Word to the Wise
Saturday, April 26, 2014 - Octave of Easter - Sat
[Acts 4:13-21 and Mark 16:9-15]But later, as the Eleven were at table, he appeared to the and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised. He said to them, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature." [Mark]
Just when one is wondering about how the "appendix" in the Gospel of John got there, one discovers that the Gospel of Mark also has an "appendix." All of this kind of thing reflects the way in which the written forms of biblical documents were composed and shared! There was no "copy, paste, attach, send" internet back then! One might say there was a kind of "Wikipedia" process going on in that more than one editor/author got into the act. The Bible as we know it represents the best judgment of scholars and language experts choosing from a number of ancient manuscripts, each with its own variations. Punctuation, as we know it, and spelling were not uniform and could lead to different interpretations! Lots of debate occurred over the centuries as to what should or should not be included in the "canon" of scripture. For Catholics of the Western or Latin tradition, this was settled only at the Council of Trent in the 16th century!
Today's gospel scripture is taken from what is known as "the longer conclusion" of the Gospel of Mark. Although it has a different style and vocabulary from the rest of the gospel, the negative attitude toward the Twelve continues! Jesus scolds them for failing to believe Mary Magdalen or the two disciples who were on the road to Emmaus! [So, the author of the appendix had to know about John 20 and Luke 24!] The Gospel of Mark [with appendix] ends with Jesus commissioning the disciples and then leaving them. They go forth to do the task of preaching the gospel. Liturgically, we are going to see how this plays out over the next few weeks.
We always begin with the act of faith that the Bible is God's Word in human words. Human story-telling is subject to many factors, but we allow for the work of the Holy Sprit in getting the message to the authors as well as to us readers/believers. In regard to today's gospel scripture the message is CHRIST IS RISEN! SPREAD THE WORD! Mary Magdalen, the two disciples from the Emmaus Road, and the "Eleven" [finally] will cheer us on! AMEN