April 25
Feast of Saint Mark, evangelist
Give a Mass Offering
Mass Intentions
7:45 AM – Pam Hancock / Dee Petta
Prayer for Spiritual Communion
My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
Readings
First Reading
1 Peter 5:5b-14
Beloved:
Clothe yourselves with humility
in your dealings with one another, for:
God opposes the proud
but bestows favor on the humble.
So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.
Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your brothers and sisters throughout the world undergo the same sufferings. The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little. To him be dominion forever. Amen.
I write you this briefly through Silvanus, whom I consider a faithful brother, exhorting you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Remain firm in it. The chosen one at Babylon sends you greeting, as does Mark, my son. Greet one another with a loving kiss. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalms 89:2-3, 6-7, 16-17
R. (2) For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
The favors of the LORD I will sing forever;
through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness.
For you have said, “My kindness is established forever”;
in heaven you have confirmed your faithfulness.
R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
The heavens proclaim your wonders, O LORD,
and your faithfulness, in the assembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies can rank with the LORD?
Who is like the LORD among the sons of God?
R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
Blessed the people who know the joyful shout;
in the light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk.
At your name they rejoice all the day,
and through your justice they are exalted.
R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
Gospel Acclamation
1 Corinthians 1:23a-24b
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
We proclaim Christ crucified;
he is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.
“For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.”
Reflection
Good instruction for us today in our readings as we celebrate St. Mark: Clothe yourself with humility so that under the mighty hand of God you may be exalted. God cares for you and wants your worries (cf. 1 Peter 5:5-7). Again, the call for humility is not to teach us that we are miserable and beyond hope, but it is so that the works of our heavenly Father may ultimately be what shines through our lives. This is actually a posture of strength and freedom, rather than weakness.
When disciples of the Lord authentically preach the Gospel, more than anything, this is a demonstration of God’s power. When we have been brought closer to the Lord because we have been touched by the witness of someone else’s life—really the credit is due to God, not so much the individual person. This is largely what St. Peter has in mind when he speaks of being clothed with humility in our dealings with one another—it’s not ourselves that others encounter, but rather the goodness of God that radiates in the world. We give praise and thanksgiving to God for the lives of the Saints because of what the grace of God has accomplished in their lives, not their own personal merits.
Consider these closing verses of Mark’s Gospel that we hear today…the reality of the Resurrected Life at work in and through the apostles results in the ability to drive out demons, speak new languages, pick up serpents, be unharmed by drinking deadly things, and heal the sick…is it not the Risen Jesus himself who “worked with them and confirmed the word through [these] accompanying signs”? The success rate of his apostles doing these things, especially as seen in the Acts of the Apostles is because of them having been clothed with the grace of this ‘divine humility’—if you will—that it was their ability to simply and yet confidently be vessels of the Lord’s presence. Jesus laid his hands on them and gave them the gift of his Spirit to be handed on. The Lord’s presence is continually alive and available to us long after His ascension to heaven because of the foundation he built on his Apostles.
When we allow ourselves to be ‘clothed in humility,’ it becomes far easier for the Resurrected Jesus to live his life in us, and for him to still accomplish the great signs and wonders of his power. Jesus is still doing miracles to this day, and he can work them through you!
Peace,
Fr. Foley
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