Saint for the Day

• April 25 – St. Mark, Evangelist

  April 25

  St. Mark, Evangelist

  St. Mark was converted to the faith by the Prince of the Apostles, whom he afterwards accompanied to Rome, acting there as his secretary or interpreter.  When St. Peter was writing his first Epistle to the Churches of Asia, he affectionately joins with his own salutation that of his faithful companion, whom he calls “my son Mark.”  The Romans people entreated St. Mark to put in writing for them the substance of St. Peter’s frequent discourses on our Lord’s life.  This the Evangelist did under the eye and with the express sanction of the Apostle, and every page of his brief but graphic Gospel so bore the impress of St. Peter’s character, that the Fathers used to name it “Peter’s Gospel.”  St. Mark was now sent to Egypt to found the Church of Alexandria.  Here his disciples became the wonder of the world for their piety and asceticism, so that St. Jerome speaks of St. Mark as the father of the anchorites, who at a later time thronged the Egyptian deserts.  Here too he set up the first Christian school, the fruitful mother of many illustrious doctors and bishops.  After governing his see for many years, St. Mark was one day seized by the heathen, dragged by ropes over stones, and thrown into prison.  On the morrow the torture was repeated, and having been consoled by a vision of angels and the voice of Jesus, St. Mark went to his reward. It is to St. Mark that we owe the many slight touches which often give such vivid coloring to the Gospel scenes, and help us to picture to ourselves the very gestures and looks of our Blessed Lord.  It is he alone who notes that in the Temptation Jesus was “with the beasts;” that He slept in the boat “on a pillow;” that He “embraced” the little children.  He alone preserves for us the commanding words “Peace, be still!” by which the storm was quelled; or even the very sounds of His voice, the “Ephphetha” and “Talitha cumi,” by which the dumb were made to speak and the dead to rise.  So too the “looking roundabout with anger,” and the “sighing deeply,” long treasured in the memory of the penitent Apostle, who was himself converted by his Saviour’s look, are here recorded by his faithful interpreter. Reflection—Learn from St. Mark to keep the image of the Son of Man ever before your mind, and to ponder every syllable which fell from His lips.

  Taken from the “Pictorial Lives of the Saints: with Reflections for Everyday in the year

  

Sunday Sermon

• Third Sunday after Easter~ Obedience

  

  Be ye subject therefore
  to every human creature
  for God’s sake.
  ~1 St. Peter II. 13.

  If we stop to consider these words of the Epistle, my dear brethren, they must certainly have a strange sound to us in this age of the world, and especially in this country, which makes liberty its great boast. Many of us, I am afraid, in spite of their reverence for St. Peter, who gives this instruction, would be tempted to say that this doctrine of his is a very curious one. “Be subject to every human creature,” indeed! Why, on the contrary, in this free and enlightend republic, we do not acknowledge subjection to any one; we hold that every man is equal; we are all sovereigns and make laws ourselves—not subjects, obedient to laws made by others. We observe the laws of the land, it is true, but that is because they are arrangements made by the majority for the good of the nation, state, or city, and because we must have some sort of law if we are to have any kind of order.

  Well, this creed, which some of you, perhaps, have adopted, may sound well enough in itself, but unfortunately it does not seem to agree very well with St. Peter’s inspired and infallible teaching. We must, if we are Catholics, acknowledge that instead of claiming that no one has a right to control us, we ought, as he says, to “be subject to every human creature.” The only thing, then, is to find out just what he means by this.

  Does St. Peter mean, then, that we must be willing to obey every human creature, every man, woman, or child that undertakes to command us? Yes, there is no doubt that such is his doctrine. We must be willing to obey every one; we must have a spirit of subjection and humility, not of superiority and pride. We must not think that we are too good or too wise to be commanded by any one, however bad or however foolish he may seem to be. We must have a desire to obey, not to command.

  But does St. Peter mean that we actually must always obey every one, man, woman, or child, who chooses to command us? No, of course he does not mean that. We shall see what he does mean by bringing in the rest of the text.

  “Be ye subject,” he says, “to every human creature for God’s sake.” That is, be subject, as a matter of counsel, to every human creature, whenever we can suppose that creature to be speaking in the name of God; and as a matter of precept whenever we are sure that such is the case.

  The first is a counsel, as I said, to be followed by those who would be perfect; to mortify our own will and submit to the direction of others when it is not evidently wrong or foolish. But the second is a strict duty to be practised if we would be saved: to submit to the commands of those who certainly do speak in God’s name, when their commands are not plainly wrong. And who are those who speak in God’s name? First, they are those whom he has appointed to rule his church—your Holy Father the Pope, the bishops, and your pastors. Remember, when they speak to you they speak in the name of God; do not murmur against them, but obey cheerfully for his sake, whether their commands come to you directly or through others whom they appoint to duties connected with the church.

  Secondly, they are those whom he has appointed to rule the state or nation. No state or nation can be governed except in the name of God. That is what St. Paul says distinctly: “The powers that are,” he says—and he was speaking of the heathen emperors—”are ordained of God. Therefore he that resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God. And they that resist purchase to themselves damnation.” Be submissive, then, to the authorities and officers of every degree and kind in the nation, state, or city, when you meet them in the discharge of their duty. Though you may have chosen them yourselves, when they have been chosen they speak to you in God’s name.

  Lastly, those who rule in the family do so in the name of God. Children should remember that when they disobey their parents it is God’s commands they are disobeying, and that disobedience in any grave matter is a mortal sin. And servants—for such really are those who live out in families—should also bear in mind their duty of obedience for God’s sake and as to God. “Servants,” says St. Peter in this Epistle, “be subject to your masters with all fear.”

  Yes, we should all fear to disobey lawful authority, because God has established it, not we ourselves. And we should also understand that only in obedience for God’s sake is true liberty to be found.

  

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