With accompanying signs...

Today is the Feast Day of St Mark the Evangelist. Mark is mentioned in Acts,1Peter and by St Paul in his letters. He is believed to be the first Bishop of Alexandria, Egypt where he eventually suffered martyrdom by being drug through the town with a rope tied around his neck.
In the last lines of his Gospel he talks of the signs that accompanied the Apostolic preaching on the life of Jesus Christ. I wonder what those signs might have been then? I wonder what they are today as believers continue to go forth with the Word on their lips and Christ in their hearts. How is their relationship of love evident?
I surmise that it is not much different than a relationship of love between two people. When I first started dating my wife some 40 years ago I was different than I had been before. My friends often asked me "What has gotten into you?" I was so filled with new found love that it was obvious in my words, my attitude and my actions. I imagine many of you have experienced that same thing.
Our relationship with God should be like that. We discover God through the Word and the testimony of others. As we begin to understand the love God has for us it becomes easy to fall in love with God. Just as in human love, we will be different because of that loving relationship with God. That love should be evident in our lives and, indeed, be the "accompanying sign" of our relationship. St Paul reminds us how necessary it is to have that love before we go out and proclaim so that we do not become a "noisy gong or a clanging cymbal" (1Cor 13:1).
Today, on the Feast of St Mark, let that love shine forth in new and beautiful ways!