We could also refer to this as the Gospel according to St. Peter in this sense. St. Peter the first one called to lead the Church never put down in writing the events of the life of Jesus. Perhaps like many of the first disciples he believed there was no need because he thought the second coming would be immediate.
It is his associate St. Mark who is later inspired by God to tell the story. We can only imagine the hours Mark spent listening to Peter tell the stories of all that had happened. And so while it is the Gospel according to Mark, we can also hear the voice of St. Peter.
After his sojourn in the desert, it is according to Mark the arrest of John that signals the beginning of the ministry of Jesus.
What Jesus proclaims is simple. The time of fulfillment and the Kingdom of God have drawn near.
And the response is simple as well Repent and Believe. Metanoia and Faith can be the only appropriate response.
Then St. Mark recounts what he must have heard Peter tell thousands of time, the story of the moment when they were calls by Jesus.
What was it that Peter and the others saw or at least sensed in Jesus that made them abandon everything and follow? Complete metanoia.
Perhaps today is a time for each of us to pause and recall the time in our own life when we first felt the pull of Jesus.
Often in childhood our faith is something that feels imposed by our parents. And often, we childishly push against it for that very reason. But in the life of each of us there is, if we search our memory, a time when when were able to perceive that loving call of Jesus.
Today let us return to that place, return to that call, and lose ourselves in the wonder of call and response.
