Word to the Wise
Thursday, April 25, 2024 - April 25 - St. Mark, evangelist
[1 Pet 5:5b-14 and Mark 16:15-20]Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature." [Mark]
The Gospel According to Mark is the earliest and shortest of the four gospels, but it served as an important resource to the evangelists Matthew and Luke because about 80% or so of Mark's work shows up in the other two. This may explain why the three are referred to as the synoptic gospels, i.e. they bear resemblance to each other in many ways. Mark may be the one whom Paul and Barnabus recruited to join them and is also traditionally associated with St. Peter in Rome, from whom he presumably got a lot of his information about Jesus' ministry. [St. Paul has very little to say in his letters about Jesus' life before his Passion.]
In general, the gospels were composed to meet the needs of a particular community. I think the evangelists would be amazed at the way they have influenced the course of Christianity around the world. But, as the quotation from the "longer ending" of Mark indicates, the task is to go out and preach the gospel to "every creature." [Other translations say, "all creation."] Scripture scholars opine that Mark was meant as a kind of manual for early preachers to keep them "on message" about Jesus.
The straightforward and simple (and also blunt) quality of the Gospel According to Mark makes for easy and also uncomfortable reading at times because it has a kind of "in your face" attitude. "Every creature" can lead to some amusing thoughts, as well. But "it is what it is" and the challenge remains not just for "the Eleven" but for all of us now! AMEN