Ordinary time Monday 18/10/2021 Lk, 10, 1-9
Saint Luke the Evangelist was a Greek doctor who converted to Christianity. He was a companion of the Apostle Paul and wrote his Gospel
in accordance with Paul’s teaching. He also wrote the Acts of the Apostles about the early history of the Church up to Paul’s first stay in Rome. As a Greek, he takes care to explain to Gentile readers Jewish customs and the meaning of Hebrew words. Luke highlights Jesus’ prayer, the importance of prayer and role of the Holy Spirit. He sets much of his Gospel in the context of meals and expresses a special concern for the excluded (e.g. Samaritans, Gentiles, Tax Collectors, Women, the poor).
After Pentecost the apostles were able to go out and speak in different languages that their hearers understood. This understanding was much more than the spoken language, they spoke to the hearts as well as the minds of people, allowing the Holy Spirit to work in the lives of those who listened. Luke shows this same tendency by speaking to non-Jews unfamiliar with that faith. He gives us a vision filled with a desire to reach out to those on the edges of society and show how much God loved and valued them. Like our impending synodal encounters, Jesus showed that everyone mattered and everyone was to be included.
An urgent question today concerns Creation. Psalm 8 voices the powerful wonder and exaltation of God for all that God created. Embedded in this psalm is a profound reflection on the role that we humans play in God’s creation. What is our role in this vast cosmos that is the handiwork of God’s design? Psalm 8 raises profound questions for us and, answering them, gives us a way to understand our place in the whole of creation. We finish reading it reoriented and seeing more clearly our place on the map of reality. In this way it helps us actively seek to heal our creation.
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