by Msgr. Joseph P. Calise
Imagine the scene of a car accident — nothing serious, no major injuries, just lots of confusion. At the scene are the two drivers who were involved and their respective vehicles. In a short period of time, the crowd grows.
There are pedestrians and other motorists who are curious. Relatives of the drivers want to know their loved ones are unharmed. Policemen are trying to get the facts about what happened. EMTs need to secure the good health of those involved. A lawyer who wants to determine who is at fault and to what he might be entitled in compensation. It is one and the same scene, but each person who approaches it brings their point of view.
St. Luke is unique among the Evangelists. Matthew, Mark, and John were all Jews — all familiar with the promises of the Old Testament. They will see John the Baptist as the forerunner, the proclaimer of the nearness of the Messiah, and the one who challenges us to prepare His way.
They had a common understanding of the promise of a Messiah and its fulfillment in Jesus as central to the history of the Jewish people. And so it was. Luke, however, will bring his unique perspective to the same scene. Luke was a Gentile, a convert of St. Paul’s. He came to believe in Jesus not through an understanding of his own faith but by attraction to the message of St. Paul and the power with which he proclaimed.
His experience taught him that Jesus came to call more than only the Jewish people. Unique to St. Luke’s Gospel is that John the Baptist’s message includes an extended version of Isaiah’s prophecy. In addition to calling John, “A voice of one crying out in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths,” Luke continues, “Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” ALL flesh shall see the salvation of God; salvation is not the sole property of the Jews.
This universal call is evident throughout Luke’s Gospel — as Jesus meets the Samaritan woman, lepers, outcasts, sinners, and the poor. If Luke were writing today, he would emphasize Jesus’ outreach to the homeless, transgendered, LGBT, and migrant communities and to all who, for some reason, feel detached from God’s love and full integration into a Catholic faith community. Another uniqueness to St. Luke among the Evangelists is that he was a physician by profession.
He brings to what he encounters the desire to heal. It is no surprise that the image of Christ he portrays would be of someone who reaches out to all in pain and invites those who profess faith in Him to love as He loved, without limits or restrictions.
Readings for the Second Sunday of Advent
Bar 5:1-9
Phil 1:4-6, 8-11
Lk 3:1-6
Msgr. Calise is pastor of Transfiguration-St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish, Maspeth.
