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Gospel of Mark
Sunday after the 10am Sunday Mass on the Preschool Playground.
Deacon Adam invites you to enter into the story of Mark's gospel.
Please bring a chair, a bible, a notebook and something to write with.Bible study will continue every Sunday after Mass.
Please feel free to come and go as you wish.If you are unable to attend the outdoor sessions, something for you to reflection on will be posted here later in the week.
Comments and questions can be emailed to Deacon@stangelamerici.org
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Mark 5
Thoughts from Deacon Adam
It has been said that every one of us is fighting a secret battle, so a little patience goes a long way. However, some personal battles are not so secret. Jesus frees a man who was living under the influence of so many demons that life had become unbearable.
There are many names for many spirits that daily try to whisper to our own hearts, trying keep us away from the Person of Love. Fear, Sadness, Shame, etc. The fruit of the unholy spirit.
However, despite all these feelings, the Holy Spirit breaks through to each of us, so that like the dear, desperate man in this Gospel passage, we too might move beyond all we think we know in order to fall at the feet of Jesus.
A woman suffering terribly for years spends all the money she has in search of a cure until she meets the Cure. Breaking all social etiquette and polite manners she pushes through the crowd and reaches out for Jesus as her only hope. And feeling God’s healing power flowing through Him again, Jesus stops what He is doing. He stops for the one. He stops for relationship.
Considering the lyrics to this song, can we imagine ourselves in these situations, and can we imagine Jesus holding us, right in the midst of our brokenness?
“To all the weak the meek the poor, I am knocking at your door
To you who search for one more high, Embrace the cross on which I died
To you who sell yourself for love, But never look up above
Your worth is found in something more, a God you've never seen before
I paid for you to enter in, So let the work of grace begin
Come now I will take you as you are, you have never gone too far
My mercy still remains
My love has broken every chain, you will never be the same
Dear child please come back home
To you who think that all is lost, that life is far too much a cost
To all with razors in the dark, the scars go deep within the heart
To you who strive pursue and fight, but nothing seems to turn out right
I hope that you can understand, what you're searching for is in my hands
Love is lost in a sea so brilliantly, tossed around and mocked
By the soldiers by the families who were at the cross
Women, children men and thieves, harlots dying and in need
Love is cheap, you can buy it on the streets as drunken men walk by
Refusing life and drinking bitter wine to end their strife
With the women who have said that their love to them is dead
But God is strong and He will heal the hearts of all who come to sing His song
Jesus Christ is Lord of all, and He has reconciled the fall
Of all man with His own life, with the blood that paid the price
Jesus' blood has paid the price to redeem”
“Come Back Home,” by The School of Worship
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Mark 4
Thoughts from Deacon Adam
Jesus tells a foundational parable about planting seeds, one that provides the context through which to understand all of His parables. When the disciples spend time alone with Him, then He explains the mysteries of God. Do we want to spend time alone with Jesus, learning to hear Him speaking to us? He is always speaking, for any who will listen. His voice often sounds like our own thoughts, but it always brings the fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, and patience.
While situations, circumstances, and symptoms so often influence us, Jesus showed us how to live so deeply under the influence of the Holy Spirit, that the situations, circumstances, and symptoms begin to change around us. A great preacher once said, “The reason why Jesus could calm the storm on the outside is because there was no storm on the inside.” We grow from the inside out, or else not at all. How close to God do we want to be?
What captivates us? Where is our attention? Who do we listen to the most? That is what influences our thoughts, feelings, and relationships, more and more. Whatever we get into, gets into us. Whatever we focus on, we empower in our lives. We become what we behold (Mark 4:24). -
Mark 3
Thoughts from Deacon Adam
The scene opens in a synagogue, a place of scripture reading with a teaching to follow, kind of like a church building. The people would worship and offer sacrifices of animals or grain at the one temple, but they attended their own different synagogues to hear the word of the Lord and various interpretations provided by their local “rabbi,” or teacher. When Jesus began His ministry, He would often go first to a synagogue in the area to share His new “interpretation” of the scriptures being read on that day. The response was often quite extreme.
Much like our world today, “speaking truth to power” can be a risky business. It has been said that the truest test of a person’s character is what they do when they are given power. Leaders in all areas of life, whether political, religious, business, or otherwise, face the challenge of how to wield the power given them. Do we use power for people, or do we use people for power?
Jesus makes this point in dramatic fashion. He notices that the religious authorities are watching Him closely, hoping to find opportunities for accusation. Even as a young teacher, rather than blending in and deferring to the older respected ministers, Jesus draws a line in the sand and refuses to compromise. Why? That doesn’t seem very respectful. Wouldn’t it have been more “Christlike” for Jesus to just remain silent at the authorities’ constant criticism? Well, He goes silent when they finally put Him on trial, but until then He calls them out publicly, over and over, for their ongoing corruption, deception, and abuse of the people. “Love rejoices in the truth.” -1st Corinthians 13
Father, draw us closer to your heart, to your perspective on things, that we might come to desire how you desire, to fight where you fight, and to enjoy what you enjoy, through Christ our Lord. -
Mark 2
Click here to listen to this chapter.
Thoughts from Deacon Adam
The second chapter of St Mark’s Gospel leads us into a crowed house, full of people desperate to get close to Jesus. Suddenly a sound of a hole being dug into the roof interrupts the teaching and we watch as sunlight pours down into the house. Four desperate men lower their paralyzed friend down by ropes, and he lands at Jesus’ feet.
This is a good place to be, at the feet of Jesus, with no back-up plan. As always, we see God’s will for us displayed in Jesus’ actions toward us. Jesus never tells anyone that it is God’s will for them to not receive healing. However, sometimes we aren’t ready and able to receive what God wants to give.
When we are focused on the power of the disease more than the power of God to heal, that creates doubt. Unbelief grows in the distance between us and God, further distorting our ability to hear what He wants to say us. Faith takes hold of what Grace is trying to give.
Another distraction from faith is guilt and condemnation. This is why Jesus so often forgives sins before telling someone to use faith to take hold of their healing. He knows that the more focused we are on our sin, the less likely we are to receive good things from our heavenly Father.
The grace of God is unmerited favor, unearned generosity. When we see God in all His grace, He sees us in all our faith. It’s not for us to see our faith; it’s for us to see God’s grace. And the more of God’s grace we see, the more miracles begin to happen.
Miracles come by faith. Faith comes by hearing. Hearing comes by intimacy. -
Chapter one of St. Mark's Gospel.
Click here to listen to this chapter.
Thoughts from Deacon Adam
In the first chapter of St Mark's Gospel, we hear St John the Baptist announcing that God is showing up in a new way, and that all who want Him will be baptized, or saturated, with the Holy Spirit! We watch as Satan tries to tempt Jesus into self-reliance, as he does with each of us. And we feel the awe of the crowd as Jesus instantly sets people free from both diseases and demons. What is the Holy Spirit highlighting for you at this time in your life?"
Our group shared many questions and insights together that we will briefly touch upon here. The beginning of this gospel breezes past the birth of Christ in order to get right into the action of His ministry. However, St Mark does point out that the people of Israel had been waiting in a kind of Advent for hundreds of years, watching for the promised Savior of Isaiah’s prophecies.
How much of our lives do we spend waiting? How does that feel? Could it be that God is also waiting for us to come closer?
As Jesus rises from the waters of baptism, the voice of the Father speaks words of affection and approval. This intimacy is the real secret of Jesus’ faith and power. And it can be ours too. However, not everyone recognizes this Voice. Sometimes the many voices of the world drown out the true voice of our Father and we feel like spiritual orphans, trying to survive without much love.
What is something good that God might be trying to show you in this time of your life? How is God loving you?
St Mark uses a word like “immediately” quite often, keeping the story moving at a fast pace. For those of us who have been raised in a relatively affluent and intellectual part of the world, our sudden and repeated encounters with all the diseases and demons in the text might seem a bit jarring. However, many parts of the world still experience these overt struggles and many missionaries still testify of the pressing need for a miracle working level of faith.
If Jesus physically walked into our neighborhoods today, what might He say and do? If we still have real demons among us, what is their strategy in our time and culture? Have you ever read, “The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis? (It’s not for the faint of heart.)
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