WORKING WITH THE SCRIPTURES

Jan. 24, 2010 (Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21)

Like Luke, Anne Frank was a chronicler of events. This week Miep Gies died. Ms. Gies was the woman who helped hide the Frank family in an Amsterdam attic during World War II. After the family was betrayed and arrested she found Anne's diary, the famous journal that was to become The Diary of a Young Girl, and kept it until the war ended.

Tom describes himself as an independent journalist, writer and communicator. While he is temporarily without fulltime employment, he continues to write for companies who hire him for short-term assignments. Like Luke, Tom writes about people and events that he believes others will find interesting. As a writer, Tom both informs and entertains - because that is what writers do.

Ted is also a writer; or, to be more specific, a poet. But Ted is not just any kind of poet; Ted is a political poet. For Ted, writing is less a way to make a living than it is a way to record life. Ted writes about what he sees around him, even though doing so means that he can no longer return to his beloved Poland without running the risk of imprisonment or, at the very least, losing his passport and ability to ever leave the country again. Like Luke, Ted writes what he sees and hears with little thought for his personal safety.

Laura is a reporter for a local newspaper. The mother of two young children, the benefit of being able to schedule her interviews around family responsibilities more than makes up for the fact that she doesn't draw a huge salary. In addition, like Luke, having lived in the community for much of her life Laura knows most of the people she writes about.

“Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative…I too have decided…to write it down…” In the beginning of this Sunday's Gospel Luke identifies himself as a writer. Then, saying nothing more about himself, he begins his narrative. Like Isaiah before him and Anne, Tom, Ted and Laura after, Luke writes for the benefit of the reader. And we, like Theophilus, continue to be enriched by what we receive.

-Vinal Van Benthem