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| “St Mark Enthroned with Saints” by Tiziano Vecellio,1510 |
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: 1 Peter 5:5b-14
Beloved:
Clothe yourselves with humility
in your dealings with one another, for:
God opposes the proud
but bestows favor on the humble.
So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that he may exalt you in due time.
Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.
Be sober and vigilant.
Your opponent the Devil is prowling around like a roaring
lion
looking for someone to devour.
Resist him, steadfast in faith,
knowing that your brothers and sisters throughout the world
undergo the same sufferings.
The God of all grace
who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus
will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you
after you have suffered a little.
To him be dominion forever. Amen.
I write you this briefly through Silvanus,
whom I consider a faithful brother,
exhorting you and testifying that this is the true grace of
God.
Remain firm in it.
The chosen one at Babylon sends you greeting, as does Mark,
my son.
Greet one another with a loving kiss.
Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
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Commentary on 1 Pt 5:5b-14
St. Peter, according to most scholars, probably wrote this
letter just before his death in Rome (code named Babylon in our text today)
between 65 and 67. This part of his letter encourages fidelity to the
Lord in the face of persecution which comes from the devil. The mention
of Mark at the end of this selection is probably referring to the Evangelist
whose feast we celebrate on April 25th.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 89:2-3, 6-7, 16-17
R.
(2) For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The favors of the LORD I will sing forever;
through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your
faithfulness.
For you have said, "My kindness is established
forever";
in heaven you have confirmed your faithfulness.
R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The heavens proclaim your wonders, O LORD,
and your faithfulness, in the assembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies can rank with the LORD?
Who is like the LORD among the sons of God?
R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Blessed the people who know the joyful shout;
in the light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk.
At your name they rejoice all the day,
and through your justice they are exalted.
R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
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Commentary on Ps 89:2-3, 6-7, 16-17
Psalm 89 is a song of thanksgiving. The psalmist
rejoices in God’s steadfast support. God’s constant presence is
established through the gift of his creation, proof of His omnipotence.
The selection concludes inviting the faithful to rejoice in God’s presence and
the justice of his judgement.
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Gospel: Mark 16:15-20
Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them:
"Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe:
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."
Then 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.
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Commentary on Mk 16:15-20
The verse just prior to this passage which is the ending of
St. Mark’s Gospel indicates that the disciples are still not sure what has
happened (typical of the image we have of the disciples in St. Mark's Gospel)
and Jesus comes to them at table, rebuking them for their unbelief. That
sets the stage for this commissioning address by the Lord. Once again the
Disciples now Apostles are sent into the world with God’s blessing.
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Reflection:
Today we have a little break in our on-going stories from
the Acts of the Apostles as we celebrate the Feast of St. Mark. As a
tribute to him we hear the very end of this shortest of the canonical
Gospels. As you will see, if you follow the link to the biographical
information (above), Mark was thought to be the Mark mentioned in the reading
from 1st Peter we also hear today. He was also thought to be the young
man who ran away when Jesus was arrested. As such he was very familiar
with the Jesus story.
Although he was not as eloquent as Matthew or Luke nor as
theologically well-grounded as John, his gospel gives us a view of the
disciples that seems unvarnished and lets us identify with a group of followers
who were not perfect and did not understand. His portrait is very
believable and balances well against Johns Gospel in which Jesus himself (in
the eyes of the author) has much more foreknowledge than he does according to
St. Mark. Mark uniquely shows us Jesus Christ True God and True Man most
clearly. Today we see Jesus’ farewell to the Apostles as he ascends to
the Father.
While we are not given the formula of; “…baptizing them
in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19) as we are in Matthew, we can still see the importance
placed on that conversion and the indelible change it manifests in each of us.
The reading from St. Peter gives us another glimpse into the
life of the early Christian community and reminds us that, as a people who
share a common faith and purpose, we are to accept that mantle with
humility. It is a lesson we as a community learned again four decades ago
when, with the advent of the Vatican II changes, we dropped the
"Triumphant Church" attitude of;" If you're not Catholic you're
going to hell." It is a corporate learning experience many of our
protestant brethren are still struggling to learn.
We are asked to be open, inviting and inclusive. This
supports the great paradox of Christ's teaching that we must be part of the
world (in order to affect change) but be separate from it to insure we retain
the ideals that define us as Christian. Today we go out into the world
once more and pray that our Christian identity is obvious to all we meet.
Pax
[1]
The picture is “St Mark Enthroned with Saints” by Tiziano Vecellio,1510
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This
re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
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