Saints + Scripture: Feast of Saint Mark

Simplex Edition | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

'Tis the Feast of Saint Mark, Evangelist (died circa 68, A.K.A. John Mark), inspired author of the Gospel according to Mark.

Commentary: Wayback Machine '21 & Wayback Machine '19.

Quoth Minute Meditations with the Popes:

Lord Jesus, when Saint Mark wrote his Gospel, he spoke of You in simple terms, presenting us with a Jesus Who truly shared in our humanity. Help me to have a simple faith, so that I may encounter You Who are both God & Man.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Feast of Saint Mark
The First Letter of Peter, chapter five, verses five(b) thru fourteen;
Psalm Eighty-nine (R/. two; or, "Alleluia"), verses two & three, six & seven, & sixteen & seventeen;
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter sixteen, verses fifteen thru twenty.

Commentary: Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, today’s Gospel gives us Mark’s very laconic account of the Ascension: “Then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God.” We should think of it as Jesus’ going to his heavenly place in order to reign over the earth.

Now, don’t literalize this language—there aren’t chairs in heaven—but take it very seriously indeed. What Mark is suggesting is that Jesus is now reigning; he’s in the attitude of a king on his throne. This means that he is directing the things of earth from his place in heaven. Again, don’t think of this spatially, as though heaven were a long way away. Think of heaven as a dimension that overlaps with earth, that impinges on earth.

And this is why the Ascension forces us to come to grips with a key question: Whom do we finally obey? Whom do we finally serve? Who, finally, is the king of our life? We legitimately obey all sorts of figures—political, cultural, artistic, etc.—but there is always an ultimate king, someone (or something) from which we take our definitive marching orders.

Video reflection by Monsignor James Vlaun (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops): Easter Reflection.

Video reflection by Doctor Tim Gray (Augustine Institute/Formed.org): Easter Reflection.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"The dynamism of new life is at work throughout history in apostolic service & in the mandate to pass on the Gospel. In order to touch everyone's heart it must be translated into understandable & easily accessible language."
—Pope Saint John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, r. 1978-2005; feast: 22 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Jesus permits the spiritual combat as a purification, not as a punishment. The trial is not unto death but unto salvation."
—Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, O.F.M. Cap. (1887-1968, feast: 23 September)

Mother Teresa Quote o' the Day

"I must give myself completely to Him. I must not attempt to control God's actions. I must not desire a clear perception of my advance along the road, nor know precisely where I am on the way to holiness. I ask Him to make a saint of me, yet I must leave to Him the choice of the saintliness itself & still more the choice of the means that lead to it."
—Saint Teresa of Calcutta, M.C. (1910-1997, feast: 5 September)

Archbishop Sheen Quote o' the Day

"Humility is not self-contempt but the truth about ourselves coupled with a reverence for others; it is self-surrender to the highest goal."
—Venerable Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)