Missing Mark

Giving accolades to the author of the second gospel

04/29/2021

Acts 12:24—13:5a The word of God continued to spread and grow. After Barnabas and Saul completed their relief mission, they returned to Jerusalem, taking with them John, who is called Mark. Now there were in the Church at Antioch prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Symeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who was a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, completing their fasting and prayer, they laid hands on them and sent them off. So they, sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived in Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues.

Did you notice that a fabulous feast day slipped by on us Sunday? Last Sunday was April 25, the annual feast of St. Mark the Evangelist. Since Mark is mentioned in the first reading from Acts today, I would like to give some accolades to the author of the second gospel. Today’s passage from Acts 12 reads: “After Barnabas and Saul completed their relief mission, they returned to Jerusalem, taking with them John, who is called Mark.” Right in the middle of the book of Acts – indeed, two times in chapter 12 – Mark is mentioned by name.

That is, one evangelist (Mark) is acknowledged by another evangelist (Luke), who wrote Acts of the Apostles. There are, of course, four evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In other words, you and I may have missed Mark last Sunday, but Luke did not; indeed, he takes pains to point him out. And Luke points out that John was his Hebrew/Jewish name while Mark was his Latin/Roman name.

Let me follow Luke’s lead and also point out a few fun facts about St. Mark the Evangelist so we do not miss Mark entirely. First, his gospel should really appeal to all Americans. Why? Well, because it is so short with only 16 chapters. We Americans are busy people with little time for long books of the Bible, like John with 21 chapters, Luke with 24, and Matthew with 28. Mark could be called the “Cliff’s Notes” version of the life of Christ.

Even the story line skips along swiftly with the recurrence of the word, “immediately,” (eutheos in Greek). The word “immediately” occurs 59 times in the whole New Testament, and 41 of those times is found in Mark. And 11 of those 41 occurrences are found just in chapter one of Mark! You better put on your running shoes if you want to read Mark. His gospel is short, sweet and swift (like my Masses).

Secondly, Mark ran in some rather elite company, namely, with the two pillars of the early Church: Peter and Paul. Mark is mentioned at the end of three of Paul’s letters. Paul penned Colossians and Philemon from prison and Mark was there at his side. At the end of Second Timothy, Paul wrote to Timothy, his fist lieutenant: “Get Mark and bring him with you; for he is useful to me” (2 Tm 4:11).

St. Peter also affectionately addressed Mark at the end of his first epistle (or encyclical) saying: “She who is at Babylon (meaning Rome), who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does my son Mark” (1 Pt 5:13). In other words, Mark had two fathers in the faith, Peter and Paul, who reared him as their spiritual son. It is intriguing to see the indelible mark of their influence in the second gospel.

Thirdly, let me make a cultural connection. If you have ever traveled to the city of Venice, Italy, you no doubt saw the magnificent cathedral church of St. Mark, named for the evangelist of the second gospel. The body of St. Mark made its way to Venice by a rather unsavory route. The evangelist was originally buried in Alexandria, Egypt, where the saint had started the great Church of Alexandria, one of the four original centers of Christianity. In the 9th century, Venetian merchants smuggled the corpse of Mark out of Egypt in a barrel of pork fat.

If that seems an undignified mode of moving for Mark, consider this self-effacing episode from his own gospel, that some scholars see as autobiographical. In Mk 14:51, we read about the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, including this delicious detail: “And a young man followed [Jesus], with nothing but a linen cloth about his body; and they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.” You decide which is worse: running away naked or being run across Europe in a barrel of pork fat. Whichever may be worse, both stories highlight Mark’s holiness and humility.

Today we want to thank God for the evangelist who wrote the second gospel: St. Mark. His short and sweet gospel of sixteen chapters is apt for all Americans. Mark learned the faith at the feet of Peter and Paul, the two great pillars of the Church, and his gospel glows with their graces and gifts. And even if St. Mark is immortalized in a memorable cathedral in Venice, his memory also includes being dressed in pork fat and being dressed in his birthday suit. In other words, St. Mark was humble in his own estimation. Every year we should make it a point not to miss St. Mark’s feast. But maybe Mark would not mind if we missed it.

Praised be Jesus Christ!