Feast of St. Mark, Evangelist
Scripture:
Reflection:
Courage
Today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Mark, whose Gospel is the earliest of the four evangelists. Mark’s Gospel is symbolized by the lion (Matthew, Luke and John depicted as angel, ox and eagle, respectively) mirroring courage. We imagine the courageous person as one possessing valor or guts, but the word actually comes from the Latin, cor (heart) and agere (to act); so, to be courageous means to have the strength of “acting from the heart.”
Years ago, while directing a retreat for college students, I remember asking these salt-of-the-earth good young people what the most important attribute or virtue might be in their choices of friendship. Nearly all of them said they look for integrity or authenticity in others… that people be true to their hearts, not so much their thoughts or abstract ideas.
Our liturgical readings during these days of basking in the shadow of Eastertide we keep hearing (especially from the Acts of the Apostles) those stories about the early followers of Jesus being transformed… converted from being a scattered group of frightened and suspicious independents, they were suddenly galvanized into a believing community.
Perhaps one of the reasons many young people today are drifting away from the structures of participation — in politics and government and church — could be a call for all of us to be more authentic or genuine, to act from the heart. Courage. Saint Mark.
Fr. Jack Conley, CP, is the local superior of St. Vincent Strambi Community in Chicago, Illinois.