Gospel Reading for October 18, 2025 – Luke 10: 1-9
IN WORD AND IN DEED
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 out laborers for his harvest.
Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.'”
————
Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Luke, the evangelist. Although he was not one of the 12 disciples of Jesus, he was a constant companion of St. Paul, the Christian persecutor turned zealous Christian, also called apostle to the Gentiles. St. Luke himself is said to be a gentile from Antioch. Although a physician, he made an extensive research on the life and teachings of Jesus from the apostles and eyewitnesses. He compiled them into what we now have – the Gospel of Luke. The Acts of the Apostles, or the life of the early Christians is also attributed to him.
We are also called Gentiles because we do not originate from Israel to whom the Son of God was sent. But before Jesus went back to the Father in Mark 16: 15, he told the apostles: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
The gospel is not meant to stay with us. As baptized Christians, in our own little way, we can also be “apostles to the gentiles” by preaching the gospel, IN WORD AND IN DEED.
Lord Jesus, help us do our part in the Church’s work of evangelization!
