Saint Paul’s Signal Grace: A Reflection for the Feast of Saint Luke, by M.C. Holbrook

The Apostle to the Gentiles, St. Paul, suffered through beatings, imprisonment, rejection, and persecution throughout his ministry, but what must certainly have hurt him most was being abandoned by the people he once called friends. And it’s not just that these former friends didn’t stand by him for support; they left him in favor of the enticement of the “present world” (2 Tim 4:10).

Admittedly, what Paul had been asking of them was not very appealing; he was essentially requiring them to leave the comfort of their homes and families and to brave the elements, all in an attempt to convince a hostile group of people to accept a faith to which they were ill-disposed. …