An apostle is sent to preach the gospel, while an evangelist is inspired to write the gospel.  Now, Matthew and John had the distinction of being both apostles and evangelists, so do not draw too dark a dividing line between the two roles.

Secondly, the tradition teaches St. Luke was likely one of the seventy-two disciples sent by Jesus in pairs to prepare the places he intended to visit personally. I always read Luke 10 (very fittingly today’s gospel reading) when I bless homes because that passages recognizes both what St. Luke wrote and what he actually did. Luke was writing about himself in Luke 10! When I bless a home, I imitate my saintly sibling, my older brother Luke.

Thirdly, St. Luke has two special talents, he was a painter and he was a physician. According to tradition, again, Luke was the first to paint icons, which involved both contemplative prayer as well as colorful paints. He is credited with creating the Black Madonna of Czestochowa in Poland, to which Pope St. John Paul II had an enduring devotion. In 1932 an episcopal priest named Gaynor Banks started an organization called the Fellowship of St. Luke that eventually evolved into the International Order of St. Luke the Physician, an order promoting Christian healing ministries. How beautiful to see St. Luke serving as sibling not only to Catholics but to all Christians, brothers and sisters in Christ.

Fourthly and finally, Luke is considered the author of two of the longest books in the New Testament, the Gospel of St. Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Combined, these two together, commonly called Luke-Acts comprise more than twenty-five percent of the whole New Testament. St. Luke was an evangelist and writer par excellence, whose personality and pen were perfectly docile and sensitive to the stirring of the Holy Spirit. A great way to get to know our saintly sibling Luke is to read his ample writings.

Let me leave you with this last thought. A friend recommended a new book by the Nebraska senator Ben Sasse called, Them: Why We Hate Each Other, and How to Heal. Sasse discusses not only the polarization of the body politic, the divisions in our country, but also touches on the deeper issue of loneliness that plagues Americans today. Ironically, while we are connected to more people today than ever before, yet we have never felt more lonely. I cannot help but suspect this loneliness is one cause of the spike in opioid addiction and suicides. Sasee’s solution is to suggest people get to know one another in their home towns: the people walking down the street, the people sitting next to you in the church pew, the people shopping beside you at the grocery store. That sounds like a solid solution, and I would only add one thing. We should also get to know our spiritual siblings, the saints, who are also standing beside us spiritually on the streets, in the grocery stores, and in the church pews, everywhere we go. Jesus stretched out his hand toward his disciples and said: “Here are my mother and brothers.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!