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. // 1 Peter 5:10
On this Feast of Saint Mark the Evangelist, we can enter into with our prayerful imaginations the writing of Saint Peter’s letter in Rome. Let’s imagine Mark standing in the room with Peter and Silvanus. Silvanus writes on a scroll the teaching Peter speaks as he paces the room. Mark listens to his teacher and friend and gathers his thoughts on the life of Jesus Christ, Son of God, about Whom he hopes to write.
As the letter comes to an end Peter speaks the words, “The God of all grace [ . . . ] will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little” (1 Peter 5:10). Mark thinks of his own cowardly acts of fleeing the garden at Jesus’ arrest (see Mark 14:51) and his leaving of Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas during one of their apostolic journeys (see Acts 13:13). He remembers his failures which lead to great interior suffering, but he also sees now the grace God has given him, strengthening him.
Mark would be so strengthened that he would eventually pen the divinely inspired words of a Gospel that would “go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). As tradition has it, Mark wrote his Gospel based on Peter’s experience, recording Peter’s own denial of Christ. Mark also eventually allowed God to strengthen him, to help him have the courage to travel with the Apostles and share the Gospel. As Peter concludes his letter, Mark chimes in to be remembered to those in Asia Minor, and hears Peter speak of him as “Mark, my son” (1 Peter 5:15).
Sister, like Saints Mark and Peter, we all have given into cowardice at times when we were called to proclaim the Gospel. The Lord wants to restore us and give us His grace, especially the graces we first received at Confirmation, to share His love with others. Ask Saint Mark to intercede for you today, that you may receive more fully the Gifts of the Holy Spirit to more fully live out your personal call to evangelization.
Susanna Spencer holds a master's in Theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville and is the Devotions Editor for Blessed is She. She is a freelance writer and editor and a teacher-in-training living with her philosopher husband and four kids in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She loves reading theology, attending beautiful liturgies, cooking delicious food, and casually following baseball. She is the author of the Gospel Studies including Seek His Kingdom: A Meditation on Matthew , Listen to Him: A Meditation on Mark, and Abide in His Love: A Meditation on John. She was narrator for Found: Advent With the Good Shepherd and Rescued: Lent With the Lamb of God and a contributing author and editor for our children’s devotional prayer book, Rise Up. She was the Theological Editor of the Blessed Conversations Studies. Find out more about her here.
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