Clothed in humility

The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Feast of St. Mark, Evangelist, 25 April 2024
1 Peter 5:5-14     ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*>     Mark 16:15-20

"Beloved:
Clothe yourselves with humility
in your dealings with one
another, for: God opposes 
the proud but bestows favor
on the humble"
(1 Peter 5:5).

Your words, 
O Lord Jesus
from St. Peter's first letter
are amazing, a most beautiful
juxtaposition of being 
"clothed with humility" 
on this feast of St. Mark
who is believed 
to have been that naked man
fleeing from the scene
of Your arrest at 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).

Only St. Mark
has this detail on that scene
because only him could have known
that embarrassing moment
but have boldly kept it because,
before we can ever be
"clothed with humility"
and any other virtue,
we must first be naked
like him,
laying bare not only our body
but most of all,
our heart and soul
with its kind of
superficial discipleship;
very notable too how
St. Mark later ran away too
from Paul and Barnabas
at Perga (Acts 13:13)
for reasons unknown
except his being so young
and immature.

But everything changed,
 during the Roman persecution
when St. Mark remained to work
with St. Peter and St. Paul,
and after their martyrdom,
that was when he ventured into
writing the first gospel account
that inspired the early Christians
to remain faithful in You, Jesus,
amid the persecutions.

Clothe us in humility, O Lord,
like St. Mark by having
the courage to admit
our nakedness,
to remember and learn
from our shameful
humiliations in the past
because more important
than these are Your love
 and mercy dear Jesus
to start anew in You after
every failure and sin;
most of all,
fill us Jesus Christ
with Your strength and
 courage to be Your witnesses
proclaiming the Gospel
to every creature
because in every disciple,
what really matters most
is being present with You, Lord,
and not our absences
nor lapses in the past.
Amen.

St. Mark,
pray for us!