Ever since I was a teenager, I have thought that the Gospel of Luke was “for the girlies.” Including the beautiful accounts of Saint Elizabeth and the Blessed Mother promising their fiats to the Lord, Luke’s Gospel has always made me feel seen and inspired as a Catholic woman.
In the new study Preach in His Name: A Meditation on Luke, author Susanna Spencer walks readers through Scripture from the perspective of Luke, revealing Jesus’ journey on earth. We see His birth, His early years, and His public ministry. But more than Jesus’ biography, the Gospel of Luke is also a redemptive story that we, as women, especially get to participate in.
Preach in His Name seamlessly walks us through the text using a mix of reflections, independent lectio divina, and imaginative prayer, which places us in the Gospel scenes. Susanna’s guiding words take us by the hand, bringing us into these scriptural stories and right there beside Him. As she writes, “Seek Him as you enter into the Scripture, and He will respond” (p. 3).
The Gospel of Luke holds stories catered to Christian women and our sacred femininity, and they are received almost like sweet nothings from our Beloved. As I read, highlighted, and prayed with Preach in His Name, these four whispers from the Lord spoke to my heart.
Four Lessons and Love Notes from the Gospel of Luke
The Story of Mary: Anxiety is not a Sin
During Jesus’ childhood, Mary and Joseph lose their Son on their way home from the Passover feast, eventually finding Him safely back in the temple. Mary exclaims to Him in this moment, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety” (Luke 2:48).
In these small sentences, Luke shares the greatest news any woman could hear: anxiety is not a sin. If Mary, the Mother of God, born without original sin, can experience anxiety, then surely we can too. While unpleasant and not something the Lord wants for us, anxiety does not disqualify us as worthy, beautiful, and holy daughters of God.
The Story of Mary Magdalene and Elizabeth: Who We Were is Not Who We Can Become
In Chapter 8, Luke writes about several Galilean women who follow Jesus, including Mary Magdalene, “from whom seven demons had gone out” (Luke 8:2). Similarly, in Chapter 1, Elizabeth, who “was said to be barren,” was blessed with a child, Saint John the Baptist, through her faithness to the Lord (Luke 1:36).
In both accounts, these women were entirely different after following Jesus. Luke shows us that who we were before knowing and following God is not who we become when we enter discipleship of Him. God changes things, and through Him, we have the potential to be better versions of ourselves, never held to who we used to be.
The Story of Mary and Martha: Jesus Loves Both Parts of Our Hearts
Mary and Martha are well-known sisters who exemplify both sides of the Christian woman’s heart. On one hand, we relate to Martha, serving the Lord and everyone around us, while trying to appear very put together and accomplished. But there is also a large part of our hearts that longs to sit with the Lord in stillness and soak it all up like Mary.
Jesus truly sees Mary and Martha for who they are. While He would like to remove the anxiety from Martha’s heart, He still meets her where she is at: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken from her” (Luke 10:41-42).
I am not a Mary, I know this, but I try to be more like her when I can. Yet, through the Gospel of Luke, this I know: No matter who we relate to more, Jesus loves both the Mary and the Martha in us.
The Story of the Poor Widow: Giving What You Can is Always Enough
The poor widow from Chapter 21 of Luke represents all women. The tired mother. The burnt-out swim coach. The bullied little girl. The heartbroken woman after a miscarriage.
As women, sometimes we feel like we have nothing left to give. Yet, the poor widow reminds us that there is always something to give: “but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on” (Luke 21:4). When we offer whatever we have left, even if we think it is barely enough, the Lord will take it and make it into something beautiful and new. For what we have and who we are is always enough for Him.
An Encouragement to Meet Him There
I encourage you, sisters, to jump into the space Susanna creates in Preach in His Name. It is there that we are reminded that as Christian women, we have a role to play in His salvation story and that it is vital that we take on that role through obedience to and love for Him.
Saint Luke put these women at the center of his Gospel narrative, affirming our core place in Jesus’ Sacred Heart, in His story, and in His continued work to bring others closer to Himself. He loves us, and when we spend time within the chapters of Luke, we will know this to be true for ourselves.
GOD'S WORD CHANGES LIVES
When we let God form and shape our lives through His Word, we become changed women. His words are Spirit and Life, so let them give you life.
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Liz Homick works at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. as the loudest and most talkative librarian in the building. Since backpacking Europe for six weeks after graduating with her Master’s in Library Science, Liz is a huge advocate of solo travel and attending Mass in every language imaginable. She believes in unconditional kindness and existing brightly despite life’s storms.
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