If you were to ask people to name the most influential writers in human history, Saint Luke would probably not be among the first names that come to mind. Yet, alongside the other Evangelists and Saint Paul, he has had a greater impact on human civilization than most writers we readily think of as great and influential. And he was not only influential, but also a remarkable writer, as anyone who has read his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles can appreciate.
Just think of how much Saint Luke has given us. Without his Gospel, we would not have the familiar account of the Annunciation, the angels announcing the birth of Christ to the shepherds, or the beautiful parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. Without the Acts of the Apostles, we would know far less about the beginnings of the Church and the spread of Christianity throughout the ancient world. His writings have inspired countless works of art, music, and literature. The Magnificat, the Benedictus, and the Nunc dimittis have been sung and prayed by generations of Christians, day after day, for centuries. Even people who have never read the Bible are familiar with expressions such as “Good Samaritan” and “prodigal son.”
But Saint Luke is remarkable not only as a writer. Even more importantly, he was a faithful Christian and a loyal companion who stood by Saint Paul to the very end. In today’s Epistle, Saint Paul writes: “Only Luke is with me.” These few words tell us a great deal, both about the difficult circumstances in which Paul found himself and about the admirable faithfulness and loyalty of Saint Luke. He remained faithful to the end, and we may be confident that when he departed this life, he received the crown of life from the hands of his Lord.
Perhaps the best way we can honour Saint Luke is to return, again and again, with ever greater attention and appreciation, to the treasures he has left us in his writings. But we should also follow his example of faithfulness: faithfulness to our holy faith, to our fellow Christians, and to our Lord, who is faithful above all others and who desires to bestow upon us, too, the crown of eternal life.