Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist

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Saturday, 18 October 2025 : Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist, one of the Four Evangelists who wrote the four Canonical Gospels together with St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. John. These four Canonical Gospels had been examined thoroughly by the early Church fathers and by the Church authorities in tandem with the traditions of the Church handed from the Apostles themselves, and they were found to be free from major errors and mistakes that characterised the other Gospels that might also have not been really authentic accounts of the Lord’s life and ministry. Through the authority of the Church and by the courageous works of St. Luke the Evangelist, who was rather detailed in his depiction of the life and works of Jesus, all of us Christians come to know our Lord in much greater detail.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to St. Timothy, one of his protege and one of the successors of the Apostles, regarding what had happened during his years of ministry and times of difficulties and challenges, as he was abandoned by some of his fellow co-workers of the Lord, and how some of them ended up in discord with each other. And in that particular passage, we heard how St. Luke the Evangelist himself was one of the companions of St. Paul during his many missionary journeys and works around the Mediterranean region, and that he was the only one who stayed by with St. Paul in this particular occasions despite the others having left and abandoned him during those time in ministry and journey.

St. Luke was indeed closely involved in the works of the Apostles in the early Church, having spent significant amount of time with the Apostles, particularly with that of St. Paul. That is why he is widely credited and acknowledged as the author of the important Acts of the Apostles, one of the major parts of the New Testament, becoming an important source of the works of the Apostles particularly that of St. Paul and his many major missionary journeys to the different parts of the Mediterranean and the known world at the time. The similarities between the styles of the writing and the fact that St. Luke himself followed St. Paul on his many ministries made it quite a clear conclusion of his authorship of both the Gospel of St. Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, in which the Lord Jesus sent out His disciples to go before Him on missions to the various places that He Himself was to visit as well, both to prepare His works and to extend His ministry and reach to more people that He could not directly meet and reach in person immediately. He instructed them all on what they ought to do, saying first that while the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers for the Lord’s harvest is few, highlighting how there are indeed a lot of opportunities for the Word of God and the Good News of His salvation to be spread to many more people, but the lack of faithful and courageous missionaries was preventing this from achieving its full potential.

The work of the Lord’s missionaries as He told them all frankly was to be rather challenging and difficult, much as what St. Paul, St. Luke and the other missionaries and disciples of the Lord would encounter later on during their journeys of mission and evangelisation far beyond the scope and boundary of what the Lord sent His original seventy-two disciples in the Gospel. But He encouraged them, telling them all that He would always be with them and that they would never be alone because God Himself would guide them all through His Holy Spirit, and also the reality that they would not always encounter success but also failures and rejections. There would be those who refused to believe in the Lord and in the message which the missionaries had brought, despite their efforts and works.

But the Lord told them all to remain strong and courageous, and to trust in Him wholly in their efforts and missions, and not to put their trust in their own strength and might. That was why the Lord told His disciples and those whom He sent out that they should not be bringing with them beyond what was absolutely necessary, with them having to depend on those to whom they had been sent with. This was meant to prevent those disciples from thinking that they had their successes due to their own might and power, instead of by the grace and guidance from God. And when they gave in to their temptations of pride and glory, and think that they gained their successes through their own power, that would be when the essence of the mission would be lost, and people end up seeking their own personal ambitions rather than truly serving God’s cause.

St. Paul and St. Luke among the many other missionaries took these instructions of the Lord to heart, and throughout their missions, they carried them out humbly and faithfully before God, doing whatever they could to proclaim the truth of God, His Good News and salvation, showing His love and grace to many people to whom they had gone to, establishing the Church and its many good works in various places, while enduring many difficulties, trials and challenges, opposition from the many people who refused to accept the Lord’s truth and Good News, which they carried and endured gracefully with God’s Providence and strength. They kept on going forward nonetheless, as with the many failures and hardships they encountered, there were also many successes and great things that they had accomplished for the sake of the Lord and the salvation of souls.

Now, let us spend some time reflecting on the life of St. Luke the Evangelist himself. St. Luke was a physician and a disciple and follower of St. Paul the Apostle as mentioned earlier, and St. Luke was likely born of a Greek family in the then Hellenistic city of Antioch in Syria, where he encountered early Christians and became a convert to the Faith. Some tradition held that he was a local Syrian or a Hellenised Jew living in Antioch, but regardless of his origins and background, St. Luke was notable for his educated background and capabilities, and often followed St. Paul in his travels, as well as keeping track of the works and actions of the other Apostles, which allowed him therefore to write the accounts on the works and actions of the Apostles and their companions as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.

St. Luke was also a close collaborator of the faith, and was sometimes even included among the Apostles as he was considered by some Church fathers to have been part and member of the seventy or seventy-two disciples or Apostles highlighted in the Gospel passage today, those whom the Lord had chosen in the Gospels to be the ones that He sent out before Him to carry out His missions and works. He followed some of the other disciples and Apostles in their ministry, particularly that of St. Paul, whom he accompanied even in Rome, as St. Paul himself said that he was only accompanied by St. Luke in his time there. St. Luke therefore had in depth knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the works of the Lord’s disciples and the Church, as well as the events that happened back then, and his prodigious writing skills and talents contributed greatly to the Church.

According to the Church traditions and well-attested history, St. Luke continued to minister to the faithful in various ways, and went all around various places in supporting the works of the Church, as a missionary as well as a physician, caring for the spiritual and physical needs of God’s people. Eventually, he would live on to an old age of approximately eighty-four years old and passed away in Boeotia in what is parts of Central Greece today. Despite his passing, his enormous contributions in various areas, especially his detailed recollection and record of the Lord’s ministry in his Gospel, and also those of the Apostles in the Acts of the Apostles and other works influenced many others immensely, right up to our own time.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be inspired by the faith and good examples set by St. Luke the Evangelist and the other courageous missionaries of the Lord. Let us all be ever active in living our lives faithfully according to the words and teachings of the Lord contained in the Holy Gospels, and in the other parts of the Scriptures, in the teachings of the Church magisterium and the sacred traditions from the days of the Apostles themselves. Let us all continue to inspire one another as Christians so that our lives and works, our efforts and examples may touch and inspire the lives of so many others around us. May God be with us always, and may He continue to empower each and every one of us in how we live our lives, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 18 October 2025 : Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Luke 10 : 1-9

At that time, the Lord appointed seventy-two other disciples, and sent them, two by two, ahead of Him, to every town and place, where He Himself was to go. And 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. Courage! I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Set off without purse or bag or sandals; and do not stop at the homes of those you know.”

“Whatever house you enter, first bless them, saying, ‘Peace to this house!’ If a friend of peace lives there, the peace shall rest upon that person. But if not, the blessing will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking at their table, for the worker deserves to be paid. Do not move from house to house.”

“When they welcome you to any town, eat what they offer you. Heal the sick who are there, and say to them : ‘The kingdom of God has drawn near to you.'”

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Saturday, 18 October 2025 : Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 144 : 10-11, 12-13ab, 17-18

All Your works will give You thanks; all Your saints, o YHVH, will praise You. They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom, and speak of Your power.

That all may know of Your mighty deeds, Your reign, and its glorious splendour. Your reign is from age to age; Your dominion endured, from generation to generation.

Righteous is YHVH in all His ways, His mercy shows in all His deeds. He is near those who call on Him, who call trustfully upon His Name.

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Saturday, 18 October 2025 : Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

2 Timothy 4 : 10-17b

You must know, that Demas has deserted me, for the love of this world : he returned to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke remains with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is a useful helper in my work. I sent Tychicus to Ephesus.

Bring with you the cloak I left at Troas, in Carpos’ house, and also the scrolls, especially the parchments. Alexander, the metalworker, has caused me great harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. Distrust him, for he has been very much opposed to our preaching.

At my first hearing in court, no one supported me; all deserted me. May the Lord not hold it against them. But the Lord was at my side, giving me strength, to proclaim the word fully, and to let all the pagans hear it.

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Friday, 18 October 2024 : Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of the great St. Luke the Evangelist, one of the four renowned Evangelists who wrote the Four Holy Gospels. Each one of these Four Evangelists wrote their Gospels with specific target and audience in mind, and with lots of shared contents and similarities, being divinely inspired and from the same deposit of faith, but with some differences especially pertaining to the intended audience of each of the authors of those Gospels, where there are differences in the way that the stories and passages of the Gospels were written, with different contexts and explanations to help whoever were listening to the messages of the Gospels to understand better about the Lord and His salvation, His Good News, His truth and love.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to St. Timothy in which St. Paul the Apostle spoke to St. Timothy about the matter of his experiences with the other disciples around him, including with St. Luke the Evangelist, who was one of St. Paul’s companions during his numerous missionary journeys. St. Paul spoke of how some of them including St. Luke had been good companions and were faithful to God and to their mission, while there were also others who were not helpful or even detrimental in how they had probably hindered the works of St. Paul and his other fellow missionaries. Through this conversation and exchanges, coupled with historical evidence and Church tradition, we can see how the early Church grew through the dedicated efforts of the early missionaries, including the Apostles and their companions like St. Luke the Evangelist.

St. Luke the Evangelist himself was a known physician who was a follower of St. Paul the Apostle, and journeyed with the latter in some of his missionary journeys as mentioned earlier. He was of Greek origin from the city and region of Antioch in Syria, and became a disciple of the Lord. Some Church tradition and accounts numbered St. Luke among the seventy-two or seventy disciples that was mentioned in our Gospel passage today. Regardless of the fact, whether St. Luke followed the Lord from during the time of His ministry or afterwards, it was clear that he was closely intertwined with the efforts of the early Church missionaries, the Apostles and the other disciples in proclaiming the Good News of God to many people and communities throughout the region.

St. Luke was credited with not just the authorship of the Gospel of St. Luke, but most Church historians and the traditions of the Church also attributed to him the authorship of the Acts of the Apostles, the Book in the New Testament which gave details on the many actions and works of the Apostles and their companions, the authenticity and accuracy of which is further bolstered by the fact that St. Luke was actively participating in many of St. Paul’s missionary journeys, and therefore can indeed be seen as the various experiences and things that St. Luke the Evangelist himself had experienced and received during his journeys and exchanges with St. Paul, with the other Apostles and missionaries of his time and era, giving us all important insight of the experiences of the early Church and early Christians.

According to Church tradition, St. Luke continued to carry out his mission by following St. Paul all the way to Rome, as attested in the Acts of the Apostles itself, accompanying the Apostle to the last stage of his mission before he was martyred for his faith during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Nero. Then, St. Luke himself according to some traditions was also a martyr, by being hung from an olive tree, while others said that he was not a martyr. Nonetheless, regardless of the detail or fact about the end of his life, St. Luke ended his life at a rather advanced age of eighty-four in Boeotia, in what is today central part of Greece, after a long life of service to God and after a lot of great contributions to the Church and the faithful, through his writings and works of evangelisation, among many others.

Then, in our Gospel passage, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist about the Lord Jesus sending out His disciples, a total of seventy-two of them, in addition to His Twelve, to do their missions and prepare the way and path for Him before He went to the various places He Himself would be visiting. He sent them all in pairs, two by two to proclaim the Good News, to perform miracles and signs, heal the sick and cast out demons, through the authority and power which He had granted to them. He gave them the mandate to do what He has come into this world for, to bring us all out of the darkness and from the tyranny of sin, allowing us all to be free once again and to be reunited and reconciled with God. And each and every one of those disciples were all part of this whole mission, as are all of us as well.

We should continue to remember that each and every one of us are part of the same mission and effort of the Church in evangelisation and proclamation of God’s Good News and salvation. Through us and our good works and contributions, each and every one of us can contribute to lead many more people ever closer to God, to bring them all towards His salvation and grace. The Lord told His disciples to go forth and courageously proclaim His message and Good News to everyone, and not to be afraid to do so, and to entrust themselves to His providence and care as they do so. Therefore, we must also have the same attitude, doing whatever we can so that our every actions will always help others to come ever closer to God and to find their way to the eternal life in God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have heard from the Scriptures and from the life, works and examples shown to us by St. Luke the Evangelist, let us all therefore recognise our own mission and calling in life to be truly missionary and evangelising in our every words, actions and deeds, in our every interactions with one another. All of us as Christians should always be full of courage and zeal to proclaim the Lord and His Good News at all times and in all the opportunities provided for us by the Lord. We should not be ignorant of all the things which we can do by making good use of everything that we have been blessed with by the Lord, in all the blessings and graces that He has provided to us, and by utilising all the opportunities that He has given us that we may glorify Him by each and every moments of our lives.

Let us all continue to follow in the footsteps of the holy saints and martyrs, and today especially of St. Luke the Evangelist, the great servant of God who has dedicated his life to glorify the Lord and to proclaim Him through his writings and works, and through his efforts in evangelisation. May our lives be truly holy and worthy of God, so that God’s light, truth, love and hope may be shown to others just as St. Luke and the many other holy men and women of God have been our inspiration and role model. May the Lord, our loving and ever compassionate God, continue to guide us all in our journey of faith, and may He help us to walk ever more faithfully in His Presence, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 18 October 2024 : Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Luke 10 : 1-9

At that time, the Lord appointed seventy-two other disciples, and sent them, two by two, ahead of Him, to every town and place, where He Himself was to go. And 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. Courage! I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Set off without purse or bag or sandals; and do not stop at the homes of those you know.”

“Whatever house you enter, first bless them, saying, ‘Peace to this house!’ If a friend of peace lives there, the peace shall rest upon that person. But if not, the blessing will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking at their table, for the worker deserves to be paid. Do not move from house to house.”

“When they welcome you to any town, eat what they offer you. Heal the sick who are there, and say to them : ‘The kingdom of God has drawn near to you.'”

by

Friday, 18 October 2024 : Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 144 : 10-11, 12-13ab, 17-18

All Your works will give You thanks; all Your saints, o YHVH, will praise You. They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom, and speak of Your power.

That all may know of Your mighty deeds, Your reign, and its glorious splendour. Your reign is from age to age; Your dominion endured, from generation to generation.

Righteous is YHVH in all His ways, His mercy shows in all His deeds. He is near those who call on Him, who call trustfully upon His Name.

by

Friday, 18 October 2024 : Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

2 Timothy 4 : 10-17b

You must know, that Demas has deserted me, for the love of this world : he returned to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke remains with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is a useful helper in my work. I sent Tychicus to Ephesus.

Bring with you the cloak I left at Troas, in Carpos’ house, and also the scrolls, especially the parchments. Alexander, the metalworker, has caused me great harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. Distrust him, for he has been very much opposed to our preaching.

At my first hearing in court, no one supported me; all deserted me. May the Lord not hold it against them. But the Lord was at my side, giving me strength, to proclaim the word fully, and to let all the pagans hear it.

by

Wednesday, 18 October 2023 : Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist, one of the Four Evangelists who wrote the Holy Gospels detailing the life and works of the Lord Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. Evangelists are important parts of the Church’s efforts and history because they detailed the actions, works and the words that the Lord Jesus spoke of throughout His ministry, giving us the Good News of God, revealed directly through our Lord and Saviour Himself. The word Evangelist itself came from the Latin for the Gospels, that is Evangelium, which also means ‘Good News’, reminding us that the Four Gospels of St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John, collectively showed us the Good News that God Himself has brought upon us in this world.

St. Luke was a physician and a disciple and follower of St. Paul the Apostle, and was mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, which was widely considered as St. Luke’s own work as well. St. Luke was likely born of a Greek family in the then Hellenistic city of Antioch in Syria, where he encountered early Christians and became a convert to the Faith. Some tradition held that he was a local Syrian or a Hellenised Jew living in Antioch, but regardless of his origins and background, St. Luke was notable for his educated background and capabilities, and often followed St. Paul in his travels, as well as keeping track of the works and actions of the other Apostles, which allowed him therefore to write the accounts on the works and actions of the Apostles and their companions as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.

St. Luke was also a close collaborator of the faith, and was sometimes even included among the Apostles as he was considered by some Church fathers to have been part and member of the seventy or seventy-two disciples or Apostles highlighted in the Gospel passage today, those whom the Lord had chosen in the Gospels to be the ones that He sent out before Him to carry out His missions and works. He followed some of the other disciples and Apostles in their ministry, particularly that of St. Paul, whom he accompanied even in Rome, as St. Paul himself said that he was only accompanied by St. Luke in his time there. St. Luke therefore had in depth knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the works of the Lord’s disciples and the Church, as well as the events that happened back then, and his prodigious writing skills and talents contributed greatly to the Church.

According to the Church traditions and well-attested history, St. Luke continued to minister to the faithful in various ways, and went all around various places in supporting the works of the Church, as a missionary as well as a physician, caring for the spiritual and physical needs of God’s people. Eventually, he would live on to an old age of approximately eighty-four years old and passed away in Boeotia in what is parts of Central Greece today. Despite his passing, his enormous contributions in various areas, especially his detailed recollection and record of the Lord’s ministry in his Gospel, and also those of the Apostles in the Acts of the Apostles and other works influenced many others immensely, right up to our own time.

Today, as we celebrate this Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist, let us all therefore strive to do God’s will and deepen our understanding of His will and commandments, devoting ourselves, our time and efforts to follow the Lord ever more faithfully in each and every moments of our lives. Like St. Luke, we should do our best to commit ourselves to follow God and His Law, His commandments and carry out whatever missions and works that He has entrusted to each one of us as Christians. Each and every one of us have been given and entrusted with unique and amazing gifts, talents and opportunities so that in our own special way, we may indeed contribute to the works of the Lord and His Church, in our own capacity and areas of responsibility.

It means that in each and every parts of the community and in whatever opportunities that God has given us, we are just like the seventy-two disciples that the Lord had appointed and chosen to go forth before Him, carrying out His mission. To be missionary and to spread the Good News of God does not always mean that we have to preach the words of the Lord before others. On the contrary, it is often good and faithful actions that will lead to people coming to believe in us, in our words and in the Good News that God has entrusted to us. If our actions and way of life do not correspond to what we have said and spoken, or preached, then who will believe in us, brothers and sisters in Christ? We are no better than hypocrites and unbelievers in that case.

Like that of St. Luke, who had spent so much of his efforts and so many years of his life to do God’s works and to obey His will, therefore all of us should also do our best, in whatever capacity and opportunities that we have in our lives so that each and every one of us can truly be the good and worthy bearers of God’s truth, His Good News, love and hope to our world today, to everyone whom we encounter in life, to our own family members, brothers and sisters, our parents and children, our various relatives and circles of friends, and even to our acquaintances and strangers, and also to those who despise and hate us. If our actions, words and deeds truly embody our Christian faith, the truth and love, the Good News of God, then surely many will come to believe in God through us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us therefore do our very best to commit ourselves to follow God in all things. Let us always be filled with faith in each and every one of our actions so that by our dedication and commitment to God, we will always be faithful and dedicated to Him, in our every works and efforts, in our words and deeds. May the Lord continue to guide us in our good works and bless our every efforts and endeavours, in glorifying His Name by our lives. St. Luke, Holy Evangelist and servant of God, pray for all of us. Amen.

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Wednesday, 18 October 2023 : Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Luke 10 : 1-9

At that time, the Lord appointed seventy-two other disciples, and sent them, two by two, ahead of Him, to every town and place, where He Himself was to go. And 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. Courage! I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Set off without purse or bag or sandals; and do not stop at the homes of those you know.”

“Whatever house you enter, first bless them, saying, ‘Peace to this house!’ If a friend of peace lives there, the peace shall rest upon that person. But if not, the blessing will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking at their table, for the worker deserves to be paid. Do not move from house to house.”

“When they welcome you to any town, eat what they offer you. Heal the sick who are there, and say to them : ‘The kingdom of God has drawn near to you.'”