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April 25, 2020 - Happy Feast Day!
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Dear parishioners and friends of St. Mark Parish,
Today is a day of jubilant celebration for us as we honor and rejoice in the victory of St. Mark our patron saint! His witness through courage, devotion, perseverance and obedience are great examples of faith for us today. St. Mark spent most of his faith journey with the great apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul; his Gospel is written through the lens of St. Peter. Other than his relationships with these great apostles there is not much recorded about him. He is mentioned in the letters of Paul and Peter simply as being their companion. It is generally understood that St. Mark founded the Church in Alexandria and here that he suffered martyrdom.
Thus the life of St. Mark is known only to us because of his relationship with Jesus and his obedience to the Holy Spirit. Yes, he is one of the four evangelist and thus has a Gospel attributed to him, and certainly that is how he is most known and remembered. However, his mission as revealed in his Gospel was to bring people to Jesus and not even through his own viewpoint. His Gospel reflects the life of Jesus from the perspective and insight of St. Peter, not St. Mark. He freely removes himself from the spotlight even in the writing of the Gospel. Humbly accepting the role of the servant of the servants, as he faithfully submitted to the directives of the other apostles, primarily Peter the first pope.
This witness of humiliity and willing obscurity is a great lesson for us and for our world. Often we want to be known and make a name for ourselves. We want things to be written from our perspective...want our voice to be heard. I am sure St. Mark was challenged with these same desires, yet he humbly submitted himself to give his Gospel message through the eyes of another.
The lesson of humility and submission to the will of God and the will of the Church - the Pope and the bishops of today - is the still the most important and authentic way we follow Christ today. St. Mark leads us in this submission. He set aside his ambition, fame and popularity for the sake of serving the leaders of the Church out of obedience to Jesus. This is the same challenge we have today. Though we may at times not like what our bishop or pope ask us to do, but provided that what is being asked of us is not contrary to faith and morals, our trust and obedience to them reflects our trust and obedience to Jesus.
Let us seek the intercession of St. Mark especially today asking him to request for us the grace of obedience in trust, especially in times when what we are called to do is not what we want. "God our Father, You helped St. Mark the Evangelist with Your grace so that he could preach the Good News of Christ. Help us to know You well so that we may faithfully live our lives as followers of Christ. Amen" (Lives of the Saints).