The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in the Third Week of Easter, Feast of St. Mark, Evangelist, 25 April 2023 1 Peter 5:15-14 <*(((>< + ><)))*> + <*(((>< + ><)))*> Mark 16:15-20
Thank you, dear Lord Jesus for calling and sending us St. Mark the Evangelist, the first to have written your gospel account based on the teachings of his friend and mentor, St. Peter; his gospel account eventually became the guide of later gospel accounts by Matthew and Luke. And we thank you for that giftedness of being the first to write, the first to dare go out and make you known by everyone, Lord Jesus Christ!
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.
Mark 16:15-16
St. Mark is often described as being young and at the same time immature: twice he is portrayed as fleeing from your mission, first from the scene when you O Lord was arrested that he left his linen cloth behind and then during the missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas when he left them and went back to Jerusalem.
But, it was his youthfulness that pushed him too to dare and write the first gospel account; how wonderful that he is represented by the lion as he began his gospel with the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah in John the Baptist as "the voice crying in the wilderness" like the lion. Every time we dare to cry and shout in the wilderness of your coming, dear Jesus, your gospel comes, your gospel is fulfilled; every time we overcome our immaturities and recklessness, you become present; every time we imitate you, Jesus, we write the gospel! Let us clothe ourselves with humility in our dealings with one another, resisting the devil by being steadfast in our faith in you (1 Peter 5:5, 9). Amen.
