To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Commentary on the Gospel for September 20, 2024
Dear friends,
Today, Luke presents us with a passage unique to his Gospel. It summarizes Jesus’ activity, where He traveled through towns and villages in Galilee, preaching the Gospel alongside the Twelve and «some women,» some healed and others who supported Him with their resources. We know the marginal role that Jewish (and Greek and Roman) society of Jesus’ time assigned to women. For Jesus, it was different. He dignified women, accepted them as His disciples, and allowed them to accompany Him on His journey. He granted them an important role in evangelization, as St. Paul would later do.
Jesus established a new way of treating women (to the scandal of His contemporaries), but not only that. His community of disciples, both men and women, who followed Him represented the Kingdom of God, where men and women, married and single, healthy and sick, rich and poor, were reconciled. In the community around Jesus, there was inclusion and diversity, and women played a unique role in His mission. Everyone is called to actively participate in evangelization, regardless of gender, past, or condition.
Women were by Jesus’ side from the beginning and witnessed the most important events of His life. They did not abandon Him even in the most difficult moments. They followed Jesus without making noise, but with eternal fidelity. St. John Paul II wrote: «The Church gives thanks to God for all women and for each one… The Church expresses her gratitude for all the manifestations of the feminine ‘genius’ that have appeared throughout history… she gives thanks for all the charisms bestowed on women… for all the victories due to their faith, hope, and charity; she expresses her gratitude for all the fruits of feminine holiness» (Mulieris Dignitatem, n. 31).
Accompanying Jesus means accepting His Word every day as a valid criterion for our lives, seeing in Him the authority to which we submit. Accompanying Jesus asks us to change and not close ourselves off, but to surrender to Him and live in service to truth and love, as He did. The disciple is the one called and chosen by Jesus to bear witness to Him. And as Paul says, «I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me.» The disciple represents Christ.
Your brother in faith,