Originally published at National Catholic Register
St. Luke was called to share Christ’s unending mercy with the world, and he did so with a heart ablaze with love.
St. Luke is one of the first prominent Gentiles in early Christianity. Despite his fame as the author of one of the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, we know almost nothing of his life.
His contemporaries referred to his training as a physician, and we know that he traveled with Paul throughout the latter’s ministry, remaining with him in his final imprisonment. We do not know how Luke first learned about Jesus, nor when he converted to Christianity. We do not even know how he died, though most traditions teach that he lived to an old age and that he is not counted among the Church’s martyrs.
Despite the dearth of details surrounding his life, we can learn much about this great saint through his recording of Christ’s life and ministry. Each of the four Gospels tells us something about the influence on the author, and the audience to whom they are writing. Luke records many of the same events found in the other two synoptic Gospels, Mark and Matthew, but his emphasis is different,
