HOMILY FOR FEAST OF ST. MARK THE EVANGELIST. (1)

HOMILY FOR FEAST OF ST. MARK THE EVANGELIST.

THEME: THE DYNAMICS OF BEING A CHRISTIAN!

BY: Benedict Agbo (Rev Fr)

* 1 Pet 5: 5 – 14, Mk 16: 15 – 20

You don’t just become a bona fide Christian by being baptized in a Church. There are a number of things that confirm your faith according to the readings of today;
1. Call for Baptism; Today’s gospel assures us that ‘He who believes and is baptized will be saved’. There must be no assumption about this. The quality of this faith is tested by what we call in Moral theology ‘the fundamental option’ for Christ – You must constantly surrender and submit to Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour especially now that the Church admits infants and children to the sacraments of initiation. What you do as an adult could either confirm or invalidate your baptism.

2. Call for evangelism; Today’s gospel mandates the disciples to ‘go into the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation’. Everyone must partake in this mission one way or the other. St Francis of Assisi told his followers ‘Preach the gospel at all times…Use words sometimes’.
3. Promise of empowerment; Christ makes it clear in today’s gospel that real believers will have the power to defeat and cast out demons, Lk 9: 1 -2. You will experience a new power of praying beyond your normal capacity, Rom 8: 26. You will be protected from unnecessary injury/assault from evil people, witchcraft demons, etc, Mk 16 : 18. You will enjoy the special privilege of restoration of health and fortunes promised to all children of Abraham, Ex 23: 25, Is 58: 11 – 12.
4. Warning for Spiritual warfare; We are told to be calm but vigilant because once we become strong believers, our enemy the devil will recognize us. We don’t need to panic but just resist him strong in faith and with the knowledge that other believers all over are suffering the same fate, 1 Pet 5: 8 -9.
5. Warning to obey the Church; The final warning we have in today’s readings is to be humble in order to obey the Church. Many strong believers fall and break away from the Church due to lack of humility.

I want to conclude by reminding us as we approach this year’s Pentecost that it is not all the people we see in our Churches that are real Christians. Christianity is a faith – based and life changing religion. A powerless Christian is a fake Christian because Christianity is built on power and authority, Matt 28: 18 -20. What we have today where many fill the Church pews without any transforming experience of the Holy Ghost power is nothing but a parody. We must pray for the Holy Spirit to empower us. May God bless you today!

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