A Brief Introduction to the Challenge

This fall I am inviting every member of the Christ Church parish family to commit themselves to a weekly time of reading through the Gospel according to St. Mark. Here is my hope:

1. Every member of the parish will commit to reading the weekly assigned chapter(s) from Mark’s Gospel.
2. Some members of the parish will commit to spending time with each weekly reading by doing one or all of the following:
a. Making personal time to reflect on the text; ask questions of the text; make written comments on the text; or pray the text each day;
b. Committing to attending a Tuesday 6:30 AM Worship service during which the assigned chapters will be read and on which brief homilies will be offered;
c. Meeting with Father Bob and others (time and place to be determined)during which a more in depth study of the Gospel will be offered;
d. Forming a small group of friends inside or outside of the parish to reflect on each week's reading as a group (I can offer a format that might work for such groups called Lectio Divina. If you click this link you will experience a Lectio Divina on John that is a very elaborate mediazation of a simple lectio divina process);
e. Sharing your experiences of reading this Gospel from beginning to end with other members of the congregation by contributing a written reflection on our Email Update or in a hard copy version of reflections compiled at the end of our time with St. Mark.

WHY AM I INVITING YOU TO DO THIS?

I am inviting you to be part of this parish experience because not many people have really focused their attention on a reading of one of the Gospels straight through. In church we have dedicated readings on Sundays and they are based upon the Gospels (In Year A we read Matthew; in Year B we read Mark; and in Year C we read Luke), but due to missing some Sundays and some skipping around in the specific Gospels for seasonal reasons, most of us have not read through an entire Gospel.

Maybe reading the Bible has been difficult for you to do in the past. Maybe it did not make much sense to you or seemed confusing to you. I have selected Mark because it is the shortest and most concise Gospel of the New Testament. It is also the earliest Gospel to be written.

The community for which Mark wrote was going through terrible persecution by the Romans. Scholars suggest that the community was actually located in Rome and was made up of both Jewish Christians and newly converted gentiles which made for some conflict even within the community. Some historians and Bible scholars suggest that the text was written during the reign of Nero.

What can we learn from reading a Gospel that reflected life in the early years of the Christian faith? Perhaps we can see how the conflict and suffering expressed in the Gospel helps us understand our own times and suffering. More will be revealed as you begin your faithful reading of this wonderful Gospel.

May God grant you the grace to enter into this Gospel with your whole heart, mind, and strength.

Bob+