When I sat in mass on the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist, the priest started mass with a short biography of St. Luke–but it was different from any other St. Luke bio I had ever heard.
Most St. Luke biographies outline that this Evangelist wrote the Gospel according to St. Luke (kind of obvious, I guess) as well as the Acts of the Apostles, they talk about his trade and his way of recording the historical events of Christianity. These are valuable facts, not to be discounted.
The priest, however, looked at them a different way.
He pointed out that only in Luke’s gospel account to we hear the story of St. John the Baptist’s earliest life, the announcement from Gabriel to Mary, the childhood stories of Jesus. Only in the Acts of the Apostles do we hear of St. Paul’s miraculous conversion, of St. Stephen’s martyrdom. The priest listed story upon story on his fingers…stories we wouldn’t have if not recorded by Luke.
Story. Story is an indispensable part of the Faith–stories of Jesus, stories of the faithful before us, stories of our personal encounters with the Christ. I need the stories!
Until that day, I was bouncing around an idea of blogging about the faces and stories of those I encounter, and the message of St. Luke made me wish to see it a reality all the more.
I encounter people every day, and I think their stories are valuable. But, I wondered, would you? Well, I think that St. Luke would make the case that stories are important, and when Stan passed away without you ever meeting him, the point was driven home.
Therefore: prepare for the faces, experiences, and stories of Christ.
I met Colleen because she moved into town and someone literally told her that she had to meet me. And then we were both given the other’s phone number and we went out to Arabic food. This is before I was diagnosed GF. Colleen, I am sorry if my stomach sang you the embarrassing song of its people that first night.
Anyway: thus begin more adventures and interactions including but not limited to photo shoots, retreats, dinners, never-ending Colleen-support and a weekly adoration date that ROCKS MY WORLD.
I present a list of things I admire about this one:
- ONE THOUSAND PERCENT MORE VERBALLY SUPPORTIVE THAN I. She’s always the one who says, “I admire you,” “I love having you for a friend,” etc. This makes me wish I was a better person/ better at expressing myself.
- Homegirl prayer-intercedes like a champion. “Hey, Danielle, how can I pray for you?” Again, I wish I was more like this.
- We’re also good at laughing at the realities of young adult Catholic life. Real talk. Laughter is a grace. Ponder that.
- She’s so supportive of the things I want to do. Like, she doesn’t like theater, but I do, so she costumes my show, OK? That’s the big time.
- Domestically gifted. She makes me fruit salad and GF pasta. Therefore: she wins.
- Lastly, she gave me this really great quote about being consecrated to Jesus through Mary, and I love it and I hope you do, too!
Colleen-given quote from St. Louis de Montfort’s “True Devotion to Mary, paragraph #57”:
They [the consecrated] shall be clouds thundering and flying through the air at the least breath of the Holy Spirit; who, detaching themselves from everything and troubling themselves about nothing, shall shower forth the rain of the Word of God and of life eternal. They shall thunder against sin; they shall storm against the world; they shall strike the devil and his crew; and they shall pierce through and through, for life or for death, with their two-edged sword of the Word of God (Eph. 6:17), all those to whom they shall be sent on the part of the Most High.
Oh, to be the clouds “flying through the air at the least breath of the Holy Spirit,” right? Well, we can get there. Just keep praying. <3
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