From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   One Goal    
      
   We know we are traveling together. If our pace is slow, go on ahead of   
   us. We won't envy you but rather will seek to catch up with you.   
   However, if you consider us capable of a quicker pace, run along with   
   us.   
      There is only one goal, and we are all anxious to reach it—some at   
   a slow pace and others at a fast pace.   
   --St. Augustine-- Sermon on a New Canticle 4, 4   
      
   Prayer. Let everyone's sighs be uttered in longing for Christ. He   
   should be the object of our desire since he, he all-beautiful One,   
   loves repulsive people so that he might make them beautiful. Let us   
   run to him and cry out for him.   
   --St. Augustine-- Sermon on John 10, 13   
      
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   April 25th - Saint Mark the Evangelist   
    (died 57)   
      
    Mark, and his family, were among the first Christians of the early   
   Church. His mother, Mary, was one of the women who followed Jesus.   
   Mark was present at the wedding in Cana, tasting the water turned into   
   wine. He is likewise believed to be the young man who carried the   
   pitcher signaling that his home would be used for the Last Supper.   
   Later, that same room housed the disciples when the Holy Spirit   
   descended at Pentecost. On this, the dawning of the Easter season, we   
   look to the courageous life of this saint and writer, as inspiration   
   for our Easter journey.   
      
   Born into the tribe of Levi, Mark was born in Northern Africa (Gyrene,   
   in modern-day Libya), in the small village of Aberyatolos. As a young   
   Levite, he received a thorough education and was able to read and   
   write multiple languages--a skill he would utilize to its full   
   potential as a preacher and writer. His family moved to Palestine   
   following unrest in Northern Africa, and there he encountered Jesus   
   and His disciples.   
      
   Given his mother’s affiliation and following of Christ, the family was   
   held in high esteem in early Christian circles. Often, many would meet   
   to pray and preach in their home, and Biblical scholars posit family   
   connections to both Saint Thomas and Saint Peter. In fact, when Saint   
   Peter was freed from prison he went directly to the house of Mark. It   
   is believed that Peter himself converted Mark to the faith, and   
   following the Ascension of Jesus, Mark accompanied Peter on his   
   subsequent missionary trips.   
      
   History tells us that Mark’s first convert was his father, who while   
   allowing his wife to become Christian, had resisted the call himself.   
   While traveling with his father to Jordan, the two men were set upon   
   by a hungry lion and lioness. Mark appealed to Christ, praying, “Oh   
   Christ, Save us!” The lions immediately departed, and his father   
   accepted the faith. To this day, the winged lion is considered the   
   symbol of Saint Mark.   
      
   Mark accompanied Saint Peter to Rome, likely acting as a secretary and   
   interpreter, and is said to have later preached the Gospel in Venice   
   and Aquila. To this day, the citizens of Venice proclaim Saint Mark as   
   their father of faith, and the most famous of Basilicas in that city   
   is named in his honor.   
      
   When Saint Peter wrote his First Epistle to the churches of Asia, he   
   affectionately joined to his own salutation that of his faithful   
   companion, whom he calls “my son Mark.” The Roman people entreated   
   Saint Mark to put in writing for them the substance of Saint Peter’s   
   frequent discourses on Our Lord’s life. This the Evangelist did under   
   the eye and with the express sanction of the Apostle, and every page   
   of his brief but graphic Gospel so bore the impress of Saint Peter’s   
   character, that the Fathers used to name it “Peter’s Gospel.”   
      
   Saint Mark traveled subsequently throughout Lebanon, reaching Mount   
   Lebanon, and serving as the first Bishop of Gobayel. He then journeyed   
   to Alexandria, and is considered the father of the Egyptian Church and   
   the theological school of Alexandria. This school became the center of   
   Christian learning and culture for several centuries.   
      
   Holy legend tells us that Saint Mark was martyred in Alexandria around   
   the year 57. He was dragged behind a team of oxen, with a rope around   
   his neck, until his holy death. His relics were translated to Venice   
   in 466, although the Italian government returned many of the relics to   
   Egypt in the mid 1900s.   
      
   Saint Mark was graced with the gift of writing. Through his Gospels,   
   we are revealed many of the small details of the life of Jesus--His   
   words and actions--that other Gospel writers did not record. As his   
   Gospel, the second Gospel, is a vivid retelling of Saint Peter’s   
   recollections, we can be certain that these writings are the intimate   
   and personal reflections of the first pope. The life and service of   
   Saint Mark--as well as the legacy of discipleship and learning he left   
   in Egypt--remind us that we each are called to play our part in the   
   fullness of the Resurrection. What is the Risen Lord calling you to do   
   today?   
   --by Jacob   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   To those who wish to stand in God's grace, neither the guardianship of   
   saints nor the defenses of angels are wanting.   
   --Saint Hilary of Poitiers   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   "Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to   
   strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."   
   [Hebrews 13:1-2]   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Almighty God, who by the hand of Mark the evangelist hast given to thy   
   Church the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God: We thank thee for   
   this witness, and pray that we may be firmly grounded in its truth;   
   through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with   
   thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.   
      
   O Almighty God, who hast instructed thy holy Church with the heavenly   
   doctrines of thy Evangelist Saint Mark; Give us grace, that, being not   
   like children carried away with every blast of vain doctrine, we may   
   be established in the truth of thy holy Gospel; through Jesus Christ   
   our Lord. Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)