Feast of St. Mark

Today, the Greek and Latin Churches celebrate the Feast of St. Mark, the Evangelist. In the narrative of Jesus' arrest in his gospel, there is an extra piece of information not found in the other gospels.
And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body; and they seized him,
but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked (Mark 14:51-52).
It is generally accepted that this young man was Mark himself. This is his autograph on his own work. His family occupied an important role in the Jerusalem church. Probably, Jesus ate his Last Supper with his apostles in his house which was one of the house churches in the infant church. When Peter was arrested by Herod, the church prayed for his release in his house (Acts 12:12). Paul and Barnabas brought him along on the first missionary journey. However, Mark returned to Jerusalem when they reached Perga in Pamphylia (Acts 13:13). Because of this, Paul refused to take Mark along in his second missionary journey (Acts 15:36-41). But that did not prevent them from reconciliation with each other in the future. Everybody has his own share of flaws. Yet, everybody deserves a second chance. Such is life.
Later, Mark became the secretary of Peter in his missionary work in Rome (1 Peter 5:13). At the request of Roman Christians, Mark committed to writing the life of Jesus. Scholars agree that it was Mark who started the genre of gospel.
In his first Epistle, Peter exhorts all believers to practise the virtue of humility. God will exalt the humble.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that in due time he may exalt you (1 Peter 5:6).
They were living under constant fear of persecution. Peter used the image of a roaring lion seeking its preys to describe the situation. Martyrdom in Roman arena was all too real. But God will console and support them.
Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you.
Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour (1 Peter 5:7-8).
Nowadays, we are living in a relatively peaceful time, free from persecutions. We tend to become complacent. Peter's advice becomes all the more appropriate. Be humble, sober and watchful.
Today, I attended a workshop run by RME Centre. They invited Fr. Peter Choy to give a talk on the Creation story in Genesis. Religion and science often clash on the issue of Creation. Fr. Choy systematically explained how the two world views complement each other. Religion talks about why the world is as we now know, leaving the how to scientists. Genesis talks about the relational aspect of God and His Creation, man and the universe. Science deals with the bolts and nuts of the processes happening in this world. Both approaches are true and do not conflict with each other. For an example, Fr. Choy illustrated the situation with how a son and a doctor described the death of a man. The son would focus on his relationship with and his feelings toward the death of this man whereas the doctor would give factual data such as the time and the causes of his death. Both the son and the doctor will not be wrong or contradict each other in their reports. The differences are only the outcomes of two different approaches toward the same event.
During the Q&A session, Fr. Choy had collected many common queries raised by students from kindergartens to secondary schools. He categorized them under several headings along the themes he expounded in the workshop. I was impressed by kind of questions raised. Kindergarten kids usually ask why God does not create us the same, equally smart. Primary students wonder why some classmates are better and smarter, why some people were born poor and crippled. They begin to ask whether God is fair. Secondary students are more aware and interested in cloning, homosexual marriages etc. They even think that God is cruel in the story of Great Deluge and ask why God had not immediately forgiven Adam and Eve. Did God create Satan? Our kids are lovely.

My God, I thank You for my existence. I am sorry that I have not maintained our relationship properly. Forgive me. Let me live and make my life a meaningful song. Amen.

Appendix:
God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble[ὁ] θεὸς ὑπερηφάνοις ἀντιτάσσεται, ταπεινοῖς δὲ δίδωσιν χάριν. (1 Peter 5:5b)
κύριος ὑπερηφάνοις ἀντιτάσσεται, ταπεινοῖς δὲ δίδωσιν χάριν. (Proverb 3:34).