some kind of a lion

What do we know about St Mark? (wrote one of the gospels, symbol is a lion, famous churches - for example in Venice - named after him?). The truth is that we don't know a great deal about St. Mark himself  There are certainly a few legends that attach to his name. One is that the Last Supper was held in his house - the story goes that Mark was a teenager at the time, and that possibly he sneaked out with the other disciples and followed Jesus to the  garden of Gethsemane and was the young man who nearly got arrested, but managed to get away by wriggling out his loin cloth and running away naked. If that story has truth, then Mark learned at an early age that following Jesus can be a very risky matter and that courage is important.  Some scholars identify him with a disciple called John Mark, who appears in the Acts of the Apostles, first as a companion to Paul and Barnabas and later as a scribe for Peter. Certainly the gospel of Mark has many references to Peter and seems to have been written by someone who might have heard Peter tell his version of the story.
 
Whatever the truth of all that, when we read the gospel of Mark some aspects stand out, that I would summarise as pouncing, proclaiming and praying...

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 When the children were talking about Mark at Kids Club this week, Kerry pointed out that some scholars characterise Mark as being like a lion because his story pounces on the remarkable actions of Jesus, just like a lion with its prey. If you read the first couple of chapters of Mark you will soon pick up their urgency. Everything happens immediately, as though Mark just cannot wait to get to the next amazing event, and he runs and pounces from one thing to the next. This is completely understandable when we realise the circumstances under which Mark wrote his gospel. His is the first gospel to be written - so that in itself is remarkable. This is the first time anyone ever wrote a gospel. He is writing about 35 to 40 years after Jesus's death, in times that are very bad for the early Christians. They are getting the blame from the Jews for the increased oppression of the Romans that culminates in the destruction of the temple in AD70. They are also getting the blame from the Romans for anything bad that happens, and indeed just before the gospel is written the Christians get the blame for a bad fire that happens in Rome, and many of them are killed, including leading apostles like Peter and Paul. So Mark knows that at any time he could die, and with him the testimony of someone who actually knew Jesus, was perhaps present at the last supper and the arrest, and at any rate had heard Peter tell the story. So he is under a lot of pressure to write the story down - to pounce on the details and nail them just as fast as he can. And what a good thing that he did, because without his account the other gospel writers would have had very little to go on. Matthew and Luke would later use more or less the whole text of Mark's gospel when they came to write their accounts, adding their own material to his foundation. And what a foundation it is- the story is told  with enthusiasm and energy, tearing through the events with the vigour of a young lion.
 
For the most important thing for Mark is that this story be proclaimed - and not just proclaimed to those whom he knows, or even to all of humanity, but as it says in our gospel reading today, 'to all creation'. A much later Saint, St. Francis, took those words literally when he preached to the animals and the birds. And we too appreciate in our age that the good news of Christ is not just for the human creation, but for the whole of creation, down to the smallest atom and particle of all that is. For this is a story that proclaims the possibility of the redemption and resurrection of everyone and everything that has ever been or ever will be. No wonder Mark was anxious to ensure that this story got out. And we in our turn have a responsibility to proclaim this gospel. This is a BIG story! It is not just the story of you and me and our loved ones, or even of the Christian church down the centuries. This is the story of the liberation of everything, forever and of the possibility that the end of the created story of our universe is not the thing we can see - death, the death of everything and everyone, from butterflies to the furthest star - but after all, Life! And this is astonishing and worthy of our continued proclaiming.
 
Which leads me finally to praying. I don't know what Mark's prayer was for his gospel, but I would take a guess that he prayed that it would reach many people and change their lives. If so that prayer has definitely been answered. More than two billion Christians in the world today read the gospel of Mark on a regular basis. As the shortest of the gospels it is the one most frequently given to young Christians to read as they begin their faith journey. Its very existence is a testimony to the power of prayer and as we continue in our own day to read and pray with this text we are helped to encounter Jesus and the good news of resurrection for ourselves. So today, in celebration of St. Mark's day consider prayerfully reading the sixteen chapters of this gospel that have shaped our church and our world in a single sitting- it will take you about an hour. And let this text once again inspire you to pounce upon the events of Jesus life, and proclaim afresh the good news that answers all our prayers. Amen
 
by Penny Jones, for St Mark's festival 2016