Homily: October 18, 2023 Feast of St. Luke (Holy family School Mass)

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Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Luke, the evangelist. 

First, let me ask you a few questions:

1) What is an evangelist?

a) An angel who makes a list of all the good people;

b) A Christian who is excited to tell everyone about Jesus.

Very good!

2) How many evangelists are named in the Bible?

Four!

3) Who are these four evangelists?

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Well done!

Matthew and John were also apostles of Jesus, they were following Jesus daily, and learnt a lot from him. They were sent by Jesus to preach to others. Thereafter, they wrote down all that they had seen, heard and learnt to teach and tell others about Jesus. These are known as the Gospel according to Matthew and the Gospel according to John.

But Luke and Mark were not apostles. They were not sent by Jesus. Instead, Mark and Luke were followers of some of Jesus’ apostles in their missionary work as they went around to preach. Mark followed St. Peter, and Luke followed St. Paul. Thereafter, Mark and Luke wrote the gospels based on what they heard and learnt from Peter and Paul. These are known as the Gospel according to Mark and the Gospel according to Luke.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Luke, the evangelist. 

Let us learn something about St. Luke today. Do you know what was Luke’s profession before he followed St. Paul?

Was he a teacher, farmer or a doctor?

Who says he was a teacher?

Who says he was a farmer?

Who says he was a doctor?

Tradition says Luke was a physician, yes, a doctor. He was born in Syria, and became a good friend of St. Paul. Then he travelled with St. Paul as he went to many places to preach. Luke was a good companion to St. Paul, can you guess why?

Because as St. Paul went around to preach and told people what they were doing wrong in their lives, he was often persecuted and beaten by those who did not like what he preached. And Luke was always there to help treat his wounds and apply medicine to his injuries, to help him get well again. Isn’t that wonderful?

But more than that, Luke wrote down all that Paul said and taught, and so today, we can read all about it and hear what Paul said about Jesus, about his teachings.

In today’s Gospel, Luke wrote about Jesus sending 72 disciples out and instructing them to preach the gospel in every town they went to. Jesus warned them, saying, "Behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves."

Do you know what wolves would do to a lamb? Yes, the wolves would eat up the lambs. So why would Jesus send them out if it was so dangerous?

Well, because preaching the Gospel to as many people as possible is a very important mission. Even if it is dangerous, because Jesus wants to save everyone. And so, we know from history, that all of Jesus's disciples were persecuted, beaten, some were crucified, and some were stoned. All, except John, were tortured to death.

But what is the result? That we here in the USA can know about Jesus and share the glorious life with Jesus and all the saints in heaven finally. If the apostles did not go out to preach, and if the evangelists did not write all these down, we will never learn about Jesus.

So let us thank God for the work that the early disciples did, and for the evangelists who wrote all these for us. And we ask them to pray for us, that we too may be courageous to share the good news with others, so that more people will know about Jesus.

St. Luke the evangelist, pray for us!


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