A Reflection for the Feast of St. Luke, evangelist
Find today’s readings here.
Today is the feast day of St. Luke the Evangelist, known best as the author of the Gospel that bears his name. St. Luke is one of the smartest writers of the New Testament. His references are deep and his images are beautiful.
Luke is due his flowers. We should celebrate him today and everyday—seriously.
I do not wish to steal Luke’s thunder on his feast day, but I want to focus this reflection on the first reading instead of Luke’s Gospel because it strikes me as profound and unusual. I wonder if you felt the same way while reading it this morning.
In 2 Tm 4:10-17b, Paul essentially tells us that it’s holy to get ghosted.
If you are of my generation (or around Gen Z people often), you’ll usually hear the term “ghosting” in the context of dating and romantic relationships. The New York Times defines ghosting as “when someone unilaterally cuts off communication without warning or explanation.” Take this made-up (but true-to-form) scenario for example:
“I don’t get it. Things were going so well. I felt a spark after our first date that continued into our sixth. I took him to my favorite bar. I made him my mother’s cookies. I haven’t heard from him in two weeks—no texts, no calls. Did he ghost me?”
Ghosts no longer respond to calls, texts or emails.They vanish into thin air. The digital age has made ghosting an easy way to dissolve romantic relationships, but other relationships are at risk of ghosting, too.
That work contact that went no contact over email? That’s a ghost. A LinkedIn connection that promised you a 20-minute networking call but never delivered? Ghost. Michelle, your recreational pickleball teammate that moved to Seattle and won’t answer your texts? You know the answer to this question by now.
Ghosts are everywhere. Ghosting is what happens when a person you were relying on disappears. And it’s exactly what happens to Paul in the first reading today—but for him, ghosting is a holy phenomenon.
How?
Paul writes this letter to Timothy recounting the sequence of events that led to his abandonment in a Roman prison. There he sits, reflecting on how his friends have left him—Demas vanished to Thessalonica, Crescens to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. All have “ghosted” except for, critically, Luke. Yes, today’s Luke!
The ghosts run and hide—not because they are scared of romantic commitment, friendship or workplace civility. Rather, they ghost Paul because they are scared of displaying the open commitment to God that would result in their persecution. (Being a Christian in Rome was dangerous at this time, so Paul’s so-called “friends” left him to his own devices.)
How, then, can it be holy to get ghosted?
Well, according to Paul, loneliness and abandonment can result in a potentially holy act rooted in divine purpose.
Paul tells Timothy, “At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf, but everyone deserted me.” He sets the record straight, acknowledging that he has been abandoned.
But then, something shifts in his perspective. “May it not be held against them!” he says.
Rather than set off on a ghostbusting tirade, he forgives those who abandoned him. It’s a radical act that unlocks an inner strength granted by God.
“But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it,” Paul concludes.
Paul’s reflections illustrate a duality for us as Christians: although we are alone, we don’t have to be lonely. We can never be lonely with God as our creator. Even if we are abandoned by others, we can never be abandoned by him.
Ghosting, then, can serve a holy function by creating space for spiritual growth and reflection. It challenges us to confront our reliance on human relationships and encourages us, like Paul, to seek solace and strength in our relationship with God.
