Ananias and Luke share these commonalities: healing; holiness; disciple; follower of the risen Jesus Christ; friend of Paul;
(likely) from Syria.
Michael M. Canaris writes this of the poorly known "Ananias of Damascus, a
saintly, unsung hero" (2019):
https://catholicstarherald.org/ananias-of-damascus-a-saintly-unsung-hero
".... On the day the church celebrates the Conversion of Saint Paul (Jan. 25) — this
year the 60th anniversary of the calling of Vatican II — in contemplating the
daily readings in such a way, it struck me for the first time that Ananias is at
least as much a profile in courage in that narrative as is Saul, “who is also
called Paul” (Acts 13:9). But this latter poor servant of the church has
received infinitely less praise than his more famous counterpart. Let’s begin
with the narrative in Acts of the Apostles 9, where Saul is on his way to
Damascus to continue wreaking havoc upon the Christian community he loathes, and
is knocked to the ground by a blinding light (the biblical narrative doesn’t
tell us whether he was on foot or on a horse, though we often see him flung from
the latter in artworks, like those by Caravaggio and Veronese). Saul encounters
Christ, is struck blind, and needs to be led to the city by hand. All this is
quite familiar to the majority of us.
But most of us pay little attention to the parallel scene. Separately, Jesus also
appears to Ananias in a vision. He is
already in Damascus and already a “disciple.” The Lord calls him and he responds
immediately, “Yes, Lord.” Jesus directs him to go to the Street called Straight
(in Latin, the Via Recta), which still exists amidst the bombs raining down on
modern-day Syria, and to restore sight to Saul.
Ananias’ response is understandably hesitant: “Lord, I have heard many reports about this man and all
the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with
authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” (“…um, of
which I am one, Your Divine Majesty,” we could creatively add!). But Christ
emphatically says “Go!” — making clear that it is through this unworthy
instrument that he plans to offer the message of redemption to the nations
outside of Israel.
And so Ananias confidently approaches his sworn enemy, to whom incredible power has been given to decimate
those with whom he disagrees, and the first words out of his mouth are ones not too often repeated today in
our discourse with those who hate or vilify us: “Brother Saul.” He goes on to
say “the Lord — Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here —
has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” It is
he who likely baptizes the greatest missionary in the history of the church, and
causes the scales to fall from his eyes. It’s not necessarily Paul’s faith, but
Ananias’ that brings about the transformation.
And while Ananias is mostly lost
to the sands of history after this encounter, his co-believers with all the
litanies praising them and basilicas named for them initially do not help or
welcome Paul, “for they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was really
a disciple.” It’s only Ananias, and eventually Barnabas, who are moved with
compassion at the Pharisaical former tentmaker, and offer an olive branch of
trust, at great personal peril.
Beyond this snippet, we know very little about
Ananias. His name, which was not a terribly uncommon one in the ancient world,
literally means “Favored by God”."
[End of quotes]
I would like to make the
suggestion here that Ananias of Damascus may be a possible candidate for the
famous St. Luke himself. If so, then Ananias will no longer have to suffer
being, as in the words (above) of Michael Canaris, "lost to the sands of
history".
In various articles now I have tried to fill out other NT characters
using 'alter egos', in most cases allowing for a character to have two names -
both a Hebrew and a Greek name - which, however, can also be a cause of duplication.
For instance:
John the Baptist as Gamaliel's Theudas:
"Gamaliel's 'Theudas' as Johnthe Batist"
https://www.academia.edu/36424851/Gamaliels_Theudas_as_John_the_Baptist
Nathanael of Cana as Stephen Protomartyr:
"St. Stephen a true Israelite"
https://www.academia.edu/30843387/St_Stephen_a_true_Israelite
{also Gamaliel, again, his "Judas the Galilean" as Judas Maccabeus - same name, Judas, in this case}
And then there is the un-named:
"Was Apostle Barnabas the Gospels' "rich young man"?"
https://www.academia.edu/36824565/Was_Apostle_Barnabas_the_Gospels_rich_young_man_
extended even further to:
"Was Apostle Barnabas the Gospels' "rich young man"? Part Three: Further extension – was Barnabas also Joseph of Arimathea?"
https://www.academia.edu/36824947/Was_Apostle_Barnabas_the_Gospels_rich_young_man_Part_Three_Further_extension_was_Barnabas_also_Joseph_of_Arimathea
Paul (Greco-Roman name) is otherwise called Saul (Hebrew name) in the Book of Acts (cf. 9:1 and 23:1).
My main point of connection between Ananias and Luke would be
the healing of Paul's blindness, due to the intervention of Ananias, with the
fact that the converted Paul will refer to his friend Luke as a "healer"
(various "physician"). Thus Colossians 4:14: "Luke the beloved physician greets
you, as does Demas".
The Greek word used here to describe Luke is ἰατρὸς, which
can mean - apart from "physician" or "doctor" - "healer".
"[Greek] ἰατρός (iatros), [Latin] medicus: physician, healer, one who provides healing services;
Mt.9:12, Mk.2:17, Mk.5:26, Lk.4:23, Lk.5:31, Lk.8:43, Col.4:14":
https://resoundingthefaith.com/2018/04/%E2%80%8Egreek-%E1%BC%B0%CE%B1%CF%84%CF%81%CF%8C%CF%82-iatros-latin-medicus/
As Ananias (if that is who Luke was), the Evangelist was also a healer,
thaumaturgist, even a mystic-visionary (Acts 9:12).
Note, too, the close bond
between Paul and Luke, as we would expect if Luke were Paul's healer, Ananias.
Paul calls Luke "beloved", ἀγαπητὸς.
In 2 Timothy 4:11, Luke is found to have
remained steadfastly loyal to Paul (not always easy): "Luke alone is with me.
Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry".
That is reinfroced in Philemon 1:24: "... Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my
fellow workers".
I quoted Fr. Jean Carmignac, who has argued for an early dating of the NT books, in my article:
"Fr Jean Carmignac dates Gospels early"
https://www.academia.edu/30807628/Fr_Jean_Carmignac_dates_Gospels_early
as stating that: "... It is
sufficiently probable that our second Gospel [that is, Mark], was composed in a Semitic language by St. Peter the Apostle" (with Mark being his secretary perhaps).
Fr. Carmignac will also suggest that the Book of Acts is the Gospel of Paul.
This would further attest the close bond between Paul and the one who I think may have been his healer.
Ananias is referred to as a "disciple" (Acts 9:10), a word that
is used by commentators to describe Luke as well.
Finally, Luke is considered possibly to have been a native of Syrian Antioch. Though that is not definite.
Ananias himself resided in Syrian Damascus.
Ananias and Luke share these commonalities: healing; holiness; disciple; follower of the risen Jesus Christ; friend of Paul;
(likely) from Syria.
Feast of St Luke (18th October 2020)
