Meet Doctor Luke

Today, September 18th, is the Feast of St. Luke, the Evangelist. Luke is author of Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. We only know very little about him, so here are some interesting facts about St. Luke:

• Luke was believed to be born a Greek and a Gentile.
• Luke was a physician as evident from St. Paul's words, "Luke, the beloved physician" (Colossians 4:14). He is the patron saint of physicians and surgeons.
• Many scholars believe that Luke might have been born a slave. It was not uncommon for families to educate slaves in medicine so that they would have a resident family physician.
• Of the four Gospel writers - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - Luke is the only one believed to have never walked with Jesus. Though Mark was also not among the twelve disciples of Jesus, it is believed that Mark was a follower of Christ, since his cousin Barnabas was the one who was not chosen to replace Judas Iscariot by the drawing of the lot (Acts 1:23-26). 
• Though not much known about the conversion of Luke into Christianity, it is evident from the Acts that Luke followed St.Paul in his ministry. It is widely believed that he joined Paul in Acts Chapter 16. Up until Acts 16:8, the Acts is written in the third person as a historian recording facts. But, suddenly from Acts 16:10 onwards, the language changes, "they" becomes "we", suggesting that the writer became an active participant rather than an observant from that point on. 
• During the final imprisonment and sufferings of Paul, Luke was the only one remained with Paul while all others deserted him, "Only Luke is with me" (2 Timothy 4:11).
• Luke took a different route than the other three in writing the Gospel. Since he had no personal knowledge of Jesus and his activities, Luke followed the inspirations of the Holy Spirit to "investigate everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account" (Luke 1:3). 
• Luke's is the Gospel of the poor and of social justice. He uses "Blessed are the poor" (Luke 6:20) instead of "Blessed are the poor in spirit" in beatitudes. He is the one who tells the story of Lazarus and the rich man who ignored him (Luke 16:19-31). He also is the only one who talks about the "Parable of the rich fool" (Luke 12:16-21). Through him, Jesus also encourages giving away possessions in order to be Saved, "Give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you" (Luke 11:41).
• Forgiveness and God's mercy to sinners is also of importance to Luke. Only in Luke do we hear story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) and the story of the forgiven woman disrupting the feast by washing Jesus' feet with her tears (Luke 7:36-38).
• Luke's gospel also shows special sensitivity to evangelizing Gentiles. It is only in his gospel that we see the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), that we hear Jesus praising the faith of Gentiles such as the widow of Zeraphath and Naaman the Syrian (Luke 4:25-27), and we witness the story of one grateful leper who is a Samaritan (Luke 17:11-19).
• Luke also has a special connection with Mother Mary. There is no doubt that "while investigating everything carefully from the very first" (Luke 1:3), he must have paid a visit to Mother Mary to know more about how did it all started. It is only in his gospel that we hear the story of Annunciation, Mary's visit to Elizabeth, the Magnificat, the Presentation and the story of Jesus' disappearance in Jerusalem. 
• Last but not least, it is Luke that we have to thank for the Scriptural parts of the 'Hail Mary', one of the most beloved prayers among Catholics all over the world: "Hail Mary, Full of grace! The Lord is with you" (Luke 1:28) spoken by the Angel at the Annunciation, and "Blessed are you and blessed is the fruit of your womb" (Luke 1:42) spoken by her cousin Elizabeth.