In many ways, October is the month of angels in the liturgical calendar. We begin on the eve of October by celebrating the feast day of Archangels on September 29th, then continue that theme on October 2 with the celebration of Feast of the Guardian Angels.
Today is one of those rare days in the church, outside of Christmas or Easter, where the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and the Episcopal Church liturgical calendars all celebrate the life of the same saint — St. Luke the Evangelist.
St. Matthew may have garnered the honor of historically being symbolized as the winged man or angel while St. Luke is historically symbolized as the winged ox (refer to Ezekiel 1-2 to see the origins of these symbols), it is St. Luke the evangelist who pays great homage to God’s messengers, the angels, by beginning and ending his gospel with the great messages from God as proclaimed through these holy angels.
Who can resist the awe and wonder stirred up as St. Luke records the infancy narrative where the angel Gabriel announces to Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth even in their advanced years will bear him a son named John (Luke 1:5-25)? How can you not be stirred to great reverence as St. Luke continues his infancy narrative with the proclamation of the birth of Jesus the Christ, by Gabriel to the Blessed Mother Mary?
Every time you pray a Hail Mary, or pray the rosary reflecting on the life of Christ, you get a feeling of what it is like to stand in Gabriel’s wings, as you pray the words he proclaimed to Mary, as recorded in gospel of Luke, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you….”
How can you not shutter and tremble as Luke continues his narrative and describes the birth of Jesus and how the angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds keeping the night watch over their sheep? Every time I go out to our barn on a crystal clear moonless night to lock up the chickens and check on the goats and sheep on our farm and I look up to see the multitude of stars flowing across the heavens, I can’t help but feel like I too was present with those shepherds. The abundance of stars sparkling down on me make me feel the multitude of angels St. Luke describes in Luke 2:13-14, as praising God and singing “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom God’s favor rests.”
St. Luke closes his gospel by informing us how the two men in dazzling garments suddenly appeared to the women at the tomb and asked why they were seeking the living among the dead. These angels helped Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James to remember that Christ had said he would rise on the third day.
Were it not for St. Luke, we would have virtually no record in the gospels of the events leading up to the birth of Jesus and how those events were wonderfully proclaimed by God’s angels. Not only that, we would be deprived of the awe struck moment that occurred when Mary Magdalene and the women at the tomb were the first to discover Jesus’ body missing and the first through the help of the angels to become aware of Christ’s resurrection.
Angels are God’s messengers, sent from heaven to earth to deliver the good news of God’s love for all of creation. Today as the church celebrates and recalls the wonderful life and work of St. Luke the Evangelist, may the words from Luke’s gospel help you experience a glimpse of heaven on earth as you read and reflect upon the words of the angel to the shepherds, which are the cornerstone of the mission of Angels of the Nativity’s ministry:
The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.” Luke 2:10-11
The collect taken from the Episcopal Church’s service for today’s feast day honoring St. Luke the Evangelist sums up well the power of God’s love:
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, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
St. Luke the Evangelist, pray for us.
Originally published 10/18/2014