April 25 is the date chosen in the calendar to celebrate Saint Mark. He wrote the shortest Gospel, becoming the “reporter” of the life of Jesus Christ; thanks to the testimony and catechesis of Saint Peter, the prince of the apostles, he recounts the life of Jesus to the first Christians and to us exactly as it happened.

Who is Mark

Mark has two names: John for the Jews, his compatriots, and Mark for the Greeks. According to Luke's testimony, the mother of John Mark, called Mary, owned a house in Jerusalem where Christians gathered and where Peter went after being miraculously freed from prison. Some scholars believe this house was the place where the Last Supper took place.

The young man with the sheet

Mark was not part of the group of the Twelve, nor was he one of the so-called “70 disciples” sent by Jesus two by two to preach the Good News. Mark was not a disciple of the Lord; however, many commentators claim that he witnessed an episode of the Passion and identify him with the «young man who was wearing only a sheet», a witness to Jesus' arrest. He tries to escape, but the guards seize him: «He, however, let the sheet fall and fled away naked» (cf. Mk 14:5-52). The interpretation that this is an autobiographical episode is based on the fact that Mark is the only evangelist to include this character in the narrative. But he certainly already wants to point us toward the Resurrection, to remind us how it will end.

Paul's collaborator

In 44, he accompanies Paul, together with his cousin Barnabas, on the first missionary journey to Cyprus. However, when they reach Perga, Mark abandons Paul and Barnabas and returns to Jerusalem. Paul openly reproaches him for refusing to follow him and does not take him along on the second journey. Later, fully reconciled, he becomes Paul's most faithful collaborator, and we will find him beside the Apostle even during Peter's Roman imprisonment.

Peter's preferred reporter

Mark is also Peter’s disciple, whom Peter calls “my son” in his first letter: this expression indicates that Mark received Baptism from Peter himself. Mark is at Peter’s side in Rome. As his faithful collaborator, he has the opportunity to hear his preaching of the Good News of Christ, thus becoming its interpreter and authorized spokesperson. Like a good reporter, he writes down the story of Jesus as he heard it directly from Peter’s lips, bringing the Gospel to life.
We could say that he writes the Gospel in a journalistic style; in fact, his account is simple, lively, and immediate, and he frequently uses the present tense when recounting a past event: he tells the story as if he were witnessing the events he describes at that very moment. 
Mark’s is believed to be the first Gospel to have been written, with its probable date of composition set between 50 and 60, during the period when he was in Rome alongside Peter. 

The Gospel of Mark

Peter is therefore the primary source of Mark’s Gospel. The sixteen chapters that make up this Gospel follow a simple outline: the preaching of John the Baptist, Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, the journey toward Jerusalem and his solemn entry into the city, the passion, death, and resurrection. 
The central theme of his proclamation is the proclamation of Jesus as the Son of God, revealed by the Father, recognized even by the demons, and rejected by the crowds, the leaders, and the disciples. The culminating moment of his Gospel is the profession of faith by the pagan Roman centurion at the feet of the crucified Jesus: «Truly this man was the Son of God», which is the full revelation of Jesus’ identity and the goal that the disciple, too, must reach.
The symbol of his Gospel is the winged lion, a figure of courage representing the power of Jesus Christ and his resurrection.

The final years of his life

Regarding the final years of Mark’s life, according to Eusebius of Caesarea’s “Ecclesiastical History” (3rd-4th century), he evangelized Egypt and founded the Church of Alexandria, becoming its first bishop and probably suffering martyrdom on April 25, 68. 
From Alexandria, his body was transferred to Venice in the 9th century by two merchants. From then on, Mark has been linked to the lagoon city, of which he is the patron saint, as attested by the splendid basilica dedicated to him.