Liturgical Readings for : Friday, 18th October, 2024
18-10 St Luke, Evangelist, Apostle
FIRST READING
A reading from the Second letter of St Paul to Timothy 4:10-17
Only Luke is with me.
Demas has deserted me for love of this life and gone to Thessalonika. Crescens has gone to Galatia and Titus to Dalmatia; only Luke is with me. Get Mark to come and bring him with you; I find him a useful helper in my work. I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak I left with Carpus in Troas, and the scrolls, especially the parchment ones. Alexander the coppersmith has done me a lot of harm; the Lord will repay him for what he has done.
Be on your guard against him yourself, because he has been bitterly contesting everything that we say. The first time I had to present my defence, there was not a single witness to support me. Every one of them deserted me – may they not be held accountable for it. But the Lord stood by me and gave me power, so that through me the whole message might be proclaimed for all the pagans to hear; and so I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 144
Response Your friends, O Lord,
shall make known the glorious splendour of your reign.
1. All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord, and your friends shall repeat their blessing.
They shall speak of the glory of your reign and declare your might, O God. Response
2. They make known to men your mighty deeds
and the glorious splendour of your reign.
Yours is an everlasting kingdom; your rule lasts from age to age. Response
3. The Lord is just in all his ways and loving in all his deeds.
He is close to all who call him, who call on him from their hearts. Response
Gospel Acclamation Jn 15: 16
Alleluia, Alleluia!
I chose you from the world to go out and to bear fruit,
fruit that will last, says the Lord.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 10:1-9 Glory to you, O Lord.
The harvest is rich but the labourers are few.
The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him, in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself was to visit. He said to them,
‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest. Start off now, but remember, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.
Carry no purse, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road.
Whatever house you go into, let your first words be, “Peace to this house!”
And if a man of peace lives there, your peace will go and rest on him; if not, it will come back to you.
Stay in the same house, taking what food and drink they have to offer,
for the labourer deserves his wages; do not move from house to house.
Whenever you go into a town where they make you welcome, eat what is set before you. Cure those in it who are sick, and say, “The kingdom of God is very near to you”.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection 18 Oct Saint Luke, evangelist Luke 10:1-9
Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Luke, one of the four evangelists. He is the only evangelist to have written a second work, the Acts of the Apostles. Between his gospel and the Acts of the Apostles Luke is responsible for one quarter of the New Testament.
In today’s first reading, Paul, at a time of great personal vulnerability laments the fact that all his companions have deserted him, with the exception of Luke. ‘Only Luke is with me’, Paul says. Luke is portrayed in that reading as the faithful companion to Paul. Towards the end of that reading Paul repeats that ‘every one of them deserted me’, but then goes on to declare that ‘the Lord stood by me and gave me power’. Paul seems to be saying that the Lord stood by him in the person of Luke, that Luke revealed the Lord’s faithfulness to him. That is the calling we have all received from the time of our baptism, to reveal something of the Lord’s faithfulness to each other. The Lord stands by us in and through those who are faithful to us when we feel vulnerable and weak.
In the gospel reading Jesus sends out seventy two as his labourers and he calls on them to ask God to send out even more labourers into the harvest. We are all called to be labourers in the Lord’s harvest and part of our labour is to make tangible the Lord’s faithful presence to all who are struggling in any way.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
