18 September 2026 Friday of the Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Gospel: Luke 8:1–3
Today is Friday of the Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time. The passage from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke shows us the disciples and the women who were with Jesus. This brings to mind our own parishes and Christian communities.
Today, Saint Luke tells us that Jesus went through cities and villages proclaiming and announcing the good news of the Kingdom of God (cf. Luke 8:1). By this he wishes to tell the Christian community to which he writes that Jesus did not choose to remain in Nazareth, still less in Capernaum; He chose to leave the place where He was. He did not cease His preaching but came to city after city and village after village, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom.
In our own parishes and Christian communities, we often see those conservative Christians who are unwilling to leave the place that makes them feel comfortable. They are content to share their experience of faith only with the brethren and sisters they already know in the parish, and are reluctant to share it with those brothers and sisters who have just begun coming to the parish for Mass. Therefore, I wish, on this occasion, to remind such brothers and sisters: as Christians, we are called to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom to the world. We are to proclaim it not only to our parents and relatives and friends, but also to everyone we meet in daily life, practicing charity and bearing witness by our lives to the Gospel we preach.
Then Saint Luke tells us: with Him were the Twelve Apostles and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary, who is called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, steward of Herod; and others who provided for them out of their resources (cf. Luke 8:2–3).
From Luke’s description we see another mark of the Christian. The Christian is by no means a solitary figure within the Church; he lives in community—in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church; in the communion of saints; in a Church marked by fraternal charity. Those Christians who live with us have the same experiences as we do; like us, they encounter the love of God in ordinary daily life. Like us, they have received the one Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ, the anointing of the one Holy Spirit, and, by the same faith, the one Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Together with the women and the Apostles mentioned in the Gospel, they generously assist the Church in fulfilling her mission.
Today, let us imitate those disciples who followed Jesus—Mary Magdalene, called the “Apostle to the Apostles,” and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, steward of Herod—and generously respond to the call of God, so as to fulfill worthily the mission that is ours.
Look upon us, O God, Creator and ruler of all things, and, that we may feel the working of your mercy, grant that we may serve you with all our heart. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever
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