Gospel:
Mark 5:1-20
Jesus and
his disciples came to the other side of the sea, to the territory of the
Gerasenes. When he got out of the boat, at once a man from the tombs who had an
unclean spirit met him. The man
had been dwelling among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer,
even with a chain. In fact, he had frequently been bound with shackles and
chains, but the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles smashed, and
no one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on
the hillsides he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones. Catching
sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and prostrated himself before him, crying
out in a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High
God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me!” (He had been saying to him,
“Unclean spirit, come out of the man!”) He asked him, “What is your name?” He
replied, “Legion is my name. There are many of us.” And he pleaded earnestly
with him not to drive them away from that territory.
Now a
large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside. And they pleaded with
him, “Send us into the swine. Let us enter them.” And he let them, and the
unclean spirits came out and entered the swine. The herd of about two thousand
rushed down a steep bank into the sea, where they were drowned. The swineherds
ran away and reported the incident in the town and throughout the countryside. And
people came out to see what had happened. As they approached Jesus, they caught
sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion, sitting there clothed and in
his right mind. And they were seized with fear. Those who witnessed the
incident explained to them what had happened to the possessed man and to the
swine. Then they began to beg him to leave their district. As he was getting
into the boat, the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him. But
Jesus would not permit him but told him instead, “Go home to your family and
announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.” Then the man
went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him;
and all were amazed.
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Reflection:
Do you
plead to Jesus to change you and make you a better person?
The man
possessed by the legions of devil pleaded with Jesus not to drive them away
from the territory instead they wanted Jesus to send them into the herd of pigs.
So Jesus did what they wanted: He allowed them to enter the group of swine/pigs.
However the herd rushed into the sea where they drowned.
Why did
Jesus did not annihilate the legion (evils) instantly instead He allowed them
to transfer to the herd of swine only to die by drowning? Perhaps, Jesus
acceded to their request because Jesus wanted them to convert and get rid of
their evil ways, but they did not.
In our own
very life we would always encounter life changing occurrences. Such as survive
a major health problems or major accidents. And it serves as our wake-up call
from God to change our ways and leave behind sinfulness. There are some of us
who get an awareness of this life changing episode so we change and leave
behind our sinfulness. However there are also those who refuse to change and
they move-on with their sinful ways.
What
would happen to those who refuse to leave behind sinfulness? To those who
continue to ignore God’s call to conversion? To those who were given by God a
second chance but refused to grab it? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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