saint Mark

Today is the Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist. Mark was not one of the apostles, like the other evangelist Luke. But the early Christian tradition counted him as a close collaborator of St. Peter. Peter in fact called him “my son” (see 1 Pt 5:13). Navigating in the internet, I found this interesting page which narrates the “acts” of St. Mark. Find out more and click here
Personally, I believe that Mark had to struggle much in following our Lord. It is probable that he learned about faith in Christ through his family – his mother seemed to be well-known to the apostles (see Acts 12:12). Barnabas was his cousin (see Col 4:10). Incidentally, it was Barnabas who recruited Paul of Tarsus for the work of evangelization. They took Mark along along with them on their first missionary journey (Acts 12:25). On the second journey, however, Paul refused to let Mark accompany them (Acts 15:37-39). The episode explained also how Paul and Barnabas parted ways because of this. Intrigues were already present even then!
Years ago, when I did my 30-day retreat with Fr. Charles Wolf, sj, I was introduced to the fascinating Gospel of Mark. Reading it carefully, over and over again (it has only 16 chapters), I realize how “subversive” it is. It just shocks you to reality every now and then. When you feel you have finally understood Jesus, you are again challenged to rethink your position and you discover that you have not understood him enough. An implicit image of this “difficulty of discipleship” is embedded in the Gospel itself. See Mark 14:51-52 – where a young man (wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body) followed the persecuted Jesus during his arrest in Gethsemane; when the guards seized the young man, he left the cloth behind and ran off naked. Some scholars feel that the evangelist is speaking of himself when writing this line.
This is exactly my experience of the “ironies” of our faith. But then, I also think that Mark has no other choice but present Jesus in this way. As another internet page says: 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.