The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.’” – Mark 1:1–4
On April 25th, we celebrate the Feast of Saint Mark the Evangelist. Although he was not a direct disciple of Jesus, Saint Mark is the author of one of the four Gospel accounts and played a vital role in spreading the Gospel as a missionary in the early church.
Though little is known for certain about Saint Mark’s life, the Gospel attributed to him is unquestionably one of the most important scripts ever written. In a nearly breathless way, Mark recounts Jesus’ public ministry in a concise and vivid detail. The shortest of the four Gospels is packed with information. Mark’s Gospel was most likely written primarily for Roman Gentiles, rather than for Jews, which is why he often describes various Jewish customs to the reader.
As a child, Saint Mark could never have imagined what would become of his life. Not only did he come to know the Messiah as a youth, he later became a bishop and the first to bring the Gospel to the continent of Africa. Most importantly, he became one of God’s most powerful evangelists by faithfully writing down the life of Christ for others to read. Since that time, countless people have read his words, meditated on their meaning, been converted in the depths of their hearts, and given their lives over to Christ.
Most of what we know about Mark comes directly from the New Testament. He was not one of the twelve apostles, but was a member of the first Christian community. Mark had firsthand experience of the early Church and apostolic life. He was a traveling companion and assistant of Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey. Something happened to Mark on that journey, perhaps homesickness, so he returned to Jerusalem. The incident caused a quarrel between Paul and Barnabas. Barnabas, Mark’s cousin, was sympathetic toward Mark, but Paul would not hear of Mark accompanying them again. Later Paul and Mark must have been reconciled, because when Paul wrote to Timothy during his final imprisonment, he asked for Mark’s help.
Mark appears to have been close to the Apostle Peter, because Peter refers to him as “Mark, my son” (1 Peter 5:13) in a letter addressed to several Christian communities. Though Saint Paul and Mark initially had a difficult relationship as a result of Mark’s early departure from Paul and Barnabas’ missionary journey, they became close towards the end of Paul’s life. Paul refers to him affectionately in a few letters he wrote from prison, calling him his co-worker and indicating that Mark had been very helpful to him (Philemon 1:24; Colossians 4:10–11; 2 Timothy 4:11).
According to later traditions, Mark was ordained a bishop and sent to Alexandria, Egypt, to preach the Gospel and establish the first Church in Africa. He is therefore considered the first bishop of Alexandria. There, Mark encountered the wrath of the local Alexandrians and was martyred after almost twenty years of ministering to them. In the eighth century, Saint Bede describes Mark’s death in this way: ‘Afterwards, being arrested for the faith, he was bound, dragged over stones and endured great afflictions. Finally he was confined to prison, where, being comforted by the visit of an angel, and even by an apparition of our Lord himself, he was called to the heavenly kingdom in the eighth year of the reign of Nero.’
Ponder the significance of this one man. It appears he began his life fearful of his mission. He ran when Jesus was arrested, left Barnabas and Paul on their missionary journey, but he didn’t give up. He turned back to the mission and ultimately died a martyr, bestowing on us one of the greatest treasures ever given. If you feel regret at any failure, or even numerous failures in your life, take inspiration from Saint Mark. Failures can be remedied. Recommit yourself to God’s mission, and know that, if you do, God will use you in unimaginable ways.
(Collated from various web sources)
– Ashodi Ferro