The Honor Of God

Saint Luc peignant la Vierge

The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.

I decided to start with the writer known by many as Saint Luke, because that’s where the archaeologists and historians seemed to start. Also, Luke wrote about one-quarter of the New Testament (the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts), so, for me, that was a big enough chunk of text to start testing the veracity of the entire New Testament.

Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy, he is possessed of the true historic sense…in short, this author should be placed along with the greatest of historians.¹

Luke’s accuracy is demonstrated by the fact that he names key historical figures in the correct time sequence. He also uses the correct, and often obscure, government titles in various geographical areas, including the politarchs of Thessalonica, the temple wardens of Ephesus, the procouncil of Cyprus, and the “first man of the island” in Malta. In Luke’s announcement of Jesus’ public ministry, he mentions, “Lysanius tetrarch of Abilene”. Scholars questioned Luke’s credibility since the only Lysanius known for centuries was a leader of Chalcis who ruled from 40-36 BC. However, an inscription dated to the time of Tiberius (14-37 AD) was found, which records a temple dedication naming Lysanius as the “tetrarch of Abila” (Abilene near Damascus). This matched Luke’s account and stunned the liberal scholarship of the day. ²

In all, Luke names thirty-two countries, fifty-four cities, and nine islands without error. ⁸

For Acts the confirmation of historicity is overwhelming. . . . Any attempt to reject its basic historicity must now appear absurd. ⁹

¹ Sir William M. Ramsey, The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament, Hodder & Stoughton, 1915.
² Pat Zukeran, Archaeology and the New Testament, 2000, 4, http://www.probe.org/docs/arch-nt.html. Scripture citation: Luke 3:1.
³ Ibid. Scripture citation: Acts 18:12-17.
⁴ Ibid. Scripture citation: Acts 19:22.
⁵ Ibid. Scripture citation: Acts 28:7.
⁶ Eric Lyons, Luke and the Term Politarchas, Apologetic Press, 2002, http://www.apologeticspress.org/rr/rr2002/res0204b.htm. Scripture citation: Acts 17:6.
⁷ “The Book of Acts,” New Testament Introductions. The Blue Letter Bible. 2002-04. http://www.blueletterbible.org/study/intros/acts.html. Scripture citation: Acts 14:6.
⁸ Norman Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Apologetics, Baker Books, 1999, 47.
⁹ A. N. Sherwin-White, Roman Society and Roman Law in the New Testament, Clarendon Press, 1963, 189.

http://www.allaboutthejourney.org/saint-luke.htm

Reading 1
2 Tm 4:10-17b

Beloved:
Demas, enamored of the present world,
deserted me and went to Thessalonica,
Crescens to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.
Luke is the only one with me.
Get Mark and bring him with you,
for he is helpful to me in the ministry.
I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus.
When you come, bring the cloak I left with Carpus in Troas,
the papyrus rolls, and especially the parchments.

Alexander the coppersmith did me a great deal of harm;
the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.
You too be on guard against him,
for he has strongly resisted our preaching.

At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf,
but everyone deserted me.
May it not be held against them!
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.

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

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

Gospel
Lk 10:1-9

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

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. 

After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

Let’s think about Luke, whose feast is today.  He was in the first wave of foreign converts to the Faith, and his Gospel could be said to be for foreigners: for people who were not familiar with Jewish Law and custom.  It is distinctive in many ways.
1. It was not written for Jews but for Gentiles, in other words, for the likes of you and me.  For example, he seldom quotes the Old Testament, and never refers to Jesus as Rabbi (a Hebrew title), but as Master (a Greek title).  He traces the genealogy of Jesus not from Abraham (the founder of the Jewish race) but from Adam (the ‘founder’ of the human race).  He alone tells the parable of the Good Samaritan (a non-Jew).  He has a habit of giving people and places the Greek equivalent of their Hebrew names: Golgotha becomes Kranion, the Place of the Skull.
2. Women feature very distinctively.  For example, the nativity story is told from Mary’s point of view.  Other women are: Elizabeth, Anna, the widow of Naim, and the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet.
3. It is especially a Gospel of prayer and praise.  He shows Jesus praying at all key moments of his life.  Luke alone has the parable of the Friend at Midnight.  The phrase “praising God” occurs more often in Luke than in all the others together: see especially the three great canticles, the Magnificat, the Benedictus and the Nunc Dimittis.
4. What we would lack if we didn’t have Luke’s gospel: a) the infancy stories, b) seventeen parables, c) the three canticles mentioned above….

Prayer to Saint Luke

Most charming and saintly Physician, you were animated by the heavenly Spirit of love. In faithfully detailing the humanity of Jesus, you also showed his divinity and his genuine compassion for all human beings. Inspire our physicians with your professionalism and with the divine compassion for their patients. Enable them to cure the ills of both body and spirit that afflict so many in our day. Amen.

Eastern icon of Ignatius of Antiochie

Ignatius of Antioch, surnamed Theophorus, which in Greek means “God-Bearer,” was probably a convert and disciple of St. John the Evangelist. We know nothing of his early life. The fourth-century Church historian, Eusebius, says that the Apostles Peter and Paul, who planted the faith in Antioch, left directions that Ignatius should succeed Evodius as bishop of that city; he states further that Ignatius retained the office for forty years, proving himself in every way an exemplary pastor. During the persecution of the emperor Domitian, whose reign covered the period of 81 to 96, Ignatius kept up the courage of his flock by daily preaching, by prayer and fasting. After Domitian’s death there was a cessation of the persecutions during the fifteen months of Nerva’s reign, then in Trajan’s reign we have records of a number of martyrs, though no general persecution. In an interesting letter to the younger Pliny, then governor of the Black Sea province of Bithynia, Trajan laid down the principle that Christians should be put to death if formally reported, but not otherwise sought out for punishment. The Emperor was a humane man, yet the gratitude which he felt he owed to his own pagan gods for his victories over the Dacians and the Scythians later led him to authorize the death penalty for those Christians who refused to acknowledge these divinities publicly.

There is a legend that the emperor Trajan himself, who wintered in Antioch in the year 115, examined the aged Bishop Ignatius in the year 115, with questions such as these:

“Who are you, spirit of evil, who dare disobey my orders and goad others on to their destruction?”

“No one calls Theophorus a spirit of evil,” the bishop replied.

“Who is Theophorus?”

“He who bears Christ within him.”

“And do we not bear within ourselves the gods who help us against our enemies?”

“You are mistaken when you call gods those who are no better than devils. There is but one God, who created heaven and earth and all that in them is; and one Jesus, made Christ, into whose kingdom I earnestly desire to be admitted.”

“Do you mean Him who was crucified under Pontius Pilate?”

“Yes, the same, who by His death has crucified both sin and its author, and who has proclaimed that every malice of the devil shall be trodden underfoot by those who bear Him in their hearts.”

“Do you then,” asked the Emperor, “bear Christ within you?” “Yes,” said Ignatius, “for it is written, ‘I will dwell in them and will walk with them.’”

According to the legend, Trajan ruled that Ignatius should die. He was bound and conveyed to Rome, to be devoured by wild beasts in the Colosseum. From this point on, we are on firm ground, historically speaking, with Ignatius’ own letters, seven of which are still extant, to tell us the story. At the seaport of Seleucia they boarded a ship that made many stops along the shores of Asia Minor, instead of proceeding directly to Rome. Some of Ignatius’ friends took the direct route west and, reaching Rome before him, awaited his arrival. For a great part of the journey he had as companions a deacon, Philo, and a friend, Agathopus, supposedly the authors of an account of his martyrdom. On shipboard Ignatius was guarded by ten soldiers so brutal that he speaks of them as “ten leopards,” and adds that they only grew worse when kindly treated.

Wherever the ship put in, the local Christians sent bishops and priests to meet the venerable bishop, and crowds gathered to receive the benediction of one who was already revered as a martyr.

At Smyrna he met his former fellow disciple, Bishop Polycarp,[1] and delegations came from Ephesus, Magnesia, and Tralles, three ancient cities of Asia Minor which had Christian colonies. Ignatius wrote letters to be carried back to these various churches, exhorting the members to keep in harmony with their bishops and other clergy, to assemble often in prayer, to be meek and humble, and to suffer injuries without protest. He praises them for their zeal against heresy and particularly warns them against the Docetic teaching.[2]

One of his seven extant letters was addressed to the Christians of Rome, whom he passionately entreats to do nothing to prevent his martyrdom. At this time Christianity had a number of influential converts, and some of these highly-placed persons might well have tried to have his sentence mitigated. The contemporary pagan satirist Lucian, who almost certainly was familiar with the life and letters of Ignatius, bears witness in his dialogue, “The Death of Peregrinus,” to the devotion of Christians one for another. This work of his is an interesting illustration of the attitude of a learned and skeptical Greek towards the new religion.

The guards were anxious to reach Rome with their prisoner before the great public games were over, for victims of venerable appearance were always an attraction. At Troas, where the boat stopped, Ignatius wrote letters to the Philadelphians,[3] to the Smyrneans, and to Polycarp. From Troas the ship sailed on to the Macedonian port of Neapolis, thence, we are told, to Philippi. The little party crossed Macedonia and Epirus on foot, and took ship for the trip around Italy. These details, along with the account of the arrival at Rome, are found in the ,[4] but are not altogether reliable. We are told that as the saint approached Rome, the faithful came out to meet him, rejoicing in his presence, but grieving that they were to lose him so soon. He prevented them from taking steps to obtain his release. According to tradition, he reached Rome on December 20, the last day of the games, and was brought at once before the prefect, to whom the Emperor’s letter was delivered. At the prefect’s command, the prisoner was hurried off to the Colosseum, where, we are told, two fierce lions were let out and Ignatius was at once killed. Thus his prayer for a martyr’s death was answered.

There is evidence that some fragments of the martyr’s remains were taken to Antioch and venerated. St. Jerome, visiting Antioch nearly three hundred years later, tells us that these remains had been placed “in a cemetery outside the Daphne gate.” It is believed that they were brought back to Rome in 637 to rest in the church of San Clemente. From the ancient Syrian martyrology we learn that the martyr’s feast was kept in the East on October 17. St. John Chrysostom,[5] bishop of Constantinople in the fourth century, preached a famous panegyric on Ignatius, but even then legend was beginning to play its part; he supposes that Ignatius was appointed to the see of Antioch by the Apostle Peter himself. Later a whole correspondence was fabricated, including letters purporting to have passed between Ignatius and the Blessed Virgin Mary, while she still dwelt on earth, after the Ascension of Jesus.

In contrast to these legendary and fictitious elements, the seven letters described above as written by Ignatius on his way to Rome, which have come down to us in their entirety, are accepted as absolutely authentic by modern scholars. Their great importance is the light they throw on the organization, beliefs, and practices of the Christian Church, about eighty-five years after Christ’s death. Ignatius is the first, outside the New Testament writers, to lay stress on the Virgin Birth. To the Ephesians he writes: “And from the prince of this world were hidden Mary’s virginity and her child-bearing, in like manner also the death of the Lord.” The doctrine of the Trinity, too, he plainly takes for granted, and we detect an approach to later definitions of Christ’s nature when we read in the same letter: “There is one Physician of flesh and spirit, begotten and unbegotten, God in man, true life in death, son of Mary and son of God, first suffering and then beyond suffering, Jesus Christ our Lord.” No less remarkable are the phrases he uses to describe the Eucharist. It is “the flesh of Christ,” “the gift of God,” “the medicine of immortality.” Repeatedly he emphasizes the loyalty and obedience due the bishop as the transmitter of true apostolic tradition, and the necessity of unity and peace. Finally, it is in his letter to the church of Smyrna that for the first time in Christian literature “the Catholic Church”[6] is spoken of. “Wheresoever,” he writes, “the bishop appears, there let the people be, even as wheresoever Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.” Ignatius’ martyrdom and his important contribution to the development of Church doctrine make it fitting that his name should occur in the Canon of the Mass.

I do not command you as if I were someone great, for even though I be bound in the Name, I am not yet perfect in Jesus Christ. For now I do but begin to be a disciple and I speak to you as to my fellow learners. And it were fitting for me to be anointed by you for the contest,[7] with faith, admonition, patience, long-suffering. But since love does not suffer me to be silent concerning you, I have therefore hastened to exhort you to set yourselves in harmony with the mind of God. For Jesus Christ, our inseparable Life, is the mind of the Father, even as the bishops who are settled in the farthest parts of the earth are the mind of Christ.

4. Hence it is fitting for you to set yourselves in harmony with the mind of the bishop, as indeed you do. For your noble presbytery, worthy of God, is attuned to the bishop, even as the strings to a lyre. And thus by means of your accord and harmonious love Jesus Christ is sung. Form yourselves one and all into a choir,[8] that blending in concord and taking the keynote of God, you may sing in unison with one voice through Jesus Christ to the Father, that he may hear you and recognize you through your good deeds to be members of His Son. Therefore it is profitable for you to live in blameless unity, that you may always enjoy communion with God….

10. And for the rest of mankind pray unceasingly-for there is in them hope of repentance, that they may attain unto God. Let them also be instructed by the example of your works. In face of their outbursts of wrath be patient; in face of their arrogant words be humble; meet their revilings with prayers; where they are in error be steadfast in the faith; in face of their violence be gentle. Be not anxious to retaliate on them. Let our forbearance prove us their brethren. Endeavor to imitate the Lord, striving who can suffer the greater wrong, who can be more defrauded, who can be set at naught, that no rank weed of the devil be found in you. In all purity and sobriety abide in Christ Jesus in flesh and in spirit.

1. My prayer to God has been heard, and I have been permitted to see your holy faces, so that I have been granted even more than I was asking. For in bonds in Jesus Christ I hope to salute you, if it be God’s will that I should be accounted worthy to reach the end. For the beginning is well ordained if I may attain the end and so receive my inheritance without hindrance. For I fear lest your very love should do me wrong. It is easy for you to accomplish whatever you will, but for me it is difficult to attain unto God unless you let me take my own way.

2. … Grant me just this privilege of being poured out as an offering to God, while the altar is now prepared; and do you as a choir of love sing praises to the Father in Christ Jesus that he has counted the bishop of Syria worthy to be brought from the land of the sunrise to the sunset. It is good to be setting to the world for God, that I may rise to him….

4. I write to all the churches and charge them all to know that I die willingly for God, if only you do not hinder. I beseech you, do not unreasonably befriend me. Suffer me to become the food of wild beasts, through whom I may attain to God. I am God’s grain, and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of Christ. Rather entice the wild beasts to become my tomb and to leave no trace of my body, that when I have fallen asleep I may not be a burden to anyone. Then I shall truly be a disciple of Christ, when the world shall not see even my body. Entreat the Lord for me, that by these instruments[9] I may be found a sacrifice to God. I do not order you, as did Peter and Paul. They were Apostles and I am even until now a slave. But if I suffer, I am Jesus Christ’s freedman, and in Him I shall arise free. Now in my bonds I am learning to give up all desires….

6. The goals of the earth and the kingdoms of this world shall profit me nothing. It is better for me to die for the sake of Jesus Christ than to reign over the ends of the earth. I seek Him who died for us. I desire Him who rose. My birth-pains are upon me. Forgive me, brethren, hinder me not from entering into life; desire not my death. Consign not to the world one who yearns to be God’s; nor tempt me with the things of this life. Suffer me to receive pure light. When I come thither then shall I be a man indeed. Suffer me to be an imitator of the passion of my God. If any man has Him dwelling in him, he will understand my desire and feel with me, knowing what constrains me….

1. I give glory to Jesus Christ, the God who has given you wisdom. For I have perceived that you are firmly settled in unwavering faith, being nailed, as it were, to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, fully convinced as touching our Lord that he is truly of the race of David according to the flesh, and Son of God by the Divine will and power, truly born of a virgin, baptized by John that all righteousness might be fulfilled in Him, under Pontius Pilate and Herod the Tetrarch truly nailed up for us in the flesh (of whose fruit are we, even of His most blessed Passion); that He might raise up an ensign to the ages through His resurrection, for his saints and believers, whether Jews or Gentiles, in one body of His church.

4. … For if these deeds were wrought by our Lord in mere semblance, then too are my bonds mere semblance. And why moreover have I surrendered myself to death, to face fire, sword, and wild beasts? For to be near the sword is to be near to God, in the midst of wild beasts is in the midst of God, if only it be in the name Jesus Christ, that we may suffer with Him. All things I endure, since He, the perfect man, makes me strong.

Brothers and sisters:
In Christ we were also chosen,
destined in accord with the purpose of the One
who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will,
so that we might exist for the praise of his glory,
we who first hoped in Christ.
In him you also, who have heard the word of truth,
the Gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him,
were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
which is the first installment of our inheritance
toward redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 12-13

R. (12) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Exult, you just, in the LORD;
praise from the upright is fitting.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the tenstringed lyre chant his praises.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
For upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down;
he sees all mankind.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Gospel
Lk 12:1-7

At that time:
So many people were crowding together
that they were trampling one another underfoot.
Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples,
“Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees.

“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness
will be heard in the light,
and what you have whispered behind closed doors
will be proclaimed on the housetops.
I tell you, my friends,
do not be afraid of those who kill the body
but after that can do no more.
I shall show you whom to fear.
Be afraid of the one who after killing
has the power to cast into Gehenna;
yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one.
Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins?
Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.
Even the hairs of your head have all been counted.
Do not be afraid.
You are worth more than many sparrows.”

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.

Meanwhile, when the crowd gathered by the thousands, so that they trampled on one another, he began to speak first to his disciples, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops. “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

The Pharisees almost had to become hypocrites because they set an impossible standard for themselves (and for others).  They multiplied so many rules of behaviour that perfect observance of them was incompatible with ordinary life; and so they separated themselves from society.  The word ‘pharisee’ meant ‘separated’.  This perfectionism created a dreadful tension between inner and outer, as perfectionism always does.  Striving is part of life, but striving for perfection is demoralising.  It’s a false ideal – false because it’s impossible.

How much more human the wisdom of St Augustine, for example, who said: “This is the very perfection of human beings, to find out their own imperfection.”  He was spelling out a lesson learned from St Paul, the great convert from Pharisaism to Christ.  ”No human being will be justified in God’s sight by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20).  In practice, through the law you find out how to fail, not how to succeed.  But the Pharisees did not learn this difficult and humiliating lesson.  They continued with their dream of perfection.

The strange wisdom of the Gospel points us in exactly the opposite direction: to death (which is failure of all systems).  St Paul lived the Pharisees’ dream till he came to the end of it and exploded it.  “Through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:19).

It may well be the deepest wisdom of all; and though much is lost through the ages, this has not been lost.  It keeps turning up in all kinds of places.  “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add,” wrote the author of The Little Prince, de Saint-Exupéry, “but when there is nothing left to take away.”

Excerpt from a mosaic in the church Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome. Pope Innocent II stands at the far left, beside Sts. Lawrence and Calixtus. The Pope is depicted as the founder of the new building of Santa Maria, holding it in his arms.
On the day of 14 October

Today is the feast day of Saint Callistus I, who was born a slave and grew to become a Pope. He is most renowned for the reconciliation of sinners, who following a period of penance, were re-admitted to communion with the Church. He was a martyr for the faith.