CAN YOU TOO BE MY COMPANION?

⏰Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist (18 October 2017)

????2 Tim 4:10-17ab; Ps 145:10-11, 12-13ab, 17-18 (R.v.12a); Luke 10:1-9

????CAN YOU TOO BE MY COMPANION?

Yes, you can! But how? Let us meet St. Luke and ask him to teach us how to be companions of one another.

There seems to be a consensus that the evangelist Luke did not meet Jesus in person but when he came in contact with the Christian message, he allowed himself to be transformed by it.

The second account of the Missionary journeys in the Gospel informs us that Jesus sent out the disciples in pairs (Luke 10:1). That must have informed St Luke the value of companionship such that when every other companion of St Paul abandoned him, St Luke remained with him even when death was imminent (2Tim 4:9-11).

St Luke was a good career man before he embraced the faith; he was a physician (cf. Col 4:14). He must have used his profession well in supporting the ministry of Paul, which made Paul to refer to him as “fellow-labourer” or “assistant” in Philemon 24 and a “beloved physician” in Col 4:14. Maybe he assisted St Paul in alleviating the pains caused by the thorn in his flesh (cf. 2 Cor 12:7) – if the thorn was really a kind of sickness.

You too have something you can use to be a wonderful companion. It could be your talent, time or treasure. An ideal friend is one who stays with you both in time of success and in time of pain or failure. That is what Christ did for us.

In this our pilgrimage of faith therefore, you can really be my companion if you bring out yourself to assist me. You can do that by:

????Guiding me to rise when I am failing;

????By telling me the truth, no matter how hurtful it may be;

????By encouraging me when I am doing well.

????Do that to others also in sincerity, and we shall be on the right track to heaven.

May God bless all pastoral assistants, who contribute their treasure, time and talent in the support of the work of evangelization. Amen.

Have a grace-filled day. Peace be with you.