يا إِخوتي، أَنَعُودُ نَبْدَأُ فَنُوَصِّيكُم بِأَنْفُسِنَا، أَمْ تُرَانَا نَحْتَاج، كَبَعْضِ النَّاس، إِلى رَسَائِلِ تَوْصِيَةٍ إِلَيْكُم أَوْ مِنكُم؟ إِنَّ رِسَالَتَنَا هيَ أَنْتُم، وهيَ مَكْتُوبَةٌ في قُلُوبِنَا، يَعْرِفُهَا وَيَقْرَأُهَا جَمِيعُ ٱلنَّاس. أَجَلْ، لَقَدِ ٱتَّضَحَ أَنَّكُم رِسَالَةُ المَسِيح، الَّتي خَدَمْنَاهَا نَحْنُ، وهيَ مَكْتُوبَةٌ لا بِالحِبْرِ بَلْ بِرُوحِ ٱللهِ الحيّ، لا عَلى أَلْوَاحٍ مِنْ حَجَر، بَلْ عَلى أَلْوَاحٍ مِنْ لَحْمٍ أَي في قُلُوبِكُم. تِلْكَ هيَ الثِّقَةُ الَّتي لَنَا بِالمَسِيحِ عِنْدَ ٱلله، وهِيَ أَنَّنا لا نَقْدِرُ أَنْ نَدَّعيَ شَيْئًا كأَنَّهُ مِنَّا، بَلْ إِنَّ قُدْرَتَنا هِيَ مِنَ ٱلله، فهوَ الَّذي قَدَّرَنَا أَنْ نَكُونَ خُدَّامًا لِلعَهْدِ الجَدِيد، لا لِلحَرْفِ بَلْ لِلْرُّوح، لأَنَّ الحَرْفَ يَقْتُلُ أَمَّا الرُّوحُ فَيُحْيِي.

إنّ الربّ يسوع يريدنا أن نكون رسلاً للسلام وأن تكون خطانا الأولى في أيّ بيت مكرّسة ببركة السلام. لذلك يعطي الحبر البركة للكنيسة جمعاء قائلاً: "السلام عليكم!". وهذا السلام الذي يطلبه القدّيسون لنا ليس فقط سلام البشر فيما بينهم، بل أيضًا سلامنا الداخلي. لأنّه غالبًا ما تندلع الحرب في داخلنا ونصبح فريسة تخبّطات لا تأتي من الآخرين، فتنتابنا رغبات شرّيرة  تتمرّد علينا. "السَّلامُ على هذا البَيت!"، أي على كلّ مَن يسكن هذا البيت. كأنّه قال لهم: توجّهوا إلى الجميع، كبارًا وصغارًا، لكن بركتكم لن تحلّ على مَن هم ليسوا أهلاً. وأضاف: "فإن كانَ فيهِ ابنُ سَلام، فسَلامُكُم يَحِلُّ بِه، وإلاَّ عادَ إِلَيكُم"، أي: تطلقون عبارات السلام لكنّكم تطلقونها للسلام بحدّ ذاته، وأنا أعطيها لمَن أراه خير أهل لها. وإن لم يكن أحد بأهل لها، لن تكونوا مخطئين والنعمة التي تحملها كلماتكم لن تذهب سدىً، بل على العكس تعود إليكم، لذلك قال: "وإلاَّ عادَ إِلَيكُم". في الواقع، إنّ السلام الذي ينطق به لسان المبشّر يستقرّ على البيت إن وجد بعض الأشخاص المهيّئين للحياة والذين يتبعون بطاعة التعاليم السماويّة التي أعطيت لهم. لكن إن كان أحدٌ لا يريد سماعها، لن يبقى المبشّر بدون ثمر، والسلام الذي تمنّاه سيرجع له مع الثواب الذي يعطيه إيّاه الربّ مقابل عمله.

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Surely we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all; and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ towards God. Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

When, after abandoning the darkness of error to bind himself to God's love, Paul was joined to the number of the disciples, Luke went with him everywhere and became his travelling companion (Acts 16,10f.)... He got on with him so well, was so close to him and shared all his graces so nearly that Paul, in writing to the faithful, called Luke his “beloved” (Col 4,14). From Jerusalem and the country round about as far as Dalmatia (Rom 15,19), he preached the Gospel with him. From Judea to Rome he shared the same chains with him, the same work, the same difficulties, the same shipwrecks. He desired to receive the same prize with him since he had shared the same labors. Having acquired the gift of preaching along with Paul and won over and led so many peoples to the love of God, Luke truly seemed like the Savior's loving and beloved disciple in addition to being the evangelist who wrote his sacred history. For formerly he had followed the Lord (cf. Lk 10,1), gathered together the testimonies of his first servants (Lk 1,1) and received inspiration from on high. It was this evangelist who related the mystery of Gabriel, the messenger sent to the Virgin to announce joy to the whole world. It was he who told in full the birth of Christ, showing us the newborn child lying in a manger and describing shepherds and angels shouting for joy... He reports the parabolic teachings in greater number than the other evangelists do. And just as he makes known to us the descent of the Word of God to earth, so too he describes his Ascension to heaven and return to the Father's throne (24,51)... But in Luke, grace does not stop there. His speech is not limited to serving the Gospel alone. At the end of Christ's miracles he also relates the Acts of the Apostles... Luke was not just a spectator of all those things but really participated in them. And that is why he put so much care into teaching us about them.