Mark 16:15-20 Feast of St. Mark

As Author of the 2^nd Gospel, he sas sometimes called John, or John Mark.  His mother, Mary, owned a house in Jerusalem.  Some scholars believe that was the place where the dinner of Holy Thursday took place, when Christ initiated the Blessed Sacrament and the Holy Spirit descended upon them.  It was this house where Mark lived that was described in Acts of the Apostles that the Christians assembled during the persecutions of Herod Agrippa.  It was to his house that Peter came when he was miraculously released from prison.

It is believed that Peter himself baptized Mark, whom he referred to as his spiritual son.  Mark was Paul’s companion when Paul went to Antioch and Perga on Paul’s first missionary voyage. It is believed that Mark was the cousin of Barnabas, with whom he travelled to Cypress to preach while Paul and Silas went on Paul’s 2^nd missionary journey.  When Paul was imprisoned in Rome, it was Mark, Paul writes in the letter to the Colossians, who was his companion and comfort.  In letters from Peter, he tacked into them a hello from Mark to the Jewish Christians in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.  Mark was that well known throughout the area.

In Christian literature and art, St. Mark is often depicted as a lion, or esp. a winged lion, also the symbol of the city of Venice.  In his Gospels, Mark aimed to show the divinity of Christ in a way similar to how Peter argued.  Today we read from the Gospel of Mark.  We hear the gloriousness of Christ:

"In my name they will drive out demons,
they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

"The Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them,
was taken up into heaven
and took his seat at the right hand of God.
But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.

Mark encourages us to faith as strong and powerful as a lion.  Truly he tells us, Jesus is the Christ, God made manifest. Praise be to God, Alleluia!

Mt 2:1-12 Feast of the Epiphany

"...Behold the magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem."  What a beautiful story of the magi arriving to adore the Christ child.  What motived them?  Prayer comes from that first initiation from God alone.  He calls us closer to himself, into communion with himself, into prayer.  So this calling of the magi to come to adore the newborn King, that was something that only God could have put into their hearts through the grace of the Holy Spirit to walk that faith journey, through difficulties, through foreign lands, to search for the Child, to not lose faith when they learned the child was not of Herod's line, but of a royalty far deeper.  They were not the Jews, but they recognized God made manifest.  God had manifested himself to all through his birth, but now He manifests himself as a savior to all human kind through these Gentiles. 

Indeed St. Paul reminds us that Christ came for people of all races, all backgrounds, all beliefs.  Yes, there will always be those who choose not to accept Christ and his gift.  There are those who will ridicule and persecute the followers of Christ.  However, it is our duty to recognize the face of God in all whom we encounter.  ALL are called to the Table of Plenty.  It is God who calls us, not ourselves, not a special few who give us the invitation, It is God and God alone who first imparts that call within our hearts and creates that desire to know Him.  May we strive to find God in each other today and show Him love.