April 25: Saint Mark the Evangelist

The Collect of the Day

Saint Mark

Almighty God, by the hand of Mark the evangelist you have given to your church the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God: We thank you for this witness, and pray that we may be firmly grounded in its truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Saint Mark

Almighty God, who by the hand of Mark the evangelist hast given to thy church the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God: We thank thee for this witness, and pray that we may be firmly grounded in its truth; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Isaiah 52:7-10 or Isaiah 52:7–10
Psalm 2 or Psalm 2:7-10
Ephesians 4:7-8,11-16 or Ephesians 4:7–16
Mark 1:1-15 or Mark 16:15-20 or Mark 1:1–15

A disciple of Jesus, named Mark, appears in several places in the New Testament. If all references to Mark can be accepted as referring to the same person, we learn that he was the son of a woman who owned a house in Jerusalem. Church tradition suggests that Mark may have been the young man who fled naked when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul refers to “Mark the cousin of Barnabas,” who was with him in his imprisonment. Mark set out with Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey, but he turned back for reasons which failed to satisfy Paul (Acts 15:36– 40). When another journey was planned, Paul refused to have Mark with him. Instead, Mark went with Barnabas to Cyprus. The breach between Paul and Mark was later healed, and Mark became one of Paul’s companions in Rome, as well as a close friend of Peter’s.

An early tradition recorded by Papias, Bishop of Hieropolis inAsia Minor at the beginning of the second century, names Mark as the author of the Gospel bearing his name, drawing his information from the teachings of Peter. In his First Letter, Peter refers to “my son Mark,” which shows a close relationship between the two men (1 Peter 5:13).

The Church of Alexandria in Egypt claimed Mark as its first bishop and most illustrious martyr, and the great Church of St. Mark in Venice commemorates the disciple who progressed from turning back while on a missionary journey with Paul and Barnabas to proclaiming in his Gospel Jesus of Nazareth as Son of God, and bearing witness to that faith in his later life as friend and companion to the apostles Peter and Paul.

Lessons and Psalm

First Lesson

Psalm

¹Why are the nations in an uproar? *Why do the peoples mutter empty threats?

²Why do the kings of the earth rise up in revolt, and the princes plot together, *against the Lord and against his Anointed?

³“Let us break their yoke,” they say; *“let us cast off their bonds from us.”

⁴He whose throne is in heaven is laughing; *the Lord has them in derision.

⁵Then he speaks to them in his wrath, *and his rage fills them with terror.

⁶“I myself have set my king *upon my holy hill of Zion.”

⁷Let me announce the decree of the Lord: *he said to me, “You are my Son; this day have I begotten you.

⁸Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance *and the ends of the earth for your possession.

⁹You shall crush them with an iron rod *and shatter them like a piece of pottery.”

¹⁰And now, you kings, be wise; *be warned, you rulers of the earth.

¹¹Submit to the Lord with fear, *and with trembling bow before him;

¹²Lest he be angry and you perish; *for his wrath is quickly kindled.

¹³Happy are they all *who take refuge in him!

Psalm

⁷Let me announce the decree of the Lord: *he said to me, “You are my Son; this day have I begotten you.

⁸Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance *and the ends of the earth for your possession.

⁹You shall crush them with an iron rod *and shatter them like a piece of pottery.”

¹⁰And now, you kings, be wise; *be warned, you rulers of the earth.

Epistle

Gospel

¹The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. ²As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; ³ the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” ’, ⁴John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁶Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷He proclaimed, ‘The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. ⁸I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’ ⁹In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. ¹¹And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ ¹²And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. ¹³He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. ¹⁴Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, ¹⁵and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’