Saint Luke, Evangelist – Feast
Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two
Liturgical Cycle: C | Lectionary Cycle: I
Introduction
A man, converted from a heartless paganism, is struck by Christ, the Lord, who is concerned about the poor and the downtrodden; a physician, he is fascinated too by a man who is more than a man, Christ the Lord, who heals the sick body and soul. This is the evangelist Luke. A jewel of his style is the tender description of the holy family in his Infancy Narrative. Among his main themes are God’s boundless forgiveness, prayer, the seriousness of the Christian life, the role of women in the Church, and the universalism of a Church destined for all. These themes constantly reappear in the two books he wrote: his gospel and the Acts of the Apostles.
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
your evangelist Luke portrays with warmth
your Son Jesus Christ as the healer
of the ills of people,
and the friend and support of the poor.
May St. Luke open our eyes
to the needs of the poor and defenseless
and help us love them and care for them.
Make us poor of heart,
that we may understand the poor
and bring joy and liberation to them.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (12) Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might.
R. Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Making known to men your might
and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
R. Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.
R. Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I chose you from the world,
to go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The Lord appointed seventy-two other disciples and sent them, two by two, ahead of him to every town and place where he was to go himself.
He said to them:
“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. So you must ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers to his harvest.
Set off without a purse, a bag, or sandals, and do not stop at the homes of those you know.
When they welcome you to any town, eat what they offer you.
Heal the sick there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near to you.’
Prayers of the Faithful
– For the Church, that it keep bringing healing to those physically and spiritually ill, we pray:
– For women, that we may appreciate more their great contribution to the vitality of the Church, we pray:
– For our Christian communities, that they may be open to all and welcome all, the poor and the rich, strangers and familiars, we pray:
– For all of us, that we may take our faith seriously and pray that it may stay strong and rich, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Our caring God,
here are bread and wine,
simple food and the drink of joy.
By this gesture of offering,
We assume our responsibility for the poor.
With your Son, let us never remain indifferent
to the human and spiritual misery
of our brothers and sisters in need.
Accept the poverty of our own hearts
and be our only lasting riches,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
God, Father of the poor,
your Son Jesus has been here among us
and he has knocked at the door of our hearts.
We have welcomed him,
but it was he who gave us to eat.
May we keep receiving him
and making him feel comfortable as our brother
every time someone begs for our help
or, when in need, is too timid
to express where it hurts.
We ask for this sensitivity
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blessing
Luke was a healer, like Jesus. With him may we bring the healing power of our faith and love to the people around us, and may God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
REFLECTIONS
18 October 2025
Luke the Evangelist
Luke 10:1-9
To bring the Peace of Christ to every home!
Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Luke, the Evangelist, physician, and companion of St. Paul. Tradition tells us he may have painted an image of Mary, but his most beautiful portrait of her is found in his Gospel: the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, the Presentation, the hidden life in Nazareth, and her presence at Pentecost. Luke helps us see Mary’s heart—her faith, her trust, her discipleship.
Luke’s writings are two great canvases: the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. Together they show us how God’s plan unfolds in Jesus and in the early Church through the power of the Holy Spirit. Today’s Gospel is a striking example: Jesus not only sends the Twelve, but also seventy-two other disciples, two by two. Their mission widens the horizon of God’s love.
The number itself is symbolic. Seventy recalls the elders who helped Moses in the desert, the members of the Jewish council, and even the nations of the world. In Luke’s universal vision, this mission points toward every people and nation being embraced by God’s Kingdom. Already, we see the Church called to be missionary, open, and universal.
Jesus teaches his disciples how to go: travel light, stay focused, accept what is given, and do not seek comfort or prestige. The missionary must not be cluttered with possessions, distracted by lesser things, or motivated by self-interest. The message is greater than the messenger: “Peace to this house!” Peace is not just a greeting, but a gift—the very gift of God.
And what about us? Each of us, baptised and sent, shares in this wider mission. Our task is not to conquer, but to bring peace, healing, and the nearness of God’s Kingdom. Like Luke, we are called to be storytellers of God’s mercy, painting not with colours or ink, but with our lives.
On this feast of St. Luke, let us ask for his intercession: that we may live simply, serve faithfully, and carry Christ’s peace into the homes and hearts we encounter. May our lives, like Luke’s Gospel, reveal the face of a God who is love for all nations.
Cultivating Sense of Vocation
When the harvest is plentiful, will the Lord of the harvest refuse to send laborers to reap the harvest? Absolutely not! So if we have shortage of vocations, perhaps it is not God who is failing us, but we are failing him by our multi-layered ‘no’ to his call. God continues to call people to work in his vineyard; but we are either so busy with our own worldly affairs, like those guests invited to the marriage feast (cf. Lk 14:15-24) or are totally oblivious to the call. In many parishes, we hold special prayers and adoration for increase in vocations to priesthood and religious life; but honestly speaking, how many parents encourage their children to consider such a vocation? Of course, one can work for God’s Kingdom in manifold ways as a layperson; but do we cultivate in our children this sense of vocation to witness to Christ in the secular world as lay members of Christ’s Church? May St. Luke’s life inspire us.
Reflection taken from Bible Diary 2022; written by Fr. Paulson Velyannoor, CMF
The dream of God
The kingdom of God does not magically come down from heaven to earth or happen in some kind of life after life. God’s kingdom comes as we make it happen when we go to people and give them the peace that Jesus asks us to bring to them. We are sent to trust those to whom we are sent—to accept their kindness and generosity in our need, to welcome their hospitality, to breathe the air they breathe, and drink from the same fountain they drink, to live and “pitch our tents” with them just as God himself dwelt among us as one of us.
The kingdom of God takes flesh as we slowly build this one community that is God’s dream for God’s entire creation—a new heaven and a new earth where everyone is welcomed and accepted for who or what the Father intended each of us to be. The message we are sent to proclaim is not some beautiful rhetoric or lofty ideas, but the dream of God as we live it here and now.