Luke’s Final Pentecost

Introduction

The goal of this short work is to present the final version of St Luke’s theological account of
Pentecost. Throughout the different amendments of his texts (his Gospel and the book of the Acts of
the Apostles), St Luke had different approaches to the event of Pentecost. The versions of Luke and
Acts we have today in the New Testament are his final amended versions. In them we have a
revolutionized way of understanding how Pentecost is applied and lived by each and every reader of
his work. What is most surprising is that one event overshadows the rest, both in Acts and
throughout Luke’s entire Gospel, most importantly in Chapter 1, and at its very heart – the Visitation
of Mary to her kinswoman Elisabeth. In this sense/Indeed this event illustrates that we are all called
to be like Elisabeth and receive the Visit of Our Lady, bearing Our Lord, and to be filled with the
Holy Spirit.
In this sense, the true meaning of the title, i.e. “Luke’s final Pentecost” should really be: Luke’s final
version of Pentecost. In other words: Luke’s final theological understanding of how Pentecost can
occur in the life of the reader.

A Question of Methodology

Note: If the reader is in a hurry, he or she can skip this part and start from the one that follows it:
“When Luke was writing?”

All that follows is based on the exegetical work of two Dominican Exegetes, M.-E. Boismard op and
A. Lamouille op. When I say “based” I don’t mean that this is what they say, but what will be stated
below fits in well with their more recent research and findings on the New Testament writings and
exegetical analysis. Throughout this article, their tandem work will be considered as one. From very
early time (the seventies) the suggested options of Boismard on the history of the redaction of the
texts seemed complex and were generally abandoned by many if not the majority, because of their
complexities! People prefer a simplistic rendering of reality, even if, when one looks at the process
of composition of an opus of many writers, it is often complex and would be even more complicated
than Boismard’s idea of the history of the composition of the texts of the New Testament.
Even as a Theologian, I was never a great fan of the “fantasies” many exegetes brought to the public
domain about the Bible, especially from the seventies onward. Faced with such extravagant analysis
and opinions I followed the advice of my great master, Fr Louis Guillet ocd: it is better to stick to the
most secure/certain conclusions of Exegetes and leave the rest until we have better results. This is
wise advice, and it is what the Church usually does.
Accordingly, I paid attention to the most balanced Exegetes and built on their conclusions. My
spiritual life and my field of specialisation, namely, Spiritual Theology, draw me to daily contact
with the Scriptures. The Fathers of the Church and the mystics’ Exegesis helped me considerably.
The synthetic presentation made by Henri de Lubac in his various books (“History and the Spirit”,
“Mediaeval Exegesis”, “Bible in Tradition”,), show the great depths we can find in any passage of
the Scriptures, and this remains a constant light valid for us even today. I always carried on
deepening the legacy of the Fathers of the Church and the Mystics, day after day.

It is only providentailly that I recently in 2017 came across Father Marie-Emile Boismard op and his
teammate Father Arnaud Lamouille op. In fact, the timing was amazing, because all my reading and
analysis of St Luke had prepared me to be open to their work. Seen from afar, their work might seem
very dry, as it dissects the New Testament in search of the history of the redaction of the texts! My
approach – especially to St Luke’s writings – is different: already for many years in my Lectio
Divina and my personal prayerful meditation of the Scriptures I had sensed in St Luke a certain

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purpose different from the most common ones we find amongst scholars and the general teaching.
Because of my teaching, I spent hours meditating and commenting on the first chapter of St Luke’s
Gospel! Certainly, my reading of some Exegesis books on his first two chapters left a deep imprint
on my mind and heart, for example, Laurentin’s work on the Luke 1-2. More recently I tried to see if
what the Lord was showing me in St Luke was confirmed by exegesis or was a pure fantasy of mine!
If that was the case, then I felt I would have to abandon my foolish idea.
Consequently, in recent years, I have read a few books on Luke to update myself and see if what I
saw corresponded to the sentiments of the Exegetes. It was fine. Sometimes they added amazingly
interesting insights, like for instance some see in the narrative of the Visitation of Mary to her cousin
Elisabeth (Luke 1) reminiscences from 1 Samuel 6 when the Ark of the Covenant is moved. But
generally, my understanding wasn’t countered by exegesis.
When I came across the first texts of Fr. Boismard and saw his “theory” on how the Gospels were
composed, it made a lot of sense to me and matched very well with what I was seeing already. Not
only that but it even started to add more depth and clarity to what I was already noticing in general in
amongst the Gospels.

Like many other exegetes - he doesn’t have an isolated option - Boismard shows us that for instance
the gospel of St Luke had many layers of redaction of the texts of the Gospels. Through a very
minute internal analysis of the texts (vocabulary, grammatical forms…) - studying the story of the
redaction of the text - exegesis can find older layers within the text and therefore offer different
plausible versions. When one looks for instance at the first possible versions of Luke and Acts and
compares them with the last ones, one can notice some shifts, moves, decisions, options taken. This
is utterly fascinating, especially if it all goes in a certain direction and confirms some intuition that
one already can spot in the text in general exegesis.

When we consider the book of Acts we find another dimension to St Luke’s Theology, that is, we
find the interwoven relationship between St Paul and St Luke. Of course, this is Luke’s account, not
Paul’s. In this narrative we find what was the initial understanding of Christianity: Faith, Baptism,
Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, and the new conditions offered to the Greeks. When studying the different
layers of redaction, we can see as well that in the last versions there is a rethinking of the different
elements. This certainly happened a few years later because of certain circumstances (see below).

In fact, willingly or not, Boismard is taking us through the history of the first decades after the
Resurrection, until the final versions of the books of the New Testament as we have them now!
Despite the number of books published, the task is not finished and is waiting for others to continue
it.

The aim of this introduction is to say: what I am about to say is based on evidence coming from both
Exegetical and Theological standpoints. What will follow, not only doesn’t challenge our actual
perception of our faith, but it deepens it. Nonetheless, it is true that we are in for a great surprise! A
very orthodox surprise but still a surprise.

When was Luke writing?

We often read, here and there, scholars and preachers saying that Luke is Paul’s disciple! We base
that on the “we” accounts in Acts of the Apostle. There are accounts where Luke instead of saying “I”
did this and says: “we”. And the events clearly involve the presence of Paul. We deduce of course
that Luke and Paul are together. On the other hand, some scholars do underline the difference
between what Paul says about himself and his understanding of Faith and Christian Doctrine, and
what Luke says about Paul. This is already a step towards some clarity.

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Luke might have been a colleague or even a disciple of St Paul. There is nothing wrong in thinking
this. But a closer look shows us the differences between the two doctrines. [“Luke in Acts shows
little acquaintance with Paul’s Theology and no acquaintance with Paul’s letters” (Karris, The New
Jerome Biblical Commentary, p.675).] They are never opposed but one needs to bear in mind that
Paul dies around the year 67. The last trip according to acts where they might have been united dates
back to 58 maybe. It is true that the second letter to Timothy implies that Luke is with Paul almost
until his death (67). When does Luke put his last touches to his writings? It could go as far as 84 or
even toward the end of the 80s. This leaves Luke a lot of time to ponder and weigh things up and
receive whatever graces he needed to address certain issues that St Paul didn’t have time to address!
Let us remember that a letter cannot be amended! We can have letters written after Paul has died
bearing his name, which is quite commonly stated by many exegetes, but we never have a re-writing
of a letter! We only have an initial one and only version, then we might have it copied and spread
around in this way. Usually, no substantial change is made! In any case, this is how Exegesis works.

But, a Gospel or a book like the Acts of the Apostles has time till the last minute of the life of the
author to be revised, improved, amended, changed!

What Paul says for instance in his most important letters (to the Galatians and to the Romans, to
name some) has never been touched since and is like a still taken of what he thought around the
years 53-58. A still is a still. The picture won’t change. In a sense, all that St Paul says is an early
version of the understanding of Christian Doctrine! Probably the earliest! If one considers the fifteen
to more than twenty-five years in which his understanding of Christian Doctrine matured, one can
accept that this evolved, improved and deepened. In addition, the Communities might have faced
different “dangers” and would have had time, with the help of the Holy Spirit to respond to it. Here
is the Prophecy Luke puts into St Paul’s mouth: “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come
in among you and will not spare the flock.” (Acts 20:28) Here is the full text:

“From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. When they arrived, he said to them: “You
know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. I served the
Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish
opponents. You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught
you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in
repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not
knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and
hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and
complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the Good News of God’s Grace.
“Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me
again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. For I have not hesitated
to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit
has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that
after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number
men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!
Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
“Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance
among all those who are sanctified. I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know
that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I
showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus
himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:13-35)

Note: The two letters to Timothy show us the general belief in a prophecy saying that "in the
last days terrible times will come" (2 Timothy 3:1). "last days" means after Paul's death.
"Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow
deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons" (1 Timothy 4:1). "For the time will come when
men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves
teachers to suit their own desires." (2 Timothy 4:3)

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Did Paul really say this Prophecy, exactly as stated? It is possible; the letters to Timothy seem to
confirm it! What is certain is that this is what Luke wants us to know and think. Paul dies as a martyr
around 67! What happened after that? Who are these wolves? What did they want? What did they
preach and claim? Luke alone had to deal with it, until the end of his life in 80? Longer?! (Of course,
this is only if we accept the fact that the author of all the versions of Luke’s writings is the same
author.) This gave Luke a lot of time! To the point that some consider the author of Acts as being
another author belonging to the third generation of Christians.

In fact, I find great coherence between the actual final forms of Acts and Luke and do accept that the
author is the same throughout, i.e. Luke himself.

The Importance of the Johannites’ Crisis

The “Johannites” is a coined expression used by some Exegetes to allude to a group of Disciples of
St John the Baptist, who received his Baptism, who then recognised Jesus as the real Messiah, but
wo had never heard of any other Baptism!

Many of Jesus’ Disciples and Apostles were first disciples of the Baptist himself. There is nothing
strange about this. We usually consider that the majority of them became disciples of Jesus! But this
is not the only case! A growing community of followers of the Baptist, who recognised Jesus as the
real Messiah, grew after the resurrection and Paul’s evangelisation.

Now, before talking about what should be considered as a real crisis in the Church, let us examine
the first Crisis as stated by St Luke in Acts 15: is the Gospel also for the Greeks (the Gentiles) or is it
only for the Jews! We see by the accounts in Acts how the Apostles were forced to accept the Greeks
into the new Faith, when they saw that God had also given the Holy Spirit to the Greeks.

Now the first crisis emerges with the following double question: what should we impose on the
Greeks? Should we impose the Law of Moses on them? Should we not impose it? If so, how then can
they be justified? How can they please God?

The first Council of Jerusalem, St Paul’s intervention and later letters to the Galatians and to the
Romans are key elements that offer the divine solution to the first Crisis of the Church. It completely
opened the way for the rest of the non-Jewish world to receive salvation, and in addition, through
Jesus, it offered a deeper understanding of the New Law and its fulfilment: to believe in Jesus and
receive his Holy Spirit, to be purified and therefore guided by the Holy Spirit, fulfilled all the Law
and Prophets and offered real change in the human being and finally perfection.

If we read the Acts of the Apostles in a hasty way, we may conclude that this was the central crisis
and once resolved they lived happily ever after and all was fine! However, in fact, this is only the
first crisis. Maybe Luke didn’t have the time and desire to re-write his book, but a few years
afterwards another crisis emerged! We have enough traces of it in the book of Acts and the Gospel of
St Luke that we need to address it: it is the emergence of the sect of the Johannites amongst
Christians! They recognise Jesus as the true and only Messiah, but the problem with them is that they
have no idea or recognition of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit - they have never heard of the
existence of the Holy Spirit! Can we have a Christianity without the Holy Spirit? Certainly not! So,
what shall we do?

In my humble opinion, if we carefully read the exegetical works of Boismard-Lamouille (amongst

others) we can have a clearer idea of the solutions adopted by the “final Luke”, i.e. the last redaction
of Acts and Luke’s Gospel.

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What follows shows how Luke introduces us to the crisis. One has to admit that it is done in a very
gentle and undramatic way, while in fact, theologically, it constitutes a powerful storm that could
have wiped out Christianity at its core: the Holy Spirit and His role in the Church:

Chapter 18 from Acts:

“Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria,
accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he
had taken. They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue
and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. But as he left, he
promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus. When he landed at Caesarea, he
went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch. After spending some time in
Antioch, Paul set out from there and travelled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia,
strengthening all the disciples. Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He
was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the Way of the
Lord, and he spoke with great fervour and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of
John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to
their home and explained to him the Way of God with greater accuracy. When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia,
the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he
was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public
debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.” (Acts 18:18-28)

Chapter 19 from Acts:

“While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found
some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we
have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” So, Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”
“John’s baptism,” they replied. Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to
believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the
Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and
prophesied. There were about twelve men in all. Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three
months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. But some of them became obstinate; they refused to
believe and publicly maligned the Way. So, Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions
daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in
the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.” (Acts 19:1-10)

As we can see, Luke is clearly indicating that there are disciples (Apollos and the twelve disciples at
Ephesus) who, at a certain point, mysteriously, didn’t have any clue about the Holy Spirit! Although
we can see that a solution is quickly offered (a “quick fix”) the fact in itself is shocking, and nobody
can stop us from thinking that the phenomena could have been in fact bigger or later spread once
Paul had left Ephesus and other places and died. Paul’s warning certainly continued to resonate in
the ears of the Ephesians and of St Luke: “Even from your own number men will arise and distort
the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!” “Savage wolves” What
greater distortion would a Christianity be without the Holy Spirit! I don’t know which is worse, the
first crisis (moving on to Preaching to the Gentiles) or this one!

As a conclusion, it is fair to say that a serious crisis arose in the Church after the death of St Paul and
it seems that Luke alone had to deal with it. No Council was convoked, no decisions were taken by
the Apostles. But we have better evidence than that in a lasting combined document that makes up a
little more than a quarter of the New Testament (27.5%): the last amendments of Luke’s entire
writings, namely, his Gospel and Acts.

The Aim of the Gospel of St Luke: To Offer A Personal Pentecost

Now that Luke alone has to face this new Crisis – Paul is probably dead by now – what are the
solutions? Boismard shows us at least two different layers in the redaction of the account of

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Pentecost! An earlier one where the accent was on the extraordinary manifestations of the Holy
Spirit (speaking in tongues, prophesizing,) and then a later one where the focus became one more on
what could and should apply to all.

Let us be aware that very probably Luke feels the responsibility to clarify everything concerning the
Holy Spirit. Everyone needs to receive the Holy Spirit. If on one hand he told us the story of how the
Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles gathered with Mary in the upper room, and if he showed us in
different places in Acts how different groups received the Holy Spirit, his concern can be definitely
seen to be for his reader: how could we offer the reader the possibility of having a personal
experience of the Holy Spirit! If not this, then Christianity would become very similar to the cult of
the Johannites, and even if it can bore any other name, the reality would be the same: they would be
followers of Jesus who did not have the faintest knowledge of the existence of the Holy Spirit and
most importantly did not experience Him.

Luke’s task is daunting: how can he offer the reader of the fourth, fifth and further generations, the
experience of the Holy Spirit through a text, a narrative!

It is with this aim in mind that he will offer us the last revised text of his Gospel, the version we all
can open and read today. The entire Gospel will be revised (and maybe Luke and Acts were one
work and now are divided into two), having in mind a very clear task: to offer a more precise and
accurate understanding of Christianity, which means keeping the entire pneumatic dimension, that is,
the dimension of the Holy Spirit (Pneuma). This is evidenced in the event concerning Apollos that
we have read above: “When Priscilla and Aquila heard him [Apollos], they invited him to their home
and explained to him the Way of God with greater accuracy.” This perfectly illustrates Luke’s
purpose: precision. And it is not at all a chronological or historical precision that he is aiming for, as
many commentators put it. In fact, the structure of his entire Gospel is not at all chronologically
historical because his plan is to go from Galilee to Jerusalem, so everything is following this plan.
The precision is a doctrinal precision as explained by Act 18: Priscilla and Aquila explained the Way
of God “with greater accuracy”! Let us, therefore, see how Luke introduces his Gospel in the light of
what is at stake: bringing more accuracy about the doctrine of the Way (Christianity was considered
as “the Way”), clarifying all that regards the Coming of the Holy Spirit, the personal Pentecost
offered to the reader, to every reader, throughout the ages that follow:

“1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they
were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and became servants of the Word. 3 It
seemed good also to me, having been acquainted from the beginning with all things carefully (with accuracy)
with method (an orderly account) to write to you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the
certainty of the things you have been taught.” (Luke 1:1-4)

As we can see, “accuracy” is mentioned in the introduction of his work.

The entire structure of St Luke's Gospel aims to offer a way of personally receiving the Holy Spirit.
Of course, there are other goals, but the final version and revision made to the Gospel of St Luke,
particularly emphasises this aspect.

Bearing this in mind, let us follow Luke’s own words: what He wants to show us is a way to
"become servants/ministers of the Word". "Word" here is the living Jesus, being God's Word for
each one of us, all His Word, light, guide and presence on the journey. The Holy Spirit, in veritas,
has a central role in the journey of becoming a servant of the Word! As we will see in the next
section, the Act of Faith always relates to a Word uttered by God to the human being, and faith is to
believe that God is capable of fulfilling what He says to us, and this He fulfils with the Help of the
Holy Spirit. Let us remember that the key to the incarnation and the immediate explanation the
Angel offers as to how "this can happen" is: "the Holy Spirit will come upon you…".

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The First Chapter of St Luke's Gospel
The Conditions for a True Pentecost

One has to admit that the first chapter of St Luke's Gospel is a masterpiece, probably the most
accomplished piece of the entire New Testament. It is probably one of the last pieces of the entire
New Testament and one of the most mature ones, for it is a masterpiece of theological craftsmanship.

Since the general goal of St Luke is to offer us a means of becoming servants of the Word, the main
act that commands the needed transformation is the Act of Faith. In the first chapter, St Luke lays
down the foundations for the Act of Faith and he offers us Our Lady not only as an emblematic
person who makes the Act of faith, but he will go further by stating that:
1- only Mary is capable to believe and this
2- she is the mother of all the believers.

Moreover, there is no contradiction between the teaching of St Paul and the one of St Luke. St Luke
himself says at the beginning of his Gospel (see Luke 1:1) that he is basing his teaching on the
previous existing teaching. Remember, St Luke claims to add greater precision and a "theological"
order to the Christian Doctrine. Even given this, certainly, the core of the teaching is the same.

If St Paul and St Luke agree that it is necessary to justify Faith (see the letter to the Romans and the
letter to the Galatians), there are differences! As we have said, Luke did have fifteen to twenty-five
years to mature and deepen the conditions (requirements) of Justification. This deepening included
what St Paul had essentially said in his letter to the Romans, and in his previous shorter letter to the
Galatians (written in the years 53-58).
The first different element from St Paul is the exclusivity of Mary's Faith (excluding of course the
faith of Abraham and others). Another point that we don't find in St Paul is the necessity of Mary's
faith for all of us, clearly signified by the presence of Mary at Pentecost, with the apostles gathered
around her. The necessity of acknowledging that Mary believed for me - this is God's plan for all of
us!

For this reason, from the beginning of his Gospel Luke offers us a diptych: two annunciations, one
that embodies any of us, the annunciation of the Angel Gabriel to Zachariah, and the second that
offer us Our Lady.

If St Luke is keen on showing us how Zachariah and his wife are righteous in the eyes of God and
fulfilling all Moses' commandments, and despite all this Zachariah (representing each one of us) is
not capable of believing the Word the Angel Gabriel is conveying to him from God, this shows us
that the righteousness of the first Covenant is not enough to make us believe in the Word of God: i.e.
to listen to it and put it into practice. Something more is needed.

Believing in the Word of God, believing that God can fulfil what He says is the "act of faith"
according to St Luke, which Zachariah fails to make. He moves on now to the second Annunciation
showing us the only person who is capable of believing: Mary. She believes in all that the Angel
imparts to her from God. But the most important part in Mary's annunciation is the second half of it
where he mentions the ones who couldn't believe the Words of God transmitted by the Angel:
Zachariah (and Elisabeth). When the Angel mentions Elisabeth, we can clearly see that Luke shows
the challenging aspect of believing that Elisabeth is pregnant: she is old and wasn't able of
conceiving.

By interweaving the two narratives and the faith, or lack of it, of the recipients in the two
annunciations, Luke has a very clear aim which, furthermore, will be developed and confirmed in the
visitation and the Magnificat in order to show us, first, that anyone, and not only Zachariah, is

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incapable of believing in the Word of God, in the New Covenant, and secondly that only Mary, the
real golden Ark of the Covenant (Full-of-grace), is capable of believing, and last but not least, that
Mary believed for herself and for each one of us when she believed that her cousin (who is old and
barren) was pregnant.
It is during the Visitation of Our Lady to her cousin Elisabeth where Luke develops these aspects by
showing us the meeting between the only one who is capable of believing, Luke will develop these
aspects during the Visitation of Our Lady to her cousin Elisabeth by showing us the meeting between
the only one who is able of believing and where the inability to believe is clearly acknowledged in
the person of her cousin! acknowledgment of the incapacity to believe!

What we need to "see" here is something of utmost importance: Elisabeth, hearing Mary's greeting,
is filled by the Holy Spirit. It is Luke's way of offering each one of us, through the person of
Elisabeth a personal Pentecost, giving us in great detail the conditions for this Pentecost, and its use:
giving birth in us to the first Act of faith in the Word, and ensuring that we make such acts of faith
for the rest of our lives. for the rest of our life to make such acts of Faith.

Mary, in her Magnificat, will confirm this deep and new dimension of her spiritual maternity toward
each one of us by saying: "all generations will call me blessed"! Elisabeth had previously explained
why Mary should be considered "Blessed": "blessed is she who believed in the fulfilment of what
was spoken to her from God" (Luke 1:45). This verse is amazingly crafted showing the most
important aspect of Mary, and at the same time the practical structure of the Act of Faith. Mary
herself is the perfect, unique embodiment of the Act of Faith as presented by St Luke: "let it be to me
according to your Word". She believed that the double word said by the Angel could be realised by
God, by his Power: the Holy Spirit.
(*Note that by “double word” is meant: one for Mary (she will conceive) and one about her Cousin
(she conceived despite the fact that she is old and barren))

As Mary did with Elizabeth and Zachariah, going to visit them in haste, she does with each one of us.
To each one of us Christians, there is a moment when Mary comes and knocks at the door of our
hearts and greets us. When the Angel mentioned to Mary that her cousin was already pregnant, he
waited for her Act of Faith, her “yes” to this news as well as to her own. In fact, she answered God
and said: “let it be for me according to your word".
Her “yes” is for two Words given by the angel: the word for her and the word for and about her
cousin. Elisabeth represents all of us, and Mary’s "yes" is said for all of us. This is why Luke
presents this episode to us, and this is why Mary will say: “all the Generations (all of us) will call me
blessed”! It is because she believed for each one of us, becoming thereby the mother of our Faith.
In this way, and after receiving the Holy Spirit upon hearing Mary’s Greeting, her Cousin, through
her and with her, was enabled to say: “yes” thereby acknowledging that Mary was blessed because
she believed for Zachariah and for all of us.
In a word then, Luke is telling us that Mary’s knocks comes to each one of us, comes at the door of
our life, and brings us the “capacity to believe”.

Note: And, "en passant", let us notice how the text places John the Baptist in his rightful place, well
beneath the only Saviour, his own Saviour: Jesus. As the Angel prophesized to Zachariah, John the
Baptist was filled by the Saviour's Grace, by the Mother of the Saviour's Greeting, by the Holy Spirit,
an essential point for Luke! If we now recall the “Johannites” crisis, we can see that this is the "final
nail in the coffin" for their theories and very incomplete faith. Here is what Elizabeth says: "from
where is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Luke 1:43)

General Note: Luke's influence on our faith, on the entire Christian Revelation. Luke is not only the
one who composed Luke and Acts, but he also had an influence on other writings. We need to add
that according to Father Boismard and other Exegetes, the Gospels of Matthew and John were
revised and brought into harmony with this last version of St Luke's writings! In this sense the

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footprint of St Luke in Christianity is huge! Not only did he he quantitatively write a third of the
New Testament (Luke and Acts), but he contributed to the final blending of the gospels of with St
Matthew and St John! Impressive!

Conclusion

Finally, what is the conclusion we can come to for all this? Luke was faced with clear evidence of
the potential development the potential developing of a new deviation in the faith, coming from the
Johnnanite's interpretation of the Messiah and his message, his salvation, and, as a result, he had to
find answers to this. He saw what St Paul, his companion and maybe early master, offered: his letters
to the Romans and to the Galatians. He certainly received very deep graces and help from God in
order to find a solution. Indeed! We can't explain his solutions with the early data he had available
from the Apostles and from St Paul were it not for these graces. What he is offering is a new and
higher synthesis of Christianity, and a new description of Our Lady as a key person for Faith. The
Faith that St Paul praised relentlessly in his letter to the Romans and the author of the letter to the
Hebrews, now, under Luke's pen is embodied in one person: the unique and perfect disciple of Jesus,
Mary, and the mother of all potential disciples! This is quite a statement!

Not only this, but at the same time, the Holy Spirit has in the version of the Way, a clearer and
sharper role to play: He is the one who helps incarnate the Word of God.

We reach, here, the most perfect and final version of St Luke's writings.

Here is Luke’s good news for our Faith: Mary is knocking at the door of your heart; do you hear her
knocking? And when you open to her, do you hear her personal greeting to you? Do you
acknowledge that you can’t believe for Faith is a Gift? That she believed for you? That you can now
believe through Mary’s Faith?

The final and wondrous conclusion we come to is that by receiving Mary’s visit and greeting we
have our personal Pentecost! We experience God’s Mercy, giving us not only Faith, but the one who
is our mother in Faith, the one who believed for us. We then can celebrate God’s Mercy with Mary
our Mother.

Jean Khoury
Monday Pentecost: Feast of Mary Mother of the Church
2018