Venite Prandete

  ST MARK FEAST DAY 25th APRIL St Mark’s Gospel was written between 60 and 70 AD. He was the first bishop of Alexandria and founded the Church in Egypt, at Alexandria. His relics are preserved at St Mark’s in Venice, an exquisitely beautiful cathedral dedicated to the saint. Manuscript evidence of the Gospel of St Mark is present in the Codex Sinaiticus and the Codex Vaticanus, both of the 4th century AD. The Codex Vaticanus, found on Mt Sinai, begins with the words, (in Greek), “The Gospel according to Mark”. (1) Dr Pitre tells us about St Mark: "Mark was a well known figure in the first century church, in Jerusalem and Rome, a companion of both St Peter and St Paul. The letters of Paul identify Mark as “a man of circumcision’ (meaning he was Jewish) and a cousin of Barnabas, Paul’s fellow missionary (Colossians 4:10-11). These letters also tell us that Paul stayed with Mark during one of his periods of imprisonment, probably in Rome (Philemon 23-24;2 Timothy 4;11). Along similar...

THE FEAST OF ST JOHN THE APOSTLE; BLESSING OF WINE - 27th DECEMBER Painting of St John blessing the wine, by Alonso Cano, for the Altarpiece of a convent in Seville. St John is described in the preface to the Mass of this day, in the Roman Missal, as follows: St John is the virgin Apostle, crowned with the halo of those who knew how to conquer their flesh; for this reason, he became ‘the Disciple whom Jesus loved’. Thanks to his angelic purity, he imbibed that wholesome wisdom of which the Epistle of the Mass speaks and which has given him the halo of the Doctors. It is to St John, who wrote a Gospel, three Epistles and the Apocalypse, that we owe the most beautiful pages of the Divinity of the Word made flesh, and it is for this reason that the virgin Apostle is symbolized by the eagle. BLESSING OF WINE St John is associated with wine, a derivation from a legend in which a pagan high priest of the Temple of Diana at Ephesus was alleged to have said to him: “If you want me to believe i...

ST ANDREW APOSTLE FEAST DAY 30th NOVEMBER The Gospel for today (Mt 4:18-20) names St Andrew as the brother of Simon: 18. And Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee saw two brethren, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishers). 19. And He saith to them: Come ye after me and I will make you to be fishers of men. 20. And they immediately leaving their nets, followed Him. See further, Mark 1:16-18. These Gospels, in their version of this initial calling speak of a depth of faith based upon the mere calling by Jesus, whereupon the Apostles left their previous lives and devoted themselves to Christ in the complete manner of discipleship in the ancient Jewish tradition, where those who followed the Rabbi memorized his teachings and completely subjugated their lives to following his word. The Gospel of Luke does not name St Andrew, but intimates the presence of others at the same incident. The context of the calling (after a miracle), in L...

ST LUKE, THE EVANGELIST; FEAST DAY 18th OCTOBER St Luke is famous as the close friend of Our Lady, one who never was an Apostle of Jesus, but who was a faithful follower and companion of St Paul in his travels, who called him, "the beloved physician". He was a doctor and is known as the artist who painted early icons of Our Lady. Luke’s Gospel was not the first to be written – his was the third and, as the follower of St Paul, Apostle to the gentiles, he is seen as the Evangelist to the gentiles. There have been recent popular books by which the Gospels are presented as naïve histories, the content of which are degraded by reason that they are lacking the evidential controls which a skeptic would consider fundamental to attesting their veracity. These popular books focus on the foundation of the Christian belief - a challenge to our perception of the word of God. Brant Pitre, in his Book, “The Case for Jesus; the Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ” *addressed the ch...