20 October 2026

What makes Luke’s gospel so attractive is the universality of its message. Salvation is for everyone. This is illuminated in St. Luke’s interest in the relationships which Jesus has with three different groups of people.  The first is the Samaritans who were despised by the Jews.

A Samaritan village rejects Jesus. His disciples want to destroy it. Jesus rebukes them. Which one of the ten lepers showed gratitude? Wasn’t it the Samaritan. And whoever heard of a ‘good Samaritan’ wasn’t it a contradiction in terms?

The second group is the lost. St. Luke records three parables about lost things. The tale about Zacchaeus concludes, ‘The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.’ On the cross, Jesus prays for his executioners and he gives the good thief a promise, ‘Today you will be with me in paradise.’

The third group is women. Some encounters are common to Matthew and Mark but Luke has many more – Mary, the mother of Jesus, Elizabeth, the mother of John, Anna, the old prophetess. There’s the encounter between Jesus and the widow of Nain, the conversion of Mary Magdalene and life in the home of Mary and Martha.

Throughout his ministry, Jesus is accompanied by ‘Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna and many other women’. St. Luke enables us to see how Jesus encouraged and valued their ministry! It was a revolutionary insight which has taken us two thousand years to recognise and celebrate!