Discipleship and Friendship
Our Evangelist for the day, St. Luke, is a great reminder of two qualities that each Christian should have. It was St. Paul himself who acknowledge in St. Luke his sense of discipleship and his unwavering friendship. St. Luke was a Gentile convert, who after hearing of the Gospel embraced it and lived it. He was a doctor by profession, someone who had his own life already paved ahead of him but the certainty of a good life did not sway him from follow Jesus whose Way was filled with challenges.
In the liturgy’s first reading today, St. Paul recounted how he was left alone facing his own trials. Friends and disciples deserted him when he needed them most. Yet, he pointed out to Timothy how St. Luke remained a faithful friend and help. There indeed will come a time in our lives when those whom we depend on will fail us. At that time, those who are true friends will also reveal themselves to us.
It is in this light that I remember St. Luke, whose dedication to the Gospel and his friends is admirable and worthy of copying. I do pray that we inculcate in our young people the zeal for the Gospel, allow the message of Christ to transform them and teach them the value of true of friendship.
