Mark was an Evangelist, one of the four men who wrote the Gospels in the New Testament. Mark’s Gospel was written first, and it is the shortest description of Jesus’ life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. Tradition says the Romans asked St. Mark to record the teachings of St. Peter about Jesus. St. Mark is often depicted as a winged lion in religious art.

He was the son of Mary of Jerusalem whose home became a meeting place for the apostles. He is also the cousin of St. Barnabas, a Levite and a Cypriot.

Paul and Barnabas took him along on the first missionary journey, but for some reason Mark returned alone to Jerusalem. It is evident, from Paul’s refusal to let Mark accompany him on the second journey despite Barnabas’s insistence, that Mark had displeased Paul.

However, it can be assumed the troubles between Paul and Mark did not last long, because when Paul was first imprisoned, Mark, who was at the time in Rome, visited him as one of his trusted companions.

Like 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).

The oldest and the shortest of the four Gospels, the Gospel of Mark emphasizes Jesus’s rejection by humanity while being God’s triumphant envoy. Probably written for gentile converts in Rome—after the death of Peter and Paul sometime between A.D. 60 and 70: Mark’s Gospel is a lasting treasure for all believers.

He wrote his Gospel to help people know that Jesus was the Son of God who suffered and died to save us from sin and death.

The symbol for Mark is a lion with wings. That is because his Gospel begins with the story of John the Baptist, a “voice crying in the wilderness” (Mark 1:3), like the roaring of a lion. Mark’s Gospel tells us about Jesus’s royalty as God’s Son, a kingship we share through our Baptism.

We celebrate Saint Mark’s feast day on April 25 and is the patron saint of notaries. 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. So, let us offer the little of the talents we have and use it for the glory of God our Father in heaven.

Other Saints of the Day

1. St. Anianus

2. St. Erminus

3. St. Evodius

4. St. Macaille

5. St. Macedonius