Saint Luke the Evangelist

The Collect of the Day
Almighty God, who inspired your servant Luke the physician to set forth in the Gospel the love and healing power of your Son: Graciously continue in your Church this love and power to heal, to the praise and glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Psalm

147:1-7

The Readings
Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 38:1-4, 6-10, 12-14     +    II Timothy 4:5-13    +    Luke 4:14-21

He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
      because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
   He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
      and recovery of sight to the blind,
   to let the oppressed go free,

      to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

~Luke 4:17-19

Though true of all four Gospels, it is in Luke's account that we see most clearly the favor Jesus shows to those on the margins of society--the poor, the outcasts, the oppressed, the weak. When Jesus stands in the synagogue to read from the prophet Isaiah, he publicly inaugurates his ministry with these words that tie the work of the Messiah to freeing those who are bound and downtrodden. 

Earlier this week, the Catholic Church officially canonized Oscar Romero. An archbishop in El Salvador, Romero was an outspoken critic of the violence, social injustices, and human rights abuses in that country's civil war; he was murdered in 1980 by a gunman while celebrating Mass. Romero wrote,    

"When we struggle for human rights, for freedom, for dignity, when we feel that it is a ministry of the church to concern itself for those who are hungry, for those who have no schools, for those who are deprived, we are not departing from God’s promise. He comes to free us from sin, and the church knows that sin’s consequences are all such injustices and abuses."

We often hear about the desire to "keep politics out of religion"--if that means faith leaders refraining from endorsing political candidates and becoming party mouthpieces, well and good. But the gospel, though not partisan, is inescapably political. It has always declared good news to the poor and been a source of nervousness for the powerful who fear being cast down from their thrones (Luke 1:22). The gospel is not for the faint of heart or lovers of the status quo; it is for those who look forward with hope for a better, more just world, and proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.   

Closing Prayer
O God our heavenly Father, you have blessed us and given us dominion over all the earth: Increase our reverence before the mystery of life; and give us new insight into your purposes for the human race, and new wisdom and determination in making provision for its future in accordance with your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
~ For the Future of the Human Race, BCP p. 828