Today is the feast of St. Luke the Evangelist. Tradition assigns the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles to the Luke who was a companion of St. Paul. He wrote in fluent Greek and was well-versed in the Hebrew Scriptures. He was a skilled story-teller who gives us the parables of Lazarus and the Rich Man, the Good Samaritan, and the Prodigal Son. He highlights God\u2019s plan of Salvation in history, Jesus\u2019 call to conversion and faith, and the evangelizing mission of the Church. As Saint John Paul II remarked, \u201cAs a minister of God\u2019s Word, Luke leads us to knowledge of the discreet yet penetrating light that radiates from it, while illustrating the reality and events of history.\u201d