St. Luke

Almighty God, who inspired your servant Luke the physician to set forth in the Gospel the love and healing power of your Son: Graciously continue in your Church this love and power to heal, to the praise and glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. --Collect for Saint Luke, BCP pg. 244

St. Luke the Evangelist is the only one of the four who was not a Jew. And so it's interesting that "Dr. Luke" who also chronicles the Acts of the Apostles for us, is the gospel that focuses the most attention on outcasts. It is in Luke that we read the story of the Good Samaritan (the Jews distaste for Samaria dates back to the Old Testament times) and the wonderful tale of the Prodigal Son. In Acts, we see the expansion of the apostles' mission to take the good news to more people considered "other" (Gentiles, eunuchs) and the conversion of Paul on the road to Damascus. Luke is the evangelist that emphasizes Jesus, man of love, as opposed to my rebel Jesus in Mark's gospel, for example. We see his youthful days in the Temple, and we get a fuller picture of his mother, Mary, the teen-aged girl who responded to an angel's news of her pregnancy with song:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel,
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
--The Song of Mary (Magnificat), BCP pg.119

Happy St. Luke Day!