Reflections for the Feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist
Tempora: Sabbato infra Hebdomadam XVIII post Octavam Pentecostes – II Octobris
Lessons: 2 Corinthians 8:16–24; Luke 10:1–9
“Rogate ergo Dominum messis, ut mittat operarios in messem suam.”
“Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send labourers into His harvest.”
— Luke 10:2
Today, Holy Mother Church sets before us the figure of Saint Luke the Evangelist, a physician of both body and soul, companion of Saint Paul, and faithful chronicler of the Word Incarnate. The texts from today’s Mass draw our gaze toward the mission—the sending forth of the Apostles and their successors to labor in the vineyard of the Lord. The Epistle from Saint Paul to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 8:16–24) reflects the noble character and apostolic trust given to Luke and his companions. The Gospel (Luke 10:1–9), penned by the Evangelist himself, recounts Our Lord’s commissioning of the seventy-two disciples, a foretelling of the Church’s missionary life.
Let us consider these passages with the wisdom of the Fathers of the Church, that we may learn how the example of Saint Luke may stir in us a deeper love for the apostolic life and zeal for souls.
❖ Titus, Luke, and the Fellowship of the Gospel
“Thanks be to God, who hath put the same carefulness for you in the heart of Titus.”
— 2 Cor. 8:16
Saint Paul here speaks of the delegation sent to Corinth—Titus, and as tradition and many commentators hold, Luke himself, as one “whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches” (v. 18). This description, say many Fathers and commentators such as St. John Chrysostom, may well apply to Luke, “renowned for his sacred writings and known throughout the churches for his fidelity.”
In this, we see apostolic cooperation: Paul does not go alone, but with trustworthy men, men formed by the Gospel and sent in communion with the Church. St. Ambrose writes that such delegation is a mark of ecclesial unity: “The ministry of the Church is not solitary; it is fraternal. Just as Christ sent them two by two, so Paul acts not alone, but with those approved in the Gospel.”
Moreover, Paul emphasizes transparency and trust: “avoiding this, that no man should blame us in this abundance” (v. 20). This teaches us that in all ecclesial ministry, there must be not only zeal, but prudence and accountability—for the glory of God and the good of souls.
Luke, in this context, is a figure of the faithful missionary: obedient, praised, prudent, and known not for his own name, but for the Gospel he carries.
❖ The Seventy-Two: A Type of the Church’s Mission
“After these things, the Lord appointed also other seventy-two; and He sent them two and two before His face.”
— Luke 10:1
St. Luke alone records this sending of the seventy-two disciples, as distinct from the Twelve. This number, rich in symbolic meaning, was often interpreted by the Fathers as representing the Gentile nations: a universal mission beyond the House of Israel.
Origen comments that just as Moses appointed seventy elders (Num. 11:16–25), so Christ sends seventy-two to show the continuity of divine mission from Old to New. St. Bede the Venerable, noting the textual variation between seventy and seventy-two, explains: “The number seventy signifies the fullness of the law, but the addition of two prefigures the Gospel, which joins charity and truth.”
Christ sends them two by two, a gesture filled with wisdom. St. Gregory the Great explains: “The Lord sends His disciples to preach two by two because there are two precepts of charity—love of God and love of neighbor. In this way, their life and mission testify to the doctrine they preach.”
The instructions are strikingly austere: “Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes.” The disciple is to trust entirely in Providence. St. Cyril of Alexandria teaches that this detachment shows that the true riches of the apostle are not material, but spiritual: the power to heal, to bring peace, to preach the Kingdom.
❖ The Harvest Is Great
“The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few.”
On this feast of Saint Luke, we must not read these words as a quaint memory, but as a living summons. The fields are white for harvest even in our time, and the laborers remain few. The Church Fathers, such as St. Augustine, saw in this passage a call not only for missionaries, but for all Christians to pray, as Our Lord commands, that the Lord of the harvest would send forth laborers.
But more than prayer, the lives of the saints urge us to be laborers ourselves—whether by word, deed, or hidden sacrifice. St. Luke, though not one of the Twelve, became an indispensable laborer. As doctor, historian, evangelist, and companion of the Apostle, he manifests the diversity of vocations within the unity of the apostolic mission.
✠ Conclusion: “Your Peace Shall Rest Upon It”
As the seventy-two entered the towns of Judea, they carried not gold nor garments, but the peace of Christ. Saint Luke recorded these words because he had lived them. He, too, went from city to city, bearing the Gospel, healing the broken-hearted with the balm of divine truth.
Let us imitate his fidelity. Whether we preach, teach, serve, or suffer, may we be found among those whom the Lord sends. Let us carry the Gospel with the same reverent boldness as Saint Luke, whose Gospel alone contains the Magnificat, the Benedictus, the Gloria in excelsis, and the Nunc dimittis—hymns sung eternally by the Church.
“Pacem relinquo vobis; pacem meam do vobis.”
“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you.”
— John 14:27
Through the intercession of Saint Luke, may we be true heralds of that peace, laborers in the vineyard, and faithful witnesses of the Gospel.