May our lives be a Gospel that others may read

25th April 2018

Feast of St Mark, Evangelist

1Pt5:5-14; Mk16:15-20

We must admit that there is a big difference between writing a letter by hand and simply typing an email, even if you write exactly the same things. A letter is much more personal, much more intimate. When you receive it and have it in your hands and you can read it and reread it.

Well, in today's first reading we have a beautiful letter, and a very intimate one at that. It is written by Sivlanus who as we would understand from the letter himself, was the secretary of Peter. Peter refers to himself as the chosen one in Babylon, which was the code name for Rome, at the time of persecution, as we find also in the Book of Revelation. We also read that he refers to Mark as his son, probably meant in a spiritual sense, but according to a strong tradition, especially among the Early Christian writers, he probably was Peter's interpreter and it is believed the Mark wrote his Gospel in Rome at a time of persecution.

In any case, beyond these historical details, we are struck by the counsels that Peter gives the addressees of his letter. First among them, at least in the text we have today is the virtue of humility, out of which the other virtues flow: sobriety and vigilance, resistance to the devil, steadfastness in faith, patience in suffering etc. The first step is however humility. St Benedict of Nursia, who had established monasteries throughout Europe, known for the Rule of St Benedict had identified humility as the first rung towards the rest of our spiritual life.

St Peter is very clear: "clothe yourself in humility when dealing with others." To be humble does not mean to underestimate yourself but to be true to who you are. The virtue of humility actually protects us from the vice of pride on one hand and the vice of self-loathing on the other. To be humble in practical terms means to be ready to be of service to others. It is therefore translated in practical terms in the way that we relate with others and not only in the way that we think of ourselves.

In the Gospel we can see what the power of humility can do. When they used to ask Mother Teresa how she used to do all the things that she was doing, with all the work she was doing with the sick and with the poor and all the houses that she was opening for the destitute and the dying around the world, she would just smile and point upword, meaning, "It is not me really, but it is Him." How is that for humility? I believe that this is what the disciples were doing after Jesus ascended into heaven. Now they had to continue doing what he did on Earth and he empowered him to do so.

St Mark did so by writing the Gospel but perhaps even more importantly by dying as a martyr. May our lives be a gospel that others may read.