Feast of St. Luke, the Evangelist

The gospel according to Luke was the first gospel I was given when I first moved to Choi Hung. It was around 1968 when I was still studying in primary school. There was an evangelical medical van run by a certain Protestant group. The consultation was free of charge and the patients were given a copy of the gospel of Luke. Yes, Luke is the patron saint of physicians (Colossians 4:14). Of course, at that time, nobody taught me how to understand this gospel.
In secondary school, I sat for Biblical Knowledge examination in HKCEE. At that time, we only studied one gospel and the Acts. In that particular year, I was fortunate to study the gospel of Luke. I was lucky because the examination syllabus covered both books written by the same author. Now, the syllabus was changed. It takes a synoptic approach and an open-book format. Students study the three Synoptic gospels for examination. I am not academically gifted and did not enter the medicine faculty in the university. I studied Social Science instead. So, St. Luke did not become the patron saint of my profession. I end up teaching for more than thirty years now. In an unexpected way, teaching RS allows me to delve deeper into the Lucan corpus.
I will not do St. Luke justice to briefly go through his biography. Suffice it to say that his work has left us a great treasure, allowing us to figure out the life-situation of the early church. On the literary side, his gospel was a gem both for its language quality and its contents. We owe him many beautiful prayers such as the Ave Maria, Magnificat, Benedictus Deus, Gloria and Nun Dimittis; as well as many beautiful parables such as the Good Samaritan, the Lost Sheep, the Prodigal Son, Lazarus and the Rich Man, and the Untrustworthy Steward etc. His Jesus was a merciful Saviour for the poor and the defender of the underdogs. His Nativity story supplemented Matthew's. There were no royal dignitaries and treacheries but humble shepherds and obedience. His gospel is also called the gospel of the women because a lot of women take centre stage in his gospel, among them was the Blessed Virgin Mary. The women took a prominent position in his gospel. Together with the other gospels, Luke gives us a 3-Dimensional Jesus.
Luke put himself in the Acts of the Apostles in the "we-passages". They signal his participation in the missionary journeys of Paul. When he stayed in Philippi to encourage the church while Paul continued his missionary journey, Acts switched back to a third person perspective.
In the reading of the second epistle to Timothy, we meet a few names. Some were helpful to Paul while others troubled him. Luke had always been a loyal co-worker of Paul (Philemon 1:24). When Demas, Crescens and Titus had gone to other places,
Luke alone is with me (2 Timothy 4:11).
In many ways, Luke had rendered the church a very valuable service.
My dear Advocate, St. Luke painted us a vivid picture of Yours in the Acts. His gospel is meek and gentle. Pray that we may find consolation in his gospel in times of troubles and tribulations.
St. Luke, pray for us. Amen.