Word to the Wise
Saturday, October 18, 2025 - Oct. 18 - St. Luke, evangelist
[2 Tim 4:10-17b and Luke 10:1-9]The Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send our laborers for his harvest." [Luke]
We owe so much to Luke the evangelist that it is hard to know where to start! Our knowledge of the early development of Christianity would be considerably impoverished without the Acts of the Apostles, which is "volume two" of his composition. He also preserved the parables of the Prodigal Son, the Rich Man and Lazarus, the Good Samaritan, and the Rich Fool - none of which appear in the other gospels. Even more, we would be without his "infancy narrative" of the conception and birth of Jesus and John the Baptist, including the canticles of Mary and Zechariah! We would not have the wonderful post-resurrection story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus! And we would not have the story of the Pentecost event! Our debt is very deep indeed.
Today's selection from the Gospel According to Luke goes hand-in-hand with the Pentecost event. The number 72 is deliberate and corresponded to the known nations at the time. In the Gospel According to Luke, the church is a missionary church and the intended audience was (and still is) missionary! The word "evangelization" is derived from a Greek word meaning "the Good News." Pope Francis challenged all baptized members of the church to realize that we are all "missionary disciples." We have "good news" to share with the world. If we promote nothing more than a finger-wagging moralism, shouted from a fortress wall, we will be failing in our mission to preach the gospel of salvation in which the love and mercy of Christ are first and foremost to be proclaimed. The evangelist Luke has provided us with good news to share. His feast day is more than an anniversary. It is a challenge. AMEN