Homily: April 25 2016 - St. Mark - "Pax tibi, Marce, Evangelista Meus"

Often when a new church is being built there is some memento to the current pontiff and diocesan bishop. So here at St. Clare, in the sacristy are two stained glass windows, with the coat of arms of Pope Saint John XXIII and Archbishop Hoban, who were both in office at the time Fr. Fitzgerald built the church building.  On ecclesiastical coats of arms, are often symbols of the diocese in which the priest is serving, and perhaps some other religious symbol. So, on Archbishop Hobans coat of arms, there is the heraldry for the diocese of Cleveland accompanied by the bishop’s miter with the dove of the Holy Spirit resting upon it, perhaps reminding us of the phrase “the spirit of the Lord is upon me to bring glad tidings to the poor”

The coat of arms for John XXIII was identical to the one he used as patriarch of Venice. On the upper third of the coat of arms is the winged golden lion of Venice, the symbol for the city, also the symbol for the evangelist and martyr St. Mark, whose feast is today.  The lion of Venice is usually depicted with its paw on an open book that contains the text “Pax tibi, Marce, Evangelista meus” – “Peace be to you Mark, My Evangelist”.  Venetian legend has it that, while visiting the region of Italy that would later become Venice, St. Mark was approached by an angel, greeted with those words, “Pax tibi, Marce, Evangelista meus. Hic requiescet corpus tuum” – “Peace be to you Mark, it is here that your body will rest.”

For almost 800 years, the remains of St. Mark were housed in Alexandria, the place of his martyrdom, but in 828 his body was stolen by Venetian Merchants, and brought to Venice. So Venice ultimately is the resting place of his body. Thank goodness those venetian criminals helped the angel’s prophecy come true!

St. Mark is represented as a lion because his Gospel begins with the voice of John the Baptist crying out in the wilderness.  The voice of one crying in the desert: Make ready the way of the Lord. 

The Lion is also a symbol of courage, and Saint Mark courageously faced a martyr’s death.  While he was celebrating Mass in Alexandria, his persecutors seized him, tied a rope around him and dragged him through the streets, then imprisoned and killed him.

The Entrance Antiphon, like the Gospel of the Mass, recalls the missionary apostolate mandated by Christ: “Go out to the whole world, and preach the Gospel to all creation.”

All of us are called to be lions for the Lord—full of courage, roaring the Gospel from the housetops. As the shortest of the four Gospels, Saint Mark Gospel can be read easily in a single sitting. If you’ve never done so, today would be quite a fitting day to read it straight through.  For how can we proclaim what we do not know?

May Saint Mark’s example and prayers help us to cry out the Gospel of Christ throughout the world, proclaiming it to all creation, for the Glory of God and Salvation of souls.

If anyone would like to view the stained glass windows I mentioned, feel free to visit the sacristy after Mass today, making proper reverence to the tabernacle of course, as you pass by it.