The Feast of St Mark | Monday 25 April 2022

Today is Monday the 25th of April, the feast of St Mark.
“Be Thou my vision”. As you hear these words sung by Audrey Assad, can you make them your own as you now enter into prayer?
Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best thought, by day or by night
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light
Be Thou my wisdom, and Thou my true word
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord
Thou my great Father, and I Thy true son
Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one
Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise
Thou mine inheritance, now and always
Thou and Thou only first in my heart
High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art
High King of heaven, my victory won
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's sun
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall
Still be my vision, O ruler of all
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall
Still be my vision, O ruler of all


Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Mark.
Mark 16:15-20
And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.’
So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.

Today the Church celebrates the feast of St Mark, who is almost certainly the first person to write a gospel. This passage comes from the very end of the gospel attributed to Mark; and Jesus’ disciples are given a job to do. What is the job? And what do you sense is your job based on this passage?
The passage tells us of signs that will accompany believers; what are they? On your journey of faith, have you ever noticed signs of this sort among Christian believers?

Now listen as the passage is read again: how would you describe the mood of this reading? What do you notice?
Finally, these last moments are an invitation for you to gather together all the thoughts and feelings that are now in your heart and turn them into a prayer in your own words to the God whom you encounter in this text.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.