Mark My Words
Mark the Evangelist, by Aleksandr Sytov Pastor’s Epistle—December 2026 The Western Church’s year begins in Advent, and for those liturgical traditions that follow a three-year lectionary—Lutheran, Catholic, Anglican, &c—that means we’ve said goodbye to the Holy Gospel According to St Matthew, and turn now for our Sunday readings to the Holy Gospel According to St Mark. Mark’s is the shortest and the eldest of our Gospels, the only one intended for oral proclamation all at once. You can memorize the whole thing and recite it in about an hour and a half; some folks back at my seminary did. Tradition ascribes authorship to John Mark, a Christian disciple mentioned several times in the Acts of the Apostles. John Mark was cousin to Barnabas, travelling companion to Paul, and—according to the early Church Fathers—amnuensis to Peter, who called him “my son.” Mark’s Gospel has a breathless, urgent tone; he repeats “and immediately” as his favorite conjunction. He reports no Nativity st...
