February 01, 2016
Monday, 4th Week in
Ordinary Time
1st Reading: 2 Sm 15: 13-14. 30; 16: 5-13
Gospel: Mk 5:1–20*
Jesus and his disciples arrived on the other side of the lake in the region of the Gerasenes. No sooner did Jesus leave the boat than he was met by a man with evil spirits who had come from the tombs. He lived among the tombs and no one could restrain him, even with a chain. He had often been bound with fetters and chains but he would pull the chains apart and smash the fetters, and no one had the strength to control him. …
When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell at his feet and cried with a loud voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, son of the Most High God? For God’s sake I beg you, do not torment me.” He said this because Jesus had commanded, “Come out of the man, evil spirit.” …
Now, a great herd of pigs was feeding on the hillside, and the evil spirits begged him, “Send us to the pigs and let us go into them.” So Jesus let them go. The evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs, and immediately the herd rushed down the cliff and all were drowned in the lake… And when those who had seen it told what had happened to the man and to the pigs, the people begged Jesus to leave their neighborhood.
When Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed begged to stay with him. Jesus would not let him and said, “Go home to your people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.” So he went throughout the country of Decapolis telling everyone how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were astonished.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Exorcism is just part of the process of total liberation from demonic possession. It is what the person does with that new- found freedom that determines the success of this liberation process. Consider the Gospel story of the demoniac. After Jesus exorcised him, he returned to follow him. It was then that Jesus had the chance to commission him as witness among his own people.
It is not enough that one is freed from evil. “Freedom from” will take us to a meaningful life if it results to “freedom for”. Freedom from evil is triumph over evil when it leads one to freedom for God. The implication, though, can be burdensome because freedom for God means working for God the way God wants it. The demoniac would have wanted to go with Jesus. But Jesus had a different mission for him.
We may not have been demoniacs at any time of our lives. But let us not wait till we become one. Let us work for God now, and work for him the way he wants us to. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website:www.frdan.org.
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