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
fear the devil? If you have faith in Jesus you need not fear the devil! But
human as we are many of us fear the devil, and what is the reason for this fear?
It’s our feeble faith in Jesus.
In the
gospel there is this man violently possessed by an evil spirit he is so
powerful that no one could subdue him. Perhaps the possessed man is briefly in
control of himself after which he is again taken control of the evil spirit.
In his
brief moment of self-control he saw Jesus from a distance and he run to Him. To
shortcut this long story the man was eventually freed by Jesus from evil
possession.
There are
many evils that possess us nowadays: the evil of greed, lust, pride, materialism
and many more evils that take control of us. Do you want to be healed from
these evils? Humbly go to Jesus and ask
Him to free you from these evils.
Oftentimes
we underestimate the power of Jesus to make a big positive impact in our lives;
this is normally caused by our lack of faith and our lack of fidelity to His
teachings. This is the main reason why many are still possessed by the many
evils of this world. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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