Responding to the Gospel

Fr. Joseph Murray, OSFS

When I was in high school, we learned about the New Testament in my freshman religion class.  Fr. Joseph Murray, an Oblate who seemed to know everything about the Bible, taught us that the Gospel of Mark was the shortest of the four gospels.  Fr. Murray had a gruff appearance but always managed to include a joke or two in his lessons.  Sometimes, we never realized he was joking.  During one class, he told us that when the Gospel of Mark was read at Mass the sermon would be shorter.  I tested his theory a few times at my parish church.  After a few weeks, I realized that Fr. Murray’s message about shorter sermons was more about his sense of humor than an actual equation.  Hearing the Gospel of Mark at Mass never resulted in an early dismissal. 

Years later, I realized that Fr. Murray was correct in everything else he taught us about the Gospel of Mark. Later theology classes would confirm what I had first learned as a freshman at Northeast Catholic High School. While they expanded my understanding of scripture and explained the Gospels in more detail, the core concepts of the Bible were shared with me while I was reading The Catcher in the Rye and trying to grasp the complexities of geometry. The idea that we could encounter Jesus alive in the pages of an ancient book appealed to me as a young man looking for meaning in life.

“St. Mark wants those who hear to believe and to respond immediately.  He invites his readers to encounter the real Jesus and to let the Savior of the world change our world. ”

Mark begins his writings with the simple but sacred words: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Mark 1:1).”  Before the chapter ends, John the Baptist appears on the scene, and we are told that “Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God (Mark 1:14).”  The book ends with the Roman centurion proclaiming that “Truly, this was the Son of God (Mark 15:39)” and Jesus taking “his seat at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19).”  This Gospel gave the first Christians a very concise but challenging view of Jesus.  It gave me the opportunity to look at my own relationship with Jesus and to see how I was following the Son of God.

In this Gospel, Christ’s message is presented more through His actions than His words.  There are no long speeches or addresses.  Jesus is a man on a journey and on a mission.  The word “immediately” is used throughout Mark’s Gospel and sets the tone for his story.  Mark wants those who hear to believe and to respond immediately.  He invites his readers to encounter the real Jesus and to let the Savior of the world change our world. 

As I look back on my first encounter with the Gospel of Mark, I realize that my high school religion teacher was trying to prepare us for the real world.  Both St. Mark and Fr. Murray wanted us to hear the Word of God, to respond to the Word, and let the Word shape our lives.  “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ” is the beginning of the message of St. Mark.   In many ways, this was the beginning of my adult relationship with the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. 

Fr. Jack Kolodziej, OSFS

Provincial

Wilmington-Philadelphia Province