He was pretty prolific, after all, and gave us two pivotal works of the New Testament, which managed to recount the life of Christ and the early days of the Church.

Not too shabby.

He also stands as the only one of the evangelists who was not Jewish — and whose work speaks eloquently, even poignantly, to all outsiders. In his gospel, it is those outside the circle — the poor, crippled, widowed, diseased, as well the Samaritans and the Gentiles — who are touched most directly by Christ’s message, and who are shown again and again to be just as worthy of His grace.

So: for all those who were the last picked for the softball team…the ones who had to sit at the drafty lunch table far from the football quarterback and homecoming queen…the kids who spent prom night sitting at home watching reruns of “Love, American Style” with their parents…St. Luke is the saint for you.

You can read more about Luke, whose feast we celebrate today, right here, and here. Wikipedia’s interpretation, meantime, is at this link.