WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 18, 2023
WEDNESDAY OF THE TWENTY EIGHT WEEK OF THE ORDINARY TIME A
St Luke the Evangelist. (Feast)
2 Timothy 4:10-17
Luke 10:1-9
CALLED TO SPREAD THE GOSPEL.
The mandate given by our Lord to all baptized Christian is to go out to the whole world and spread the gospel. Preaching of the good news is therefore one of the necessary tasks assigned to all Christians irrespective of ones profession, career or job.
Saint Luke whose feast we celebrate today teaches us and recalls to us the value of preaching the gospel to all creation. He was a great companion of Saint Paul as we read in the first reading. He was a physician turned evangelist because he took his time to give a detailed account of the message of salvation as we found that the gospel of Luke is ascribed to him as its author, as well as the Acts of the Apostles.
In these writings, Saint Luke demonstrated his love of Jesus and his deep faith in God by giving to the world in a very systematic way the accounts of the early life of Jesus, the message of salvation as directed to the gentile world, and the beginnings of the work of evangelization in the Acts of the Apostles.
In these writings, Saint Luke left us and the future generation the basic teachings, doctrines and life of Jesus thereby making great strides in the work of proclamation of Christ to the ends of the earth. In no small measure have we been taught the necessity of preaching and being witnesses of the gospel message. Because of these writings of Saint Luke many generations have witnessed and have come to understand better, the life, message and works of Jesus while in the world. So, Saint Luke did accomplished by his efforts in putting down those stories and encounters of Jesus while in the world, the message of salvation meant for the world and which will be announced even in his absence to the ends of the world.
Saint Luke was able to accomplish this as a faithful disciple of Saint Paul. He was a committed disciples to have understood and appreciated these messages as he wrote them.
We are called to be dispensers of the message of salvation as worked by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The sending of the seventy disciples which we read today in our gospel, reminds us of our mandate to preach the message and witness to the message of salvation. We are ambassadors of the good news. Luke only gives us indications of what is expected of ambassadors of good news. We must be prompt, dedicated to the duty, never by distracted by material wants and possession, be dispensers of peace, working assiduously for the betterment of the people, administering peace, healing and spreading the kingdom of God just as saint Like did.
We ask for grace to be able to carry out these mandate.
God of our salvation, you made Saint Luke an ardent proclaimer of the message of salvation by his writing. Grant that we may in our time leave legacies of Christian values, ethics of good conduct and build up communities where you our God reigns supreme. Bless us today and always with peace, good health, abundance of graces to triumph against every temptation and to live happily and joyfully in your love through Christ our Lord.
Fr Norbert Uchuno
