Welcome to Daily Rosary Meditations with Dr. Mike Shurzlick, where you learn how to meditate and establish a daily habit of prayer while discovering the truths of the Catholic faith.

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Thank you. Someone you know that could benefit from daily prayer, share this meditation with them. Welcome to our daily rosary meditation. Let's begin in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen. Let's call to mind all those we've promised to pray for.

Today is the feast of St. Mark, the writer of the gospel, who was also known as

John Mark. We know a lot about him from tradition. Papius, a disciple of St. John the Apostle,

relates that Mark became the interpreter and secretary for St. Peter, probably because

Peter did not speak Greek well enough to be easily understood. So Mark stood beside Peter and

repeated his preaching about the life and teaching of Jesus. Mark then wrote down accurately the teaching of Peter,

very careful not to omit anything or add anything that was not related by Peter.

In the second century, St. Justin Martyr calls the Gospel of Mark, the memoirs, the recollections of Peter.

So the Gospel of Mark is really the Gospel of Peter.

And when we read the Gospel of Mark, it's beautiful to realize that it's the testimony

of Peter's personal relationship with Jesus.

Later, Saint Epipithianus testifies that St. Peter sent Mark to establish the Catholic Church in Alexandria, Egypt, sometime between 53 and 63 AD, where Mark became the first bishop of Alexandria.

When Mark entered the city, his shoe was torn because of the great distance he walked as a

missionary. He went to a cobbler in the city called Annieianas to repair it.

And while the cobbler was repairing the shoe, the all pierced his finger, and he shouted in Greek saying, Isthaeos, which means, oh, one God.

When Mark heard these words, his heart rejoiced exceedingly because this man might be open to hearing

about Jesus, the one true God. So Mark took some clay, spat on it, applied it to his finger,

saying, in the name of Jesus Christ, the son of God, and the wound immediately healed as if nothing had happened to it.

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