Mark My Words

These sentinels at our station church this morning don't take their job lion' down.

Well, actually they do. But that in no way indicates they don't take church security as being one of their mane roles (you might want to paws for effect there).

Saint Mark's is located right off of Piazza Venezia, where you are overshadowed by the recently-arrived (compared to everything else in the forum) monument to Vittorio Emmanuele, currently swathed in scaffolding (the monument, not King Vittorio Emmanuele, who died a while back, and so maybe also is swathed in shrouds).

Named Saint Mark's of course for the Gospel guy (for whom the lion is the emblem), the church is also named for Pope Saint Mark, who died in 336. The mosaic in the apse from the early 800's came at the end of an era, being the last mosaic created in Rome for 300 years.










Note the mosaic in the apse.




Another good homily today--our first reading was from 2 Kings 5:1-15, telling the story of Naaman the army commander coming to Elisha the prophet to be cured of leprosy. Naaman angrily rejects Elisha's instructions to jump into the Jordan 7 times, having expected some extraordinary cure, instead of being told to go wash up.

Our homilist pointed out that many of us recognize how small, subtle things can undermine us; if we recognize how they can lead us to fall, why don't we also see that ordinary, small steps can also lead us to holiness? Often we think it will take some extraordinary, earth-shattering grace to make us holy, set us on track, but as with the converse, normal, daily steps can transform us in holiness and strength.











Yet another chair photo--here seen with the choir seats to the right.