Feast of Saint Mark, evangelist
Today is the Feast of St. Mark, one of the four gospel writers. We don’t know much about the man, but we have a gospel accredited to his name. The Gospel today from Mark ends with the Ascension of Jesus and the Apostles immediately going out and telling people about Jesus and his message. Normally, when the people we love leave us, either by death or short departure, it takes at least some time to recover from the loss. Yet today’s gospel gives the impression that the Apostles didn’t waste a minute in grief and immediately started the project of evangelization, the telling of the story and the message of Jesus. The need and desire to spread the message of Jesus far outweighed any sentiments of grief or confusion. When we recall our own memories of loss and separation, this immediate response to “go out” perhaps indicates that something beyond the ordinary had occurred. This is the message of Easter. The patterns that may defeat and degrade us can be left behind. We can, with God’s grace and little resolve on our part, move forward with a sense of hope and purpose.