Gospel Commentary – September 19, 2025

It has been said that Luke is the evangelist of women because he writes with sensitivity about how much Jesus cared for them and how they became part of His group of disciples. But these women, many of them, also appear in the other Gospels and have been present from the very beginning of the Church until today.

In our own time, the presence of women in the Church is a subject of debate, often linked to feminist claims, with very different and almost irreconcilable positions. But this is not the space to enter into that discussion.

What seems clear to me is that in the Gospels women play a more than important role—starting with Our Lady. They are witnesses of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. And in their role as women, they do not compete with men; rather, they collaborate and complement them. This is the perspective of Edith Stein (Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross), Ida Görres, Gertrud von Le Fort, and Alice von Hildebrand, among others. According to Stein, women have an intrinsic vocation to motherhood and care, but these qualities should not be understood in a narrow way. Instead, they refer to a capacity for empathy, for welcoming and accompanying others, which can be expressed in many areas of social life.

We are all called to carry out with our words and our lives the command of Jesus Christ: “Go and preach to all nations, announce the Good News, let salvation reach everyone…” Following Jesus in communion with the Church is the same call for all of us—wherever we may be, with our strengths and gifts, but also with our weaknesses and limitations.

We must pray constantly to remain faithful, to love God above all things, and to be filled by Him with courage and boldness to proclaim the Gospel.