Encountering Christ in the Gospel of Luke

Who is Jesus Christ? How can we really know him? People have been asking that important question for 2,000 years. The best answers are found in the four Gospels, but how are they to be understood, and applied to our modern lives and faith?

Cardinal Schoenborn, a renowned spiritual writer and teacher, presents this third book in his series of meditations on the Gospels, in which he seeks to help readers have a deep personal encounter with Jesus Christ as seen in the Sacred Scriptures. His first two books focused on the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, and this book covers Luke. Sunday after Sunday, he uses the Church's Year C, mainly readings from Luke to explain the beauty of the Gospel in clear and understandable words.

The Cardinal shows how many of the most famous and important events in Christ's life, and some of his greatest parables, are only related in the Gospel of Luke. The powerful parables of the Prodigal Son, of the Good Samaritan, and of the Lost Sheep are told only in Luke's Gospel. Also told only in Luke is the famous story of the tax collector, Zaccheus, so short he climbed a tree to be able to see Jesus, as well as the moving story of the disciples' encounter with Christ on the road to Emmaus after the Resurrection. It is in Luke's Gospel that important roles of women are given particular mention. Finally, it is thanks to Luke especially that we know some of the important details about the Passion of the Savior.