Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 04-25-05, Feast of St. Mark, Evangelist

April 25, 2005
Feast of Saint Mark, evangelist

Psalm: Monday 20

Reading I
1 Pt 5:5b-14

Beloved:
Clothe yourselves with humility
in your dealings with one another, for:

God opposes the proud
but bestows favor on the humble.

So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that he may exalt you in due time.
Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.

Be sober and vigilant.
Your opponent the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion
looking for someone to devour.
Resist him, steadfast in faith,
knowing that your brothers and sisters throughout the world
undergo the same sufferings.
The God of all grace
who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus
will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you
after you have suffered a little.
To him be dominion forever. Amen.

I write you this briefly through Silvanus,
whom I consider a faithful brother,
exhorting you and testifying that this is the true grace of God.
Remain firm in it.
The chosen one at Babylon sends you greeting, as does Mark, my son.
Greet one another with a loving kiss.
Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 89:2-3, 6-7, 16-17

R (2) For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R Alleluia.
The favors of the LORD I will sing forever;
through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness.
For you have said, "My kindness is established forever";
in heaven you have confirmed your faithfulness.
R For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R Alleluia.
The heavens proclaim your wonders, O LORD,
and your faithfulness, in the assembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies can rank with the LORD?
Who is like the LORD among the sons of God?
R For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R Alleluia.
Blessed the people who know the joyful shout;
in the light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk.
At your name they rejoice all the day,
and through your justice they are exalted.
R For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
or:
R Alleluia.

Gospel
Mk 16:15-20

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.
These signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons,
they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

Then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them,
was taken up into heaven
and took his seat at the right hand of God.
But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.

From: 1 Peter 5:5b-14

To the Faithful

[5b] Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for
"God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

[6] Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that in
due time He may exalt you. [7] Cast all your anxieties on Him, for He
cares about you. [8] Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil
prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. [9]
Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of
suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world. [10]
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who
has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore,
establish and strengthen you. [11] To Him be the dominion for ever and
ever. Amen.

Epilogue

[12] By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written
briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of
God; stand fast in it. [13] She who is at Babylon, who is likewise
chosen, sends you greetings; and so does my son Mark. [14] Greet one
another with the kiss of love.

Peace to all of you that are in Christ.

Commentary:

5-11. The Apostle concludes his exhortation with a call to humility,
which should express itself in complete docility in the face of the
trials God permits (verses 6-7). This last piece of advice is often
found in Sacred Scripture: "Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will
sustain you" (Psalm 55:22); Jesus also teaches that we should trust in
God's fatherly providence (cf. Matthew 6:19-34). "You have such care
for each one of us", St. Augustine exclaims, "as if you had no offers
to care for" ("Confessions", 3, 11).

However, abandonment in God does not mean irresponsibility, so St.
Peter reminds them there is always need to be watchful against the
assaults of the devil, who will pounce on us if we lower our guard
(verse 8).

The description of the devil (etymologically the word means liar,
detractor: cf. Revelation 12:9-10) as a roaring lion seeking someone to
devour has often been taken up by the Saints. "He moves round each one
of us", St. Cyprian says, "like an enemy who has us surrounded and is
checking the walls to see if there is some weak, unsecured part, where
he can get in" ("De Zelo Et Livore").

Christians "firm in the faith" will resist the attacks of the devil.
The trials they suffer (cf. 1:6-7; 4:13; 5:1-4) serve to purify them
and are a pledge of the glory God will give them: "For this momentary
affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all
comparisons" (2 Corinthians 4:17). "So great is the good that I hope
for, that any pain is for me a pleasure" (St. Francis of Assisi,
"Reflections on Christ's Wounds", 1).

5. "You who are younger": it is not clear whether he is addressing
people who are young in age or Christians who are not "elders"
(priests), that is, lay people.

"God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble": a quotation
from Proverbs (cf. James 4:6 and note on same), containing an idea
which runs right through the Old Testament (cf., e.g., Job 12:19; Psalm
18:88; 31:34) and the teachings of Christ (cf., e.g., Luke 14:11). The
Blessed Virgin proclaims this truth in the "Magnificat": "He has put
down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree"
(Luke 1:52).

"Humility is the source and foundation of every kind of virtue," the
Cure of Ars teaches; "it is the door by which all God-given graces
enter; it is what seasons all our actions, making them so valuable and
so pleasing to God. Finally, it makes us masters of God's heart, to
the point, so to speak, of making Him our servant; for God has never
been able to resist a humble heart" ("Selected Sermons", Tenth Sunday
after Pentecost).

8. For the third time, St. Peter exhorts the faithful to be sober;
earlier he referred to the importance of sobriety so as to put one's
hope in Heavenly things (1:13) and to help one to pray (4:7). Now he
stresses that it puts us on guard against the devil.

Man should use the goods of this world in a balanced, temperate way, so
as to avoid being ensnared by them, thereby forgetting his eternal
destiny: "Detach yourself from the goods of the world. Love and
practice poverty of spirit: be content with what enables you to live a
simple and sober life. Otherwise, you will never be an apostle"
([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 631).

12. Silvanus, called Silas in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 15:22),
accompanied St. Paul on his second apostolic journey through Asia Minor
and Greece (cf. Acts 15:36-18:22); he was therefore well known to the
Christians addressed in this letter.

From the reference St. Peter makes to him here, it is not possible to
say for sure whether Silvanus was simply the bearer of the letter, or
acted as an amanuensis who took down the Apostle's dictation, or was an
editor or redactor of ideas the Apostle gave him (on this subject, see
the Introduction to this Letter).

13. "Babylon": this is a symbolic way of referring to Rome, the
prototype of the idolatrous and worldly city of the era. Some
centuries earlier Babylon had been the subject of severe reproaches and
threats by the prophets (cf., e.g., Isaiah 13:47; Jeremiah 50-51). In
the Book of Revelation Rome is also referred to by this name (cf. e.g.,
Revelation 17-18).

The Mark referred to is the author of the second Gospel. Tradition
says that he acted as St. Peter's interpreter in Rome. The Apostle
calls him "son", meaning that he was spiritually his son, and implying
that they had been close to each other for a long time (cf. "The
Navarre Bible: St. Mark", pp. 56-57).

14. "The kiss of love": St. Paul also, at the end of some of his
letters, refers to the "holy kiss" (cf. Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians
16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:26), a mark of
supernatural charity and shared faith. With this meaning the gesture
passed into primitive eucharistic liturgy (cf. note on 1 Corinthians
16:20).

The final words, "Peace to all of you that are in Christ", are similar
to the way St. Paul ends many of his letters; since the first age of
the Church it has been used in liturgical celebrations. St. Cyril of
Jerusalem, for example, ends his baptismal catechism with these words:
"May the God of peace hallow you entirely, and your body and your soul
remain unsullied until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be
glory for ever and ever. Amen" ("Mystagogical Catechesis", 5, 23).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

From: Mark 16:15-20

Jesus Appears to the Eleven. The Apostle's Mission

[15] And He (Jesus) said to them (the Eleven), "Go into all the world
and preach the Gospel to the whole creation. [16] He who believes and
is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be
condemned. [17] And these signs will accompany those who believe; in
My name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; [18]
they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will
not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will
recover."

The Ascension

[19] So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up
into Heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.

The Apostles Go Forth and Preach

[20] And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked
with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it.
Amen.

Commentary:

15. This verse contains what is called the "universal apostolic
mandate" (paralleled by Matthew 28:19-20 and Luke 24:46-48). This is
an imperative command from Christ to His Apostles to preach the Gospel
to the whole world. This same apostolic mission applies, especially to
the Apostles' successors, the bishops in communion with Peter's
successor, the Pope.

But this mission extends further: the whole "Church was founded to
spread the Kingdom of Christ over all the earth for the glory of God
the Father, to make all men partakers in redemption and salvation....
Every activity of the Mystical Body with this in view goes by the name
of `apostolate'; the Church exercises it through all its members,
though in various ways. In fact, the Christian vocation is, of its
nature, a vocation to the apostolate as well. In the organism of a
living body no member plays a purely passive part, sharing in the life
of the body it shares at the same time in its activity. The same is
true for the body of Christ, the Church: `the whole body achieves full
growth in dependence on the full functioning of each part' (Ephesians
4:16). Between the members of this body there exists, further, such a
unity and solidarity (cf. Ephesians 4:16) that a member who does not
work at the growth of the body to the extent of his possibilities must
be considered useless both to the Church and to himself.

"In the Church there is diversity of ministry but unity of mission. To
the apostles and their successors Christ has entrusted the office of
teaching, sanctifying and governing in His name and by His power. But
the laity are made to share in the priestly, prophetical and kingly
office of Christ; they have therefore, in the Church and in the world,
their own assignment in the mission of the whole people of God"
(Vatican II, "Apostolicam Actuositatem", 2).

It is true that God acts directly on each person's soul through grace,
but it must also be said that it is Christ's will (expressed here and

elsewhere) that men should be an instrument or vehicle of salvation for
others.

Vatican II also teaches this: "On all Christians, accordingly, rests
the noble obligation of working to bring all men throughout the whole
world to hear and accept the divine message of salvation" ("ibid.",
3).

16. This verse teaches that, as a consequence of the proclamation of
the Good News, faith and Baptism are indispensable pre-requisites for
attaining salvation. Conversion to the faith of Jesus Christ should
lead directly to Baptism, which confers on us "the first sanctifying
grace, by which Original Sin is forgiven, and which also forgives any
actual sins there may be; it remits all punishment due for sins; it
impresses on the soul the mark of the Christian; it makes us children
of God, members of the Church and heirs to Heaven, and enables us to
receive the other Sacraments" ("St. Pius X Catechism", 553).

Baptism is absolutely necessary for salvation, as we can see from these
words of the Lord. But physical impossibility for receiving the rite
of Baptism can be replaced either by martyrdom (called, therefore,
"baptism of blood") or by a perfect act of love of God and of
contrition, together with an at least implicit desire to be baptized:
this is called "baptism of desire" (cf. "ibid.", 567-568).

Regarding infant Baptism, St. Augustine taught that "the custom of our
Mother the Church of infant Baptism is in no way to be rejected or
considered unnecessary; on the contrary, it is to be believed on the
ground that it is a tradition from the Apostles" ("De Gen., Ad Litt.",
10, 23, 39). The new "Code of Canon Law" also stresses the need to
baptize infants: "Parents are obliged to see that their infants are
baptized within the first few weeks. As soon as possible after the
birth, indeed even before it, they are to approach the parish priest to
ask for the Sacrament for their child, and to be themselves duly
prepared for it" (Canon 867).

Another consequence of the proclamation of the Gospel, closely linked
with the previous one, is that "the Church is necessary", as Vatican II
declares: "Christ is the one mediator and way of salvation; He is
present to us in His body which is the Church. He Himself explicitly
asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism (cf. Mark 16:16; John 3:5),
and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which
men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be
saved who, knowing that the Church was founded as necessary by God
through Christ, would refuse to enter it, or to remain in it" ("Lumen
Gentium", 14; cf. "Presbyterorum Ordinis", 4; "Ad Gentes", 1-3;
"Dignitatis Humanae", 11).

17-18. In the early days of the Church, public miracles of this kind
happened frequently. There are numerous historical records of these
events in the New Testament (cf., e.g., Acts 3:1-11; 28:3-6) and in
other ancient Christian writings. It was very fitting that this should
be so, for it gave visible proof of the truth of Christianity.
Miracles of this type still occur, but much more seldom; they are very
exceptional. This, too, is fitting because, on the one hand, the truth

of Christianity has been attested to enough; and, on the other, it
leaves room for us to merit through faith. St. Jerome comments:
"Miracles were necessary at the beginning to confirm the people in the
faith. But, once the faith of the Church is confirmed, miracles are
not necessary" ("Comm. In Marcum, in loc."). However, God still works
miracles through saints in every generation, including our own.

19. The Lord's ascension into Heaven and His sitting at the right hand
of the Father is the sixth article of faith confessed in the Creed.
Jesus Christ went up into Heaven body and soul, to take possession of
the Kingdom He won through His death, to prepare for us a place in
Heaven (cf. Revelation 3:21) and to send the Holy Spirit to His Church
(cf. "St. Pius X Cathechism", 123).

To say that He "sat at the right hand of God" means that Jesus Christ,
including His humanity, has taken eternal possession of Heaven and
that, being the equal of His Father in that He is God, He occupies the
place of highest honor beside Him in His human capacity (cf. "St. Pius
V Catechism", I, 7, 2-3). Already in the Old Testament the Messiah is
spoken of as seated at the right hand of the Almighty, thereby showing
the supreme dignity of Yahweh's Annointed (cf. Psalm 110:1). The New
Testament records this truth here and also in many other passages (cf.
Ephesians 1:20-22; Hebrews 1:13).

As the "St. Pius V Catechism" adds, Jesus went up to Heaven by His own
power and not by any other. Nor was it only as God that He ascended,
but also as man.

20. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the evangelist attests that the words
of Christ have already begun to be fulfilled by the time of writing.
The Apostles, in other words, were faithfully carrying out the mission
of our Lord entrusted to them. They begin to preach the Good News of
salvation throughout the known world. Their preaching was accompanied
by the signs and wonders the Lord had promised, which lent authority to
their witness and their teaching. Yet, we know that their apostolic
work was always hard, involving much effort, danger, misunderstanding,
persecution and even martyrdom--like our Lord's own life.

Thanks to God and also to the Apostles, the strength and joy of our
Lord Jesus Christ has reached as far as us. But every Christian
generation, every man and woman, has to receive the preaching of the
Gospel and, in turn, pass it on. The grace of God will always be
available to us: "Non est abbreviata manus Domini" (Isaiah 59:1), the
power of the Lord has not diminished.

American Cathlic's Saint of the Day

April 25, 2005

St. Mark

Most of what we know about Mark comes directly from the New Testament. He is usually identified with the Mark of Acts 12:12. (When Peter escaped from prison, he went to the home of Mark's mother.)

Paul and Barnabas took him along on the first missionary journey, but for some reason Mark returned alone to Jerusalem. It is evident, from Paul's refusal to let Mark accompany him on the second journey despite Barnabas's insistence, that Mark had displeased Paul. Later, Paul asks Mark to visit him in prison so we may assume the trouble did not last long.

The oldest and the shortest of the four Gospels, the Gospel of Mark emphasizes Jesus' rejection by humanity while being God's triumphant envoy. Probably written for Gentile converts in Rome—after the death of Peter and Paul sometime between A.D. 60 and 70—Mark's Gospel is the gradual manifestation of a "scandal": a crucified Messiah.

Evidently a friend of Mark (Peter called him "my son"), Peter is only one of the Gospel sources, others being the Church in Jerusalem (Jewish roots) and the Church at Antioch (largely Gentile).

Like one other Gospel writer, Luke, Mark was not one of the 12 apostles. We cannot be certain whether he knew Jesus personally. Some scholars feel that the evangelist is speaking of himself when describing the arrest of Jesus in Gethsemane: "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).

Others hold Mark to be the first bishop of Alexandria, Egypt. Venice, famous for the Piazza San Marco, claims Mark as its patron saint; the large basilica there is believed to contain his remains.

A winged lion is Mark's symbol. The lion derives from Mark's description of John the Baptist as a "voice of one crying out in the desert" (Mark 1:3), which artists compared to a roaring lion. The wings come from the application of Ezekiel's vision of four winged creatures (Ezekiel, chapter one) to the evangelists.

Comment:

Mark fulfilled in his life what every Christian is called to do: proclaim to all people the Good News that is the source of salvation. In particular, Mark's way was by writing. Others may proclaim the Good News by music, drama, poetry or by teaching children around a family table.

Quote:

There is very little in Mark that is not in the other Gospels—only four passages. One is: “...This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come” (Mark 4:26-29).

Catholic Culture

Collect:
Father, you gave St. Mark the privilege of proclaiming your Gospel. May we profit by his wisdom and follow Christ more faithfully. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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April 25, 2005

Feast of St. Mark, evangelist

Old Calendar: St. Mark; The Greater Litanies

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St. Mark, the author of the second Gospel, was the son of Mary whose house at Jerusalem was the meeting place of Christians. He was baptized and instructed by St. Peter. In about the year 42 A.D. he came to Rome with the Prince of the Apostles. There at the request of the faithful he wrote his Gospel about the year 50 A.D. His Gospel is a record of St. Peter's preaching about Our Lord and pays special attention to the head of the Apostles. The Gospel was written for Roman Gentile converts. It rarely quotes the Old Testament, and is careful to explain Jewish customs, rites and words. It excels in portraying the emotions and affections of both Christ and His hearers. St. Mark preached in Egypt, especially in Alexandria and was martyred there by the heathen.

St. Mark
John Mark, later known simply as Mark, was a Jew by birth. He was the son of that Mary who was proprietress of the Cenacle or "upper room" which served as the meeting place for the first Christians in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12). He was still a youth at the time of the Savior's death. In his description of the young man who was present when Jesus was seized and who fled from the rabble leaving behind his "linen cloth," the second Evangelist might possibly have stamped the mark of his own identity.

During the years that followed, the rapidly maturing youth witnessed the growth of the infant Church in his mother's Upper Room and became acquainted with its traditions. This knowledge he put to excellent use when compiling his Gospel. Later, we find Mark acting as a companion to his cousin Barnabas and Saul on their return journey to Antioch and on their first missionary journey. But Mark was too immature for the hardships of this type of work and therefore left them at Perge in Pamphylia to return home.

As the two apostles were preparing for their second missionary journey, Barnabas wanted to take his cousin with him. Paul, however, objected. Thereupon the two cousins undertook a missionary journey to Cyprus. Time healed the strained relations between Paul and Mark, and during the former's first Roman captivity (61-63), Mark rendered Paul valuable service (Col. 4:10; Philem. 24), and the Apostle learnt to appreciate him. When in chains the second time Paul requested Mark's presence (2 Tim. 4:11).

An intimate friendship existed between Mark and Peter; he played the role of Peter's companion, disciple, and interpreter. According to the common patristic opinion, Mark was present at Peter's preaching in Rome and wrote his Gospel under the influence of the prince of the apostles. This explains why incidents which involve Peter are described with telling detail (e.g., the great day at Capharnaum, 1:14f)). Little is known of Mark's later life. It is certain that he died a martyr's death as bishop of Alexandria in Egypt. His relics were transferred from Alexandria to Venice, where a worthy tomb was erected in St. Mark's Cathedral.

The Gospel of St. Mark, the shortest of the four, is, above all, a Roman Gospel. It originated in Rome and is addressed to Roman, or shall we say, to Western Christianity. Another high merit is its chronological presentation of the life of Christ. For we should be deeply interested in the historical sequence of the events in our blessed Savior's life.

Furthermore, Mark was a skilled painter of word pictures. With one stroke he frequently enhances a familiar scene, shedding upon it new light. His Gospel is the "Gospel of Peter," for he wrote it under the direction and with the aid of the prince of the apostles. "The Evangelist Mark is represented as a lion because he begins his Gospel in the wilderness, `The voice of one crying in the desert: Make ready the way of the Lord,' or because he presents the Lord as the unconquered King." — The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Against impenitence; attorneys; barristers; captives; Egypt; glaziers; imprisoned people; insect bites; lawyers; lions; notaries; prisoners; scrofulous diseases; stained glass workers; struma; Diocese of Venice, Florida; Venice, Italy.

Symbols: Winged lion; man writing or holding his gospel; man with a halter around his neck; lion; lion in the desert; man with a book or scroll accompanied by a winged lion; holding a palm and book; holding a book with pax tibi Marce written on it; bishop on a throne decorated with lions; helping Venetian sailors; rescuing Christian slaves from Saracens.

Homily of the Day

Homily of the Day

Title:	Be True from the Inside Out
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, PhD.
Date:	Feast of Mark, Evangelist

1Pet 5:5b-15 Mk 16:15-20

Buried somewhere in our high school memories is a novel that was on everyone's reading list, Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. It's the story of a pious young puritan clergyman who becomes secretly involved with a beautiful young woman, Hester Prynne. Nature takes its course and the woman gives birth to a child. But no father is in evidence, and no marriage vows have been pronounced. So the tight little Puritan village in which she lives labels her "adulteress," and casts her out of church and friendship and out of all kindly contact. She is alone, with the scarlet letter "A" sewn upon her dress.

Meanwhile, her secret lover, the Reverend Dimmesdale, continues to rise in the esteem of his people. From far and wide they come to marvel at the purity of his soul, and to listen to his beautiful words. But he has no words for Hester and no embrace for his fatherless child. The years pass. Hester and her child survive — alone. But Dimmesdale slowly crumples from within, crushed by the weight of the lie he is living. At the height of his career he is dying. At the very last moment — with the whole town gathered round--he takes Hester to himself and for the first time embraces his little child. Then he dies.

And what moral are we to take from this long, sad story? Hawthorne sums it up in two words — which he repeats three times: "Be true. Be true. Be true."

I wonder if that isn't the essence of Jesus' last words to us before ascending to heaven. "Go out to the whole world," he says to us all, "and tell the good news." Now in its literal sense, telling means using words, talking. And who can deny that talking is important if we want to share good news? But talk is cheap; and, as Dimmesdale reminds us, it always has been. So if we have any hope of following Jesus' command to proclaim the good news, we're going to have to do a lot more than talk, a lot more than just tell the truth. We're going to have to be true. Be true on the inside. And from that truthfulness on the inside will spring forth not only words that are true, but deeds that are true. Deeds that, in their rightness and goodness, shout to the whole world what really matters, deeds that proclaim to the whole world that God is here, living in the hearts of his people.

God has given us an immense mission, telling his good news to all the world. So we truly need to pray for one another:

May God help us become true on the inside, so that every word and deed of ours may speak his good news till that day when he will speak it to us all face to face. Amen.

A Voice in the Desert

Monday April 25, 2005 Fifth Week of Easter

Reading (1 Peter 5:5b-14) Gospel (St. Mark 16:15-20)

In the Gospel reading, Our Lord tells us today that there are signs that are going to accompany any person who believes. He tells us that if we are baptized and live the faith, we are going to be saved. He tells us then that someone who has this faith is going to be able to speak new languages; they are going to be able to handle serpents; they are going to be able to cast out demons; they will be able to heal people.

Now you might look at yourself and think, “But I can’t do those things, so does that mean I don’t believe?” No. What it means is that there are some people to whom these gifts are going to be given, but it does not imply that they are going to be given to everybody. Each one of us has different gifts. Saint Paul makes that very clear when he talks about all the various functions that people have within the Church. In the Mystical Body, each person has his or her own function, and so it does not mean that everybody has all of these things.

But at the same time that we are looking at what it is to believe and to make sure that we are not going to be condemned, Saint Peter, on the other hand, tells us that we have to be sober and vigilant because our opponent the devil is prowling like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. What we see then, as Saint Peter says, is that we have to resist him, steady in our faith. We need to make sure that faith is strong. Not faith in the fact that we can speak in tongues or the fact that we can heal people or whatever it might be, but just simple faith in Jesus Christ. If we were to put faith just in some kind of external sign that we have, we are going to fail because the faith then is not in Christ but the faith is in something that we think we can do. And the real fear is that we would start to look at it as being our own: “Look what I can do,” rather than, “Look at what Jesus is doing in me.” That is the reason why He oftentimes does not provide these sorts of things, because our pride would get in the way and we would be lost. The devil is very shrewd, and he is going to look for any opening to be able to get in.

So God in His mercy does not give us all these extraordinary gifts because He knows we would be in trouble if we had them since it requires humility, as Saint Peter begins with. He tells us that we are to clothe ourselves in humility because that is the one thing Satan cannot get. He can attack us pretty much in any way except humility. If we have humility, Satan is done. That is what we need to be about. If we have humility, then we are going to accept every element of the faith. We can look right down the list of all the things the Church teaches, and the person who is truly humble is going to accept every last one of them without the slightest hesitation.

We have everything exactly laid out for us. If we are going to have that faith, as Saint Peter says, then we are going to suffer just like everyone else who has faith. If we have faith, the gift that God will give all of us is suffering and humiliations – and that is something we can be guaranteed of. Now you can look at it from the other side. Instead of saying, “Do I speak in tongues and do I have the gift of healing and prophecy and all these other things?” Do not worry about that. Is God giving you some sufferings and humiliations? If so, then you are doing just fine. If not, I would begin to worry. That is what it really comes down to because these are the things that Satan cannot deal with. As long as we are remaining faithful in the midst of the struggles, then we are going to be victorious in Christ; then, as we heard in the Gospel, we will not be condemned because we are truly believing in Christ. We are believing in Him not in the midst of extraordinary signs, but we are believing in Him and remaining firm in our faith in the midst of testing, in the midst of sufferings and trials and humiliations. When that is the way that we are, then we can rejoice and be glad because at that point the faith is being proven, it is being demonstrated, and we remain faithful to Jesus Christ in the midst of those kinds of difficulties. Then we can be reasonably sure of our salvation.

* This text was transcribed from the audio recording with minimal editing.

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