Daily Gospel Reflection
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April 25, 2019
The disciples of Jesus recounted what had taken place along the way,
and how they had come to recognize him in the breaking of bread.
While they were still speaking about this,
he stood in their midst and said to them,
“Peace be with you.”
But they were startled and terrified
and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled?
And why do questions arise in your hearts?
Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.
Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones
as you can see I have.”
And as he said this,
he showed them his hands and his feet.
While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed,
he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
They gave him a piece of baked fish;
he took it and ate it in front of them.
He said to them,
“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that everything written about me in the law of Moses
and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.”
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
And he said to them,
“Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer
and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,
would be preached in his name
to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.”
Years ago, my uncle sent me a card with a quote from John’s Gospel, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you, not as the world gives give I unto you.” Though I found this quote a little perplexing and perhaps even unsettling, it was a beautiful card, so I had it displayed where I would read it from time to time.
Yet, I proceeded to ignore Christ’s offer of peace and instead constructed my own peace, “as the world gives,” by building financial security, fostering healthy habits, and ignoring the small voice reminding me of the precariousness of this peace. But, in the fall of 2017, shortly after giving birth to our daughter, I was diagnosed with cancer of the bile duct—a rare cancer of “poor prognosis.” One of my greatest fears became realized, and the charade of worldly peace was laid bare, leaving me and my family anguished and afraid.
When the resurrected Jesus appears to his disciples in today’s Gospel, it is in the midst of their own traumatized terror and fear for their lives. Into that space, Jesus speaks, “Peace.” Much to my chagrin, Christ’s peace does not always include relief from distress, exemption from difficulties, or the preservation of the recipient’s life (after all, most apostles would go on to be martyred). The peace extended is Christ himself, his promise to be present with us through absolutely everything.
The months since my diagnosis have brought a dizzying array of treatments, scans, surgeries with both good news and bad news. All of it has taught me that Christ’s offer of peace—to his disciples and to us—is no platitude. It is not precarious. It is a true gift, profound and vital. Even in the darkest moments, Christ’s peace dwells deep within. It is an offer worth accepting.
Prayer
In your appearances after the resurrection, Lord Jesus, you greeted your disciples with peace and showed them that your body, once dead in the tomb, was alive again. They became witnesses of your death and resurrection and preached your name to the ends of the earth, beginning from Jerusalem. Many centuries later, help us to know your life deep within us that we, too, might witness to you by all we do and say, and carry your good news to all we meet. You live and reign forever and ever. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Mark is the author of the earliest record of Jesus’ life and death that we have in Scripture.
Some believe he is the young man who makes an appearance in that Gospel’s account of the arrest of Jesus (Mark 14:51-52)—the young man who was nearly captured but escaped.
Known also as John Mark, he was a follower of St. Peter and makes other appearances in the Scriptural accounts of the early Church (Acts 12:25). He and his mother were important figures in the early Christian community—his mother’s house was a gathering place for followers, for example.
He traveled with Peter to Rome and he also accompanied Paul and Barnabus, who was Mark’s cousin, to Cyprus as they preached the good news. Tradition tells that he established the Church in Alexandria where he served as bishop, founded the first famous Christian school, and was later martyred. Because of the tradition linking Mark to Egypt, he is one of the chief saints of the Coptic Christian Church.
His Gospel was composed sometime around the year 70, and it seems to have been intended for a non-Jewish audience facing persecution. Some ancient writers describe Mark as Peter’s interpreter—that Mark's Gospel was written from Peter's eyewitness account of Jesus' life.
All four of the Gospel writers are depicted with a symbol that comes from imagery in the Book of Revelation (4:7): a lion, a calf, a human, and an eagle. Mark’s emblem is the lion because his Gospel begins with a scene in the desert, and the lion is considered lord of the desert.
The city of Venice, Italy, is said to hold his body, and relics of St. Mark also rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame's campus. Mark is depicted in several places on campus, most notably in this painting from the ceiling of the Basilica.
St. Mark, the first Evangelist to write down the story of Jesus's life—pray for us!