A 'Go' that binds

THE WORD AND THE SAINT 

April 25, 2020: Celebrating Mark the Evangelist

1 Peter 5:5-14; Mark 16:15-20

Certainly the words of St. Peter in the first reading will speak immediately to the situation today: you will have to suffer only for a little while: God of all grace who called you to eternal glory in Christ will see that all is well again; he will confirm, strengthen and support you (5:10). A message of hope! But that is not the crux of what we celebrate today; it is Mark, the evangelist. 

Mark comes out as a dedicated young man convinced of his call and enduring in his response. The apostles and disciples were extremely different from each other in their calibre and character. But what bound them together was the 'Go' that they received from the Lord. It was the commission from the Master that kept them  going. We see generations of them following each other in responding whole heartedly to the project entrusted. 

To Go, meant to go to the unknown lands, to meet unknown people, to get into unknown territories, to get out of one's comfort zones. This is exactly what the Holy Father keeps insisting - a Church that is on its move, a Church what has hearkened to the command of its Head, a Church that is continuously trying to make newer sense of this world and of living life to the full. 

Mark becomes the representative of the generation that immediately followed the 12 and Mark leaves indelible trails by his commitment and dedication. He was the first one to record a written account as a Gospel, say the researchers and he did this mostly from the teachings and sermons of Peter, the elder brother among the apostles. 

The call is to the young today: can you dedicate yourself to the commission from the Lord... to Go!