From the Pastor’s Desk: October 21, 2018       

     In today’s Gospel, James and John want glory and Our Lord wants to show them the path they did not expect: suffering for the sake of others. Our true glory comes from the degree to which we give ourselves to others, just like Our Lord. It is the Gospel values that we should rethink as we are living our lives.
 
     Today’s First Reading speaks of the Suffering Servant and the fruits of his suffering for himself and others. The Suffering Servant is a prophecy of Our Lord, and the “cup” to which He refers in today’s Gospel is the suffering He knows He must endure for us. No one likes needless suffering. We seek to alleviate it, but it is not needless if it has a purpose. The Second Reading speaks about the glory that Our Lord received for drinking the cup of suffering: He became our High Priest by sacrificing himself. Suffering and trials are the path to glory for a disciple of Christ, but not senselessly: through suffering and trials, we, too, serve others and give our lives for them to be “ransomed” from sin. 
 
     In the Gospel, James and John are seeking glory, but they don’t entirely understand the path to it or the kind of glory to be won. Followers of Christ will be glorified if they persevere in the faith and service of others. Jesus clearly contrasts the world’s standard with His own standard. The Son of God, the Lord of Lords, the Eternal King of Kings, puts all His power, all His wisdom, all His energy, all His talents and wealth at the service of those He rules.  He seeks nothing for Himself.
 
     Most of us who live in this fallen world do just the opposite. We tend to put all our gifts and talents at the service of ourselves, even to the point of treating others unjustly. Thinking that we deserve comfort and honor, we demand it whenever we can: from the waiter at the restaurant, from the telephone operator, from parents and siblings, from those who work under our supervision or those we can take advantage at any time.  Today, we need to take some time to re-evaluate the direction of where we go in pursuit of greatness.  Jesus became incarnate, lived, and died for our sake.  He had no self-centered item on His agenda; He came to serve and to give His life for others.  That’s the law that ruled this King’s conquest, and the same law ought to rule the lives of all His followers.
 
     In the spirit of service, with the initiative of the Stewardship Committee, we begin our three week long preparation for the St. Luke Ministry Fair that we will celebrate on the weekend on November 3-4, 2018. The theme of the Ministry Fair is “Serve the Lord with Gladness” (Psalm 100:2).  Let us pray to actively participate in the life of stewardship of time, talent, and treasure, so we, too, can strife for greatness loving God, serving others, and transforming the culture by our lives. 
 
     It is with tremendous joy that I want to express my most sincere words of gratitude to everyone who contributed their time and talents to make our Annual Celebration of the Patronal Feast of St. Luke such a success. With so many gathered for Eucharist, we continued with the St. Luke’s Parish Picnic! It was fabulous! We had a great turnout of parishioners and friends with lots of delicious food and great fun. I want to commend the Pastor’s Advisory Team for their dedication and hard work to make this all happen.
 
     Thanks to all who came to join in such a wonderful gathering of fellowship, friendship, and prayer to help to build our community. As your pastor, I am overjoyed to see so many of you involved in the building of our community and in sharing with one another the best you have –your very selves as the true image of the love of God. Without you, none of this would be possible. Thank you!
 
I wish you a blessed week!
 
With prayers,
Fr. Andy