Saturday, April 25, 2009

Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist

I learned this morning that St. Mark is invoked against insect bites, which seems appropriate on this World Malaria Day. WHY he is invoked against insect bites, I have not yet been able to discern.

I also love his iconography: the lion, but I can't explain why that is either.

He's probably also not the author of the gospel of Mark.

Instead, the guy we know for sure is this scared kid that bailed on Paul in the middle of a journey so when Barnabas wanted to give him a second chance, Paul said, no way.

But he did get a second chance, thanks to Barnabas. I still remember a sermon I heard long, long ago wondering if the "beloved son Mark" mentioned in 1 Peter is this same Mark who started out so weak and so green. Possibly. Possibly.

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