“HEAR YE, HEAR YE” was the call of the Town Crier throughout the centuries until the rise of literacy, when more people learned how to read. Their official role was to disseminate essential information to their neighbors, such as laws, proclamations, advertisements and other news. This vital role was a necessity in the daily lives of their neighbors, and an asset to help them be aware of any news, bad or good. They were the forerunners of our modern means of communication, news and social media.
Although important to remain abreast of current local and international news, there is another type of news, even more crucial to know and live. This is the Good News of God’s faithful and merciful love for each of us. We did nothing to earn God’s love, and there is nothing we can do to lose it either, for the essence of God’s being is love. The word “Gospel” means good news, and we learn of God’s love through the Gospels. Many scholars agree that the first gospel was written by Saint Mark, whose feast day we celebrate on April 25.
We find John (his Hebrew name) Mark (his Latin name) mentioned by Luke in reference to St. Peter’s miraculous escape from prison, after which “he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who is called Mark, where there were many people gathered in prayer.” (Acts 12:12) Mary of Jerusalem had opened her house as a place for the apostles to meet, so John Mark undoubtedly learned and grew in the Christian faith from them. He was a cousin of Saint Barnabas and joined him and Saint Paul on their first missionary journey to Antioch in 44 A.D. Eventually, though, he left and returned home to Jerusalem, causing no little dissension between himself and Saint Paul. After some time, they reconciled, and Mark visited St. Paul during his first imprisonment in Rome. (Colossians 4:10) Christian tradition holds that St. Mark, who had not met Jesus, received information about him from St. Peter who referred to him as “Mark, my son.” (1 Peter 5:13) Additionally, some biblical scholars think that St. Mark was referring to himself in his account of the
arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.
After saying that all the apostles left Jesus and ran away when he was betrayed by Judas and arrested, he continued with “Now a young man followed him wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body. They seized him, but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked.” (Mark 14: 51 – 52)
St. Mark lived for many years in Alexandria, Egypt, probably as its first bishop, where he was eventually martyred around the year 68 A.D. He most likely wrote his gospel between 60 A.D. and his death, basing it on the teachings of St. Peter. His remains were stolen from Alexandria in 828 A.D. and taken
to Venice, where they remain to this day in an elaborately constructed and ornate basilica over 1,000 years old.
FOR YOUR FAMILY:
■ Read the Gospel of Mark, the shortest of the four Gospels. What touched you most deeply? What surprised you?
■ Mark learned about the life of Jesus from Peter and recorded it. What have you done to share your faith?
What will you do?