The Feast of St. Mark, Evangelist, is coming up on April 25 and makes for a great occasion for snacking with the saints.
In our home, we'll likely be making a hummus and veggies winged lion to snack on as we did in years passed...
Or, I'll set out ingredients and ask the children to get creative making their own winged lions.
You could do similarly with whatever ingredients you seem to have on hand.
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| Source: Wikipedia |
Truly, there so many fun ways to make food lions, that I bet you can rustle up a St. Mark feast day with no trouble at all. Some inspiration might be:
- lion pancakes like the ones shown at Blessed Beyond Crazy
- a full lion like at Rosy & Ruby Love
- a lion pizza like at Hip Hop Homeschool Moms
- a lion bento box like at Parenting.com
- a fruit and cereal lion like at Kix
- an all whole food lion like at BuzzFeed or HGTV
- a Nutella lion like at Sara Waldman.
A Prayer and Chat along with the Snack
After grace and before eating, the Collect Prayer would be appropriate to pray.
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| Source: Wikipedia |
O God, who raised up Saint Mark, your Evangelist, and endowed him with the grace to preach the Gospel, grant, we pray, that we may so profit from his teaching as to follow faithfully in the footsteps of Christ. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
You might also read the biography and reflection at Franciscan Media which ends with:
Mark fulfilled in his life what every Christian is called to do: proclaim to all people the Good News that is the source of salvation. In particular, Mark’s way was by writing. Others may proclaim the Good News by music, drama, poetry, or by teaching children around a family table.
Then, ask how each person in the family has been and could go forth proclaiming the Good News.
Alternately, you might read the Loyola Press biography, keying into how St. Mark "speaks to Christians about Jesus, who understands their difficulties and sufferings and will one day bring them to share with him eternal joy and glory."
Then, if appropriate, segue into conversation about the challenges that seem so prevalent in today's world, and, perhaps, even in our own homes and families. From there, move toward the idea that while it can be tempting to focus too long on such negatives, the better thing is to persevere with faith - turning our eyes towards Jesus, who loves us so.
Maybe even chat about how, as it is put in a piece by Relevant Radio, "We can look to St. Mark’s story of redemption and faith as an example that no matter how difficult things get, we shouldn’t give up spreading the Good News."
Learn More with St. Mark
If you'd like to extend your snack time to learning time, I have previously shared how we let St. Mark inspire eclectic learning in our home. You might also like to:
- Learn more about the Gospel of Mark with Bishop Barron.
- Or just get a short synopsis about the Gospel of Mark.
- enjoy some art by coloring or painting coloring sheets with water colors. Both Schola Rosa and Waltzing Matilda have lovely ones.
- find out 8 Things to Know and Share about St. Mark with the New Catholic Register.
- read about What the Story of St. Mark Teaches Us about Reconciliation from Community in Mission.
May snacking with St. Mark bless you and yours and encourage you to come closer to Christ.- Learn more about the Gospel of Mark with Bishop Barron.
- Or just get a short synopsis about the Gospel of Mark.
- enjoy some art by coloring or painting coloring sheets with water colors. Both Schola Rosa and Waltzing Matilda have lovely ones.
- find out 8 Things to Know and Share about St. Mark with the New Catholic Register.
- read about What the Story of St. Mark Teaches Us about Reconciliation from Community in Mission.
I would love to hear about your favorite traditions, resources, and ideas related to St. Mark as well as any other Snacking with the Saint inspirations you might offer.
Saint Mark, Evangelist, pray for us.
Saint Mark, Evangelist, pray for us.
