Saint Mark 25th April 2016
“The Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into Heaven and was seated at the right hand of God.”
1P.5,5b-14 Ps.88 Mk.16,15-20
“Then Jesus said to them : ’Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Gospel to all creation.Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
We proclaim the Good News to the whole of Creation, we receive it so as to transmit it, and we live from the Word which makes us human. In celebrating the feast of Saint Mark during Easter time, we manifest the diversity at the same time as the unity in the Church. The Lord Jesus is taken up into Heaven, the Apostles remain by themselves, and Jesus asks them to take on their mission from what they learned from him. Their consistence will be acquired as they pass through abandon, failure, which will make them encounter humanity respectfully and placing it in its right place. They can ’proclaim the Good News to the whole of creation’, that death is not a fatality, but that God’s Goodness is there, completely present to each person, active and benevolent.
Jesus is seated at the right of the Father as the One who has full powers, in Peace, having achieved the work of the Father on our earth, and already tasting Him, our First Born, the Resting Place of God.
The final image Jesus left us is that of the Heavenly Lord sharing the throne of God. In this time of ordeals and uncertainty that we are going through, it is for us a carrier of a message of serenity and hope. If the Gospel is pebbly, it is at the same time of such an unbelievable tenderness and finesse. What Jesus does is to give the Apostles to accomplish things , it is He who works with them. To work in faith, following Peter, they need a great surrender to the Holy Spirit, to be rid of their own selve.
’They went off proclaiming the Good News in all places.’
It is this total discretion and in view of their faith, that the Lord can act : ’And the Lord worked with them.’ It is he, the Lord who works, and who confirms his work through amazing signs that are given to us out of God’s abundant Love.
"These are the signs that will be associated with believers : in my name they will cast out devils; they will have the gift of tongues; they will pick up snakes
in their hands and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover."
Through Jesus’ Death and Resurrection, we come to God’s forgiveness and true freedom. Believers have the capacity to speak fully in their name for Another, to reveal to him and to offer each one to encounter Him : ’They will speak a new language.’
What we have received, this is what we have to transmit.It is not theory but a relationship to Another who gives, out of freedom to announce the Infinite Love of God who, like myself, will make the other person capable, to welcome him by receiving Jesus. The serenity we inherit from the Apostles is rooted in the fact that we are not alone so long as our concern remains to accomplish the Father’s design.
What God did when He gave us His Son to save us, was to tenderly look at us. He sealed an Eternal Covenant of Love with us, one that is renewed each day. It promises a victory to us that is as complete as that of Jesus.It is a paradox, just as Jesus’ victory is. The world of refusal may well and truly knock us about, anguish us, persecute us, tell us everything is lost in advance, God’s work will be done in an unexpected way, and not in the way we might have thought! In this springtime, nature bursts forth in al kinds of ways. We thought it lifeless but in fact it is very much alive!
“The Lord Jesus, after having spoken tot hem, was taken up into Heaven, and was seated at the right hand of the Father, while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the Word by the signs that accompanied it.”
In this new relationship with humanity, God is present and each person finds a new place. God confirms what we undertake, his Word echoes forth, it is powerful to act with useless servants. From now on our humanity acts in Christ, it is the unity of the New Body in which each one operates according to the grace given to him, each one finds themselves transformed.
We ask Jesus to do his Work of Love in the Church for us all and through us. Like the Apostles, we bear witness to this victory, by our life we are going to preach in all places, wherever God has placed us, so that we can bear fruit there. The Risen Lord Jesus ’seated at the right hand of the Father’ acts with us, he confirms the Word of our witness. Hope, the Promise of the Father, raises up the Holy Spirit in our hearts and He will never deceive us. We hold out in His
Spirit, for nothing will ever be able to separate us from the Father and Son in their Glory.
We ask for the grace of surrender and trust in God who does his Work in our midst.
Saint Mark
“Then Jesus said to them, ’Go out to the whole world to proclaim the Good News to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
In this Easter period we celebrate the evangelist St. Mark. This feast day manifests both the diversity and the unity that exists in the Church. Mark is seen as the lion in the desert, living in arid places.“The Lord Jesus,after having spoken to us, sat at the right hand of the Father.” He sat : it is an image, but how rich in teaching for us! He sat as someone having full power. He sat at the right hand of God, speaking to the Father on an equal level, and in this dialogue of love, interceding for us. He sat once and for all, and nothing will make him leave this place until the last day; not wars nor rumours of wars, nor scandals nor contestations, nor the perils nor the victories of his Church.He sat in peace, having achieved on earth the Father’s works. He, the First Born is already enjoying God’s Rest. So the last image St Mark left us with is that of the Heavenly Lord sharing the throne of God, and in thses times of trials and uncertainties we are going through it is a message of serenity and of hope. His gospel is rocky and at the same time so fine with an unbelievable tenderness. What Jesus has done, he gives it to the disciples to do. It is He who works with them. To work in faith, following Peter, in his footsteps, we need a great surrender to the Holy Spirit. They needed to forget themselves completely.“They, going out, preached everywhere the Good News.”The Lord can act thanks to this discretion and faith, ’ with The Lord working wh them.’ He the Lord is at work, he confirms his work with amazing signs. They are given to us in an overabundant love from God.
“These are the signs that will be associated with believers : in my name they will cast out devils; they will have the gift of tongues; they will be pick up snakes in their hands and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; they will lay their hands on the sick who will recover.”
The serenity we inherit from the apostles takes its roots in the fact that we are not alone and that we shall never be alone as long as our concern is to accomplish God’s plans. What God has done is a guarentee of what he will do;
if he delivered his Son for us, it is not so that now he will take away his favour ou stop gazing tenderly at us! God has sealed with us an eternal Covenant and this is renewed each day and if He is with us, how can we think tht this fidelity will some day run out? If God has decided to make of us his messangers and friends, who could block our path? He promises us a victory that is just as complete, strange and paradoxal as his own. The world that refuses might very wel knock us, anguish us and persecute us, saying everything is lost in advance, in all that, we can easily come out triumphant’ because the One who loves us loves us still at the right hand of the Father.God’s work comes about in an unexpected manner, it will not be as we had thought! We do not ned to ask God to show his power, it is ever at work. In this time of Spring, nature is bursting forth in all sorts of ways. We may have thought it dead but it is well and truley alive.’ Keep sober and alert, becau your enemy the devil is on the prowl like a roaring lion, lookingne to devour…place all your worries…He takes care of you!’ God has us place the other before us.’As you put on working clothes, put on humility“. We put on humility for the work God is going to do through all we are. ’Put on humility in your dealings with others, for He grants His grace to the humble.’”And so the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven; there at the right hand of God he took his place, while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it.“The Word echoes strongly because the Lord is powerful enough to act with useless servants. Certainly, we are so important for him, and yet at the same time God could do otherwise. Our humanity works through Christ, it is transformed by Him and it is the unity of a new bodyin which each one operates according to his grace that he builds it up in giving thanks to God. In prayer we ask a great unity in Christ for eac one and fro all, and that Jesus accomplishes his work of love in the Church for all and through us. Like the Apostles, we are witnesses of this victory.” We go out preaching everywhere.“that is, in one place at a time, there where God has put us and will put us so that we may bear fruit. and the Risen Lord, the seated Lord acts with u. He cnfirms the word we bear witness o.Hope, the promise of the Father,which God awakens in our heart, will never decieve us, for the Spirit lives in us so as to tend to it every day. Since”we are clothed with the strength from above", since we are holding on to the begnning of Eternal Life in the
Spirit, nothing will ever seperate us from the Father and the Son, so peaceful in their Glory.