Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist

“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” – Luke 10:2

I remember the first stirrings of full-time missionary work when I joined an immersion to a poor community in Bulalacao, Mindoro. I was tasked to document the event as a Singles for Christ member and I was excited. I never thought it was the start of something special.

       There I met a full-time worker, Marisse Abanador, who was based in Papua New Guinea. I was moved by the sharing of her life, the beauty of her spirit, her passion and conviction. As God would have it, we sat beside each other on the long trip on the bus. I asked her about the missionary life. I was curious.

       I remember my questions, my apprehensions, mostly on financial concerns: Do you get paid? How do you survive? She shared with me about how God is faithful. How He provides. How God is using her to bless others.

       Oh me of little faith! It’s been seven years since I answered the call and I am still on full-time mission work. God has been faithful to heal all my fears and has provided for me so amazingly, even more than I ever expected or imagined. I am deeply grateful for the purpose He has given me, for the privilege of serving Him through the ministry of words. Marjorie Ann Duterte (marjorie.duterte@gmail.com)

Reflection: God will always take care of us, and when we follow His call for our lives, we will find true joy!

Dearest Father, plant the seeds of missionary service in Your children’s hearts and raise up more laborers for Your harvest. Amen.

St. Luke, evangelist, pray for us.

Timothy was a colleague of St. Paul. He shared the mission of St. Paul. It is important that we see that Paul did not work alone. He had a team of people who accompanied him on his journeys. The work of evangelization is best accomplished as a shared ministry as none of us has every gift necessary for the Gospel’s proclamation. Let us pray for one another as we seek to follow and serve the Lord and His Kingdom.

10 Beloved: Demas, enamored of the present world, deserted me and went to Thessalonica, Crescens to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Luke is the only one with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is helpful to me in the ministry. 12 I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak I left with Carpus in Troas, the papyrus rolls, and especially the parchments. 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me a great deal of harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15 You too be on guard against him, for he has strongly resisted our preaching. 16 At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it.

Psalm 145:10-11, 12-13, 17-18

R: Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.

10 Let all your works give you thanks, O Lord, and let your faithful ones bless you. 11 Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might. (R) 12 Making known to men your might and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom. 13 Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages, and your dominion endures through all generations. (R) 17 The Lord is just in all his ways and holy in all his works. 18 The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. (R)

As we celebrate the Feast of St. Luke, we are reminded that the proclamation of the Gospel is a fundamental call to us, no matter who we are or what we do. Let us be grateful for the record of Jesus’ life that Luke has bequeathed to us in his Gospel and pray that we will not only imbibe the truths it carries but give our lives in its service as well.

I chose you from the world, to go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord.

1 The Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. 2 He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. 3 Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. 4 Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. 5 Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ 6 If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. 8 Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, 9 cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.’”

think:  Let us pray for one another as we seek to follow and serve the Lord and His Kingdom.

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Sirach 26-30

BEWARE OF THE LEAVEN

I love to cook, but baking is beyond my ken. But I do know that the leaven, though practically invisible and inedible in itself, is behind the miracle of the bread becoming eventually palatable. Leaven works in the background. It does its work quietly, unobtrusively and slowly but surely.

       The Lord today warns us of the leaven of the Pharisees. It would be pointless now to be wary of the same Pharisees He was referring to in His time, but the focus is not so much on the person of the Pharisees, as what they stand for then — and now.

         The key word is hypocrisy. We have to be wary of hypocrisy — the quintessential Pharisaical attitude. And that, my dear friends, was not and is not the monopoly of the Pharisees. A hypocrite is one who acts or pretends to be someone else. The word ordinarily came to mean someone who pretends to be good on the outside while being really evil, or at least not that good, on the inside.

       The Lord warns us about the leaven of the Pharisees, which He points out as hypocrisy. It means there is an added element, and that new element has to do with the subtle manipulation, the stealth and the subterfuge that one can do to work at cross purposes with another.

         We all could be little hypocrites at any given time; yes, including the proponent of the “Padre Damaso” stunt almost two years ago, in which, through subtle and not-so-subtle manipulation of timing, place and media exposure, the protester managed to get the attention and the misguided sympathy of people who probably didn’t even know Padre Damaso from Adam.

         It was a stunt, as subtle and quietly manipulative, of people’s superficial understanding of the infamous character from Rizal’s novel. In the end, he became the very Damaso he was denouncing, not unlike what manipulative media really does now to the unsuspecting audience.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Are you for real — inside and out?

Dear Lord, grant me the courage to be always true to myself and to others.