Spiritual Journal of Luke

Dale Maxfield

     The Gospel of Luke begins with one of my favorite Scripture stories: the Incarnation. Jesus’ birth is announced by the angel, Mary says “yes” and a child is born in Bethlehem.  The Gospel of Luke is such a warm and wonderful Gospel.  He paints pictures like a Rembrandt.  Mary is the tender mother.  Easter is called the most important event in the Church.  But I think that it is somewhat easier to understand Christmas because we are more familiar with the joy and mystery of a new life coming into the world.  The Incarnation is a cosmic event that makes the Paschal mystery possible.  Outside of time, the Savior fulfills the Father’s promise.  When Jesus’ time had come, Jesus suffers, dies and rises.

     Lord, throughout the Gospel of Luke you teach me that I did not choose you, but you chose me.  This is a great mystery and a great example of your love for me.  You are a God who stoops and reaches out to me.  I can turn away from you, but you never turn away from me.  When you were born the angels sang.  You love us so much that when we were born again in Baptism, the angels sang again in that we were saved and given the gift of eternal life. 

     Like on the road to Emmaus, you accompany us on our journey.  You stay close to us and will never leave us orphaned.  Heal me from my blindness of not recognizing You.  Open my eyes and help me to recognize you daily in the breaking of the Bread.  May I not turn to substitutes but only grow in my love for You.  Also, break open the Word of you Sacred Scripture and teach me the meaning of your love and your will for me. 

     Teach me to reach out to those less fortunate in my world.  Help me to have a special place in my heart for the poor, to bring healing to those who suffer and all those who are outcasts in  our society. 

     Like St. John the Baptist, may I prepare your way and orient my whole being towards You; that I may orient my life so that You may increase while I decrease. 

     May I, like Elizabeth and Zechariah, know how to keep silent in this noisy world in order to contemplate Your goodness and love.  Bosetti says that You “turned Mary’s life upside down.”  Still, she said “yes” to Your will.  May I learn for Mary’s example to say “yes” to your will even when it turns my world upside down and my plans change because your plan is what is better for me.  Also like Mary, may my “yes” be unconditional as was hers.  Being the father of five children had me convinced that my call to priesthood must have been a mistake or something that I mistook as your call.  Yet you have shown me that “nothing is impossible to God.”  For you have done wonders in my life and turned situations upside down. 

     Like Anna, the prophetess who never left the temple, help me to never leave your Church; not only in the logistical sense, but also in that it may always be my spiritual abode.  Connecting this with Psalm 27, one thing I ask of the Lord, this I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord, all the days of my life. 

     The journey of faith calls for ongoing conversion.  Like Luke, may I be an evangelist and like St. Paul, be compelled to preach the Good News.  May I never just act like a priest, but really be one.  It is not enough to be one of the chosen (people), I must live up to my spiritual heredity. 

     Like Mary Magdelene, free me from all my devils so that I can truly have no obstacles holding me back from you.  Luke also mentions Johanna, Susanna and other women in Jesus’ life.  May I always have a deep respect for women in my life and always treat them as sisters in the Lord.  Like Martha, may I do what needs to be done, but like her sister Mary, may I always sit at Your feet. 

     Luke’s portrait of Jesus is a joyful man.  Being crabby or angry or always stern does not attract people to Jesus or the Church.  I pray that I may be a joyful priest.  Once when someone nominated me for Who’s Who in Religion, I was asked to give a personal quote.  I said, “ The language of the kingdom is laughter, and music its vocabulary.”  I believe that.  Laughter is something all peoples have in common.  Joy is a virtue that can work miracles.

     Finally, may I bring healing to all people in the way You would have them healed.  May I bring peace to them as You would bring it to them.  And for those who do not or will not like me, help me to love my enemies and pray for them as you have commanded. Help me to never seek revenge or return insult for insult.  Grant me this meekness and humility that You exhibited always.  Help me learn that in my times of pain and suffering, I am not alone and that the Father will never abandon me and that love is stronger than death.