Discipleship & Evangelization, Feast Days & Birthdays

Every October 18th, we celebrate the feast of the person who accompanied St. Paul on his missionary journeys; who wrote the third Gospel as well as an account of the earliest churches, the Acts of the Apostles. He was a Greek Gentile from Antioch, and a physician and thus the patron saint of physicians and surgeons. Indeed, I'm writing about the feast of St. Luke the Evangelist.

Some special features unique to Luke’s Gospel illustrate a loving focus on Mary, the Mother of Jesus: the annunciation to Mary of her vocation in relation with Jesus as his mother; the beautiful prayer associated with that event, the Magnificat; the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple at Jerusalem and his subsequent missing the convoy after it. Also special to Luke’s gospel is his interest in the poor and a tenderness for those who suffer. Tradition has it that Luke had a continuing caring relationship with Mary throughout the course of her life after Jesus’ death and resurrection.

The gospel for the feast day's liturgy reflects on the sending out of the disciples (two by two), another gospel story special to Luke alone among the gospel writers. These disciples are to precede Jesus to the places that he will soon visit and announce that the Kingdom of God is present among the people there.

Discipleship then becomes the Gospel’s focus today. Mary, the ultimate disciple of Jesus, Luke himself, and the disciples of Jesus spread out to do the work Jesus invites them to accomplish. These special folks are the models for our contemporary discipleship, each of us is called by our Christian lives to minister to others.

Here’s where we fit in. We, contemporary disciples of Jesus the Christ, have the same ministry as his disciples: to announce the Kingdom of God. We accomplish that task in myriad ways. Each time we exercise love towards others (friend of foe), each call we respond to in faith, every simple kindness offered, our every growth in love, becomes a form and expression of being a disciple of Jesus.

 A few years ago, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York was holding a Q&A session with some young adults.  One of the questions asked was “How can I evangelize—or for that matter even keep my own faith strong—when I have to work among men and women who have no interest in God in general or religion in particular?”  His answer was (in a nutshell) to show his co-workers and everyone else he encountered in daily life his faith through his joy in knowing Jesus, and that would lead some of them to at least yearn for that same joy.  It’s up to us to plant the seed let the Holy Spirit take over from there to cultivate the conversion to Christ.

How providential that my family also celebrates my grandmother's birthday on October 18th, as well, because this is how I remember my Grandma Batty.  I don’t remember her ever raising her voice or using harsh words.  Whenever I heard her speak of our Catholic faith, which was often, I could feel the joy emanating from her.  What I remember most is her commitment to Christ (first) and her family, her prayers, and her humility.  I credit her and my mother most for introducing me to what a prayer life should look like and what I should strive for.  Grandma had that perfect mix of non-verbal evangelization Cardinal Dolan was speaking of and the ‘hard-core’ evangelization of the disciples Jesus sent out in today’s Gospel.

What I credit my sister with is much more spiritual.  What??? My sister???? She was only alive for a few minutes after birth—just long enough to be baptized.  I like to say that I have a “twin” of sorts—my “Irish twin”.  Irish twins are children who are born less than a year apart.  I am 11 months older than Dorothy would have been.

You’ve probably heard about twins, and how they share a sort of “sixth sense” bond.  They can be on opposite sides of the country when out of the blue, they both get an idea or thought at the same time.  Or one will be ill and the other will know it without being told.  Strange stuff, but ever since I found out about Dorothy, I’ve felt that sort of bond—by that I mean a “sixth sense” sort of bond.  It’s like she has been charged by God with watching over her family from Heaven and praying for us when we need “saint-strength” prayers.  Since she didn’t live very long, she couldn’t possibly have sinned.  Her Original Sin was washed away by her baptism.  So my belief is that she is in Heaven right now, helping us through her prayers to grow closer to our Savior.  There have been many, many times in my life when I have faced doubts about my faith.  Then, a thought of Dorothy will intrude on my thoughts and erase my doubts.  Hers is another birthday we celebrate on this feast day.

These examples become our joy, not a dreaded duty. God blesses our world through us.  We are the conduit of God’s love in our world. What an honor that is!