From the Pastor's Desk: October 13, 2019

From the Pastor’s Desk:                                                                                                                  October 13, 2019
 
    
This weekend in our parish we celebrate the Feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist – the Patron Saint of our parish. The celebration affords us the opportunity to reflect on our life and to give thanks to Almighty God for every grace we have received in the last year. I bow my head and lift up in prayers with sincere gratitude our two former pastors- Fr. Luke McLoughlin and Fr. Edward Rooney- whose faithful service and commitment to this faith community was especially significant. I am most grateful to the countless number of St. Luke Parishioners, those who went before us and all those who continue to serve the church and whose faithful dedication brought us to this time and place. Father Xaviour, Deacon Bob and Steve, the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Family, Parish Staff and myself- we are humbled by your love, care, dedication and commitment to make St. Luke such a tremendous faith community and make Christ present and visible! I also believe that you make something far greater than just to build a parish– you transform it to make it your very own family, your home. With utmost honor and privilege we serve this “family” filled with love, generosity of stewardship and devotion as their most beloved sons and daughters as we look forward each day to know, to serve and glorify God through our life of daily service.
 
    
This Feast Day invites us to reflect on the life of St. Luke, which according to tradition was a Gentile and the only non-Jewish author of a New Testament book. Luke was a doctor who converted to the faith in about the year 40 C.E. In his writings, as the author of both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, Luke mixes the best of Hebrew and Greek styles of history and records the theological sense of history as he shows how God is the author of all history and the power behind the events narrated in Acts. He invites his Christian audience to imitate the virtuous lives of the Apostles, who in turn are imitators of Christ committed to building up the Kingdom of God. After his conversion, Luke accompanied St. Paul on some of his journeys and was an eyewitness to many of the events he records in the Acts of the Apostles.
    
An ancient tradition says Luke died in Boeotia in Greece at 84 years old, unmarried and “full of the Holy Spirit.” St. Luke is the patron saint of doctors and tradition holds that he painted several pictures (icons) of the Virgin Mary and child Jesus. Luke is often represented by the ox, since he opens his gospel with the priest Zechariah in the Temple, and cattle were among the animals used for Temple sacrifice. St. Luke’s feast day is celebrated on October 18 ^th.
    
This fall celebrates the 30th anniversary of the collapse of Communism in Europe and the 35th anniversary of the martyrdom of Polish priest Jerzy Popiełuszko. Anyone who believes in freedom should care about the Eastern European history of the Cold War but especially the events after 1989. The political order that seemed to be set in stone, fell apart as millions of people were pushing against communism and the pressure they created helped bring about its eventual collapse.
    
Communism’s ending was a lengthy process over many years. It all started in Poland in the small Catholic church of St. Stanislau Kostka in Warsaw. Things accelerated in 1989 that led to the first-ever democratic election in Poland and the iconic images of the fall of the Berlin Wall, a symbol of the end of communism in Eastern Europe. All became possible with the support of wider and international involvement of Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Pope John Paul II, and many others. These events influenced global politics and thus became some of the milestones of the 20th century history.
    
Although personally I am not expecting recognition to be shown to those many people, famous and unknown, who showed resolution and strength, took enormous risks, or made great sacrifices for the freedom of Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, we should remember them. Please join me to watch the movie, “The Messenger of the Truth” on Thursday, October 17 ^th at 7:00 pm in the Parish Hall. All are welcome!
    
I hope you will join us at the St. Luke Annual Parish Picnic on Sunday after the 11:00 am Mass.

Have a blessed week!
Saint Luke, pray for us!  Blessed Fr. Jerzy, pray for us!
With prayers,
Fr. Andy