Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.
Most of what we know about Mark comes directly from the New Testament. He is usually identified with the Mark of Acts 12:12. When St. Peter escaped from prison, he went to the home of Marks mother.
Paul and Barnabas took him along on the first missionary journey, but for some reason Mark returned alone to Jerusalem. It is evident, from Pauls refusal to let Mark accompany him on the second journey despite Barnabass insistence, that Mark had displeased Paul. Because Paul later asks Mark to visit him in prison, we may assume the trouble did not last long.
The oldest and the shortest of the four Gospels, the Gospel of Mark emphasizes Jesuss rejection by humanity while being Gods triumphant envoy. Probably written for gentile converts in Romeafter the death of Peter and Paul sometime between A.D. 60 and 70Marks Gospel is the gradual manifestation of a scandal: a crucified Messiah.
Evidently a friend of Markcalling him my sonPeter is only one of thisGospels sources, others being the Church in Jerusalem (Jewish roots), and the Church at Antioch (largely gentile).
Like another Gospel writer Luke, Mark was not one of the 12 apostles. We cannot be certain whether he knew Jesus personally. Some scholars feel that the evangelist is speaking of himself when describing the arrest of Jesus in Gethsemane: Now a young man followed him wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body. They seized him, but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked (Mark 14:51-52).
Others hold Mark to be the first bishop of Alexandria, Egypt. Venice, famous for the Piazza San Marco, claims Mark as its patron saint; the large basilica there is believed to contain his remains.
A winged lion is Marks symbol. The lion derives from Marks description of John the Baptist as a voice of one crying out in the desert (Mark 1:3), which artists compared to a roaring lion. The wings come from the application of Ezekiels vision of four winged creatures to the evangelists.
Mark fulfilled in his life what every Christian is called to do: proclaim to all people the Good News that is the source of salvation. In particular, Marks way was by writing. Others may proclaim the Good News by music, drama, poetry, or by teaching children around a family table.
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