Tell The Story
“The world is shaped by two things — stories told and the memories they leave behind.” ~ Vera Nazarian
Today, we celebrate the Feast of St. Mark, the Evangelist. Mark’s gospel is the shortest of the four gospels and was written largely for a Gentile community who had converted to the faith. It emphasized Jesus’ rejection by humanity even though He was the Son of God.
It seems fairly certain that Mark knew both Peter and Paul. For a while, Paul had rejected him though, toward the end of Paul’s life, Paul requested that Mark be brought to him.
We may not know Mark’s associations with key members of the early Christian community nor may we know whether or not he even knew Jesus personally. What we do know is that he came to a deep faith in Jesus Christ and wanted to share that faith with as many as possible. That would have been a key reason for writing his gospel account. His gospel message, and not the person himself, is what is important to us.
That is a great reminder to us as well. It is not important that people know of us years from now, as long as they know that we were people who had a deep, abiding faith in Jesus Christ. We are called to profess that faith and to proclaim that faith to as many people as possible.
Mark wrote to a community of Gentile converts. We are called to proclaim the message of Christ to the people we know in a manner that they will understand. Be up to that challenge today.
FAITH ACTION: Gather with family or friends today and share with one another some of the stories of your faith, the reason why you believe, or some other aspect of your faith.