25 Apr – Feast of St. Mark, evangelist
St. Mark is believed to be the young man who ran away when Jesus was arrested (Mark 14:51-52), and the “John whose other name was Mark” (Acts 12:25). He was a disciple of St. Peter who travelled with him to Rome, and was referred to as “my son Mark” by the first Pope. He was the author of the earliest canonical Gospel. He travelled with his cousin St. Barnabas, and with St. Paul, through Cyprus. He evangelized in Alexandria, established the Church there, and founded the first famous Christian school.
- Patron Saint Index
1 Pet 5:5-14
Mk 16:15-20
…while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it.
John F Kennedy famously said, “… let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth, God’s work must truly be our own”. God’s work is made possible only when a person commits themselves to something, and sets out with determination, to see it through till the end.
On the days when I am tired, I wonder what God must think of me, whether He might take the job from me and give it to someone with a little more endurance. When I complain and vent, when I’m annoyed and fed-up, I wonder if God thinks that perhaps His mission might be better accomplished by someone with a more positive attitude.
When the Eleven went out to evangelize the world, what did their bad days look like? The days when say, they went into a city and were ignored, or worse, stoned by its inhabitants? Or when they were thrown in jail for speaking the Word? Did they doubt themselves? Did they doubt their cause? Were they tired? Did their conviction waver? Conversely, what did a good day at work look like? Was success measured in the number of conversions a week? Or something less ‘tangible’, say the fulfilment that comes from converting a single soul? How were wins and losses measured?
I think of family as my ‘work’. I think of my role in it, as someone who facilitates what God wants. At least, that has been my understanding of it. On the bad days, I wonder if I might have misread the memo. On a very bad day, I wonder if maybe I might have missed the memo completely. I’m not picking up serpents with my hands, nor performing signs of wonder. I’m just trying to make our family work. But I am learning that you really can’t impose your ideas of ‘success’ and ‘common sense’ on people. They’ll rebel, do the opposite of what you think they should be doing, make bad decisions for the hell of it, or just ghost you. All this, despite the effort and time you put into them.
If God’s work on earth must truly be our own, I could use a little bit of direction. Time is a scarce resource. Effort is a scarce resource. I’d like to not waste mine on what may well be lost causes.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Sharon Soo)
Prayer: We pray for the discernment to judge how to apply ourselves, our time and our talent. May the Holy Spirit show us where to expend these scarce resources.
Thanksgiving: We give thanks for God’s guidance, and his blessings of wisdom, fortitude and prudence.
OXYGEN 
Leave a comment