February 4, 2019 Monday, 4th Week in
Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Heb 11; 32-40
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.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
The transfer of the evil spirits to the pigs didn’t close the story of the demoniac. It was the commissioning that completed his journey. Jesus gave him the mission of spreading the Good News to his hometown. This is a template of any process involving our struggle to escape evil dominion.
It is not enough that one has been set free from evil. “Freedom from” will take a person to a meaningful life if it leads to “freedom for”. When it leads to freedom for God, the freedom lasts to empower the person to perform a mission. When the demoniac asked Jesus to follow him, Jesus saw that he was ready to be commissioned. It was thus that he gave him the mission to spread the Good News in his neighborhood.
The lesson is a big eye opener. We may wonder why we keep committing the same sins even after a remorseful confession. The absence of the missionary dimension of one’s confession explains it. When one does not embark on a positive resolution to address addiction to sin, every confession merely becomes a prelude to another fall. The devil retains full control. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
May comment ka ba sa column ni Father Dan? May tanong ka ba sa kanya? I-type ang BANDERA REACT
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Bandera. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.