New Catholics in front of our 9 bedroom house in Kenwood in Minneapolis. Why this today? Because I am reminded of my early Catholic days by my patron Saint Luke! Today is his feastday, and when I think of taking his name as my Patron Saint, of course it brings back the day of our confirmation into the Catholic Church in the spring of 1972 at a huge adult confirmation at the Cathedral in St Paul! It was the first time I had been in there, and if you have had the opportunity to go into the Cathedral you will understand how impressed I was and overwhelmed by the grandeur and heavenly beauty of our new Church!
Those alcoves around the Church hold the 4 Evangelists - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John... so this is the huge reminder of my patron Saint there with me as I walked forward to have the Bishop lay hands on me to receive the Holy Spirit and take the name of St Luke! Why? At the time I was in the midst of perusing my calling to nursing at St Catherine's. After we moved to Mpls the year after I graduated high school. I got a job working at General/HCMC hospital charting lab results all over the county hospital, so that after a year of work I would attend the U of M as a resident of the state. I went every where, and saw a lot with my young innocent eyes. Mostly I saw the down and out, and felt a tug to look into nursing. I then trained as a nursing assistant and started working on the men's medical ward - I mean ward... just as in the movies it was a huge room with bed after bed and a curtain you would pull for privacy between. I loved it! Patching up the many alcoholics, for the most part, and sending them out renewed and healed as best we could. But my heart would break when I would see them from the bus window, as I went down Hennepin to work - stumbling drunk down the sidewalk! So I was on the track to be a nurse, and the only place I wanted to work was HCMC... As a new Catholic and taking a confirmation saint - St Luke grabbed my attention as he was known to have been a physician. This brought me to him, and I was known from then on as Barbara Luke by all those close to me. Since I have learned to love St Luke for much more than his being a doctor and I a nurse... I love how we learn about Mary from him, and the fact that he like St Paul, who he was a disciple with and of, he never walked with Jesus on this earth, his Gospel highlights Jesus' healing word to all sorts of sinners and sufferers... there are many stories we only get in his Gospel - The Prodigal Son, the Woman who washed his feet with her tears... So amazing! Thank you my dear St Luke!
Can you imagine how my newly Catholic eyes were filled with awe and wonder at seeing this for the first time? I remember looking back to the back of this church and it was full of people streaming forward to be confirmed with the laying on of hands to receive the Holy Spirit! For me this was crazy amazing... being Charismatic for years and after my parents had laid hands on me to receive the Holy Spirit and I spoke in tongues and felt a deeper LOVE for Christ! What did I think about all this... This is Truly the True Church and they have it all figured out! What do I say now? The same, plus this... thank you for every day since... each one has been filled with graces and blessings..."The Kingdom of God is at hand for you." Luke 10: 1-9 the Gospel for today!
Jesus, with your evangelist St Luke at your feet... we thank and praise you this day for another reason to celebrate in your glorious Church! We are filled with awe and wonder at the magnificence of The Church portrayed over and over again in each town and village we enter around the world! You open that door - not knowing what beauty lies inside - we are usually left awestruck, and amazed, and lifted to a higher place of praise and worship of Jesus with his Bride, The Church, at his side! We are also so grateful this day to St Luke, who from the side of St Paul, was able to write down the Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles! What would the world be like without the Magnificat of Mary? We would not know how to put into words the humility we need to know and LOVE YOU, O Lord, without counting the cost. Jesus, we trust in YOU. Amen and Halleluia
"God is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us." Ephesians 2:4
"The Lord is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The Lord is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.
Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom."
Psalm 145 - a Hallel psalm from mass today! I always feel like it is a personal gift from Hallel when we have one of the Hallel/praise in the highest psalms as part of the mass for the day! She has certainly made us aware of the Hallel Psalms, and each time we say her name we are giving God and His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, that dwells in each of us since our confirmation - the Highest Praise which they are due! We also are surrounded by her daily prayers for our family! That is why we have already called her in Marseille, France and let her know that her prayers are appreciated for the newest little LIFE/member of our family - the 3rd child of Nancy and Bill!
The Saint that is me - by Danielle Rose
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