FEAST OF LUKE, EVANGELIST

Tuesday of the Third Week of Gracetide

Prayer of the Day
Almighty and eternal God, you called Luke the physician, whose praise is in the gospel, to be an evangelist and physician of the soul. By the grace of the Spirit and through the wholesome medicine of the gospel, give your Church the same love and power to heal. We make our prayer through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Psalm of the Day: 145: 10-13, 17-18
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 35: 5-8
New Testament Reading: 2 Timothy 4: 9-17
Gospel Reading: Luke 10: 1-9

Preface to the Eucharistic Prayer
It is indeed right and salutary
that we should at all times and in all places
offer thanks and praise to you,
O Lord, holy Father, through Christ our Lord.

You established that the mystery of our salvation
should be made known through the holy scriptures,
the work of authors chosen and inspired
by the light of the Holy Spirit.

In this way, the words and deeds of the Savior,
written in the pages of the eternal Gospel,
have been entrusted to the Church to become a fertile seed
which bears the fruit of grace and glory forever.

We who have received this Gospel unite with Saint Luke,
whose memory we celebrate today,
and together with the angels
sing the unending hymn of praise.

Biography
Almost all that we know about Luke comes from the New Testament. He was a physician and a companion of Paul on some of his missionary journeys. In Luke's account of the Gospel, we find an emphasis on the human love of Christ, on His compassion for sinners and for suffering and unhappy persons, for outcasts such as the Samaritans, tax collectors, lepers, shepherds (not a respected profession), and for the poor. The role of women in Christ's ministry is more emphasized in Luke than in the other Gospel writings. In the book of Acts, we find the early Christian community poised from the start to carry out its commission, confident and aware of Divine guidance. We see how the early Christians at first preached only to Jews, then to Samaritans, then to outright Gentiles like Cornelius, and finally explicitly recognized that Gentiles and Jews are called on equal terms to the service and fellowship of Christ. Luke is commonly thought to be the only non-Jewish New Testament writer. His writings place the life of Christ and the development of the early Church in the larger context of the Roman Empire and society.