July 02, 2014 Wednesday
13th Week in
Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Am 5:14-24b
Gospel: Mt 8:28–34
When Jesus reached Gadara on the other side, he was met by two demoniacs who came out from the tombs. They were so fierce that no one dared to pass that way. Suddenly they shouted, “What do you want with us, you, Son of God? Have you come to torture us before the time?” At some distance away there was a large herd of pigs feeding. So the demons begged him, “If you drive us out, send us into that herd of pigs.” Jesus ordered them, “Go.” So they left and went into the pigs. The whole herd rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned. The men in charge of them ran off to the town, where they told the whole story, also what had happened to the men possessed with the demons. Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their area.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Earthly concerns diminish our desire for God’s company. Consider how the people of Gadara in our Gospel reading today tried to drive Jesus away. The town of Gadara, about five miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee, was known for such demonic possessions. In fact, the famous historian Josephus described it as “possessing territory that lay on that sea”. By driving demons away Jesus was trying to change the image of Gadara. But people resisted the transformation, perhaps because they themselves were not ready to change.
Once the heart is caught in the web of materialism, it gets entangled in its silky threads whole and entire. Between God and materialism, God should appear more desirable. Unfortunately materialism also has its attractive way of capturing the heart in its totality. Materialism works by deception. Once a person allows a part of it, it forces itself inside with its entire hoard. Material things are so vast that they can occupy the entire heart and leaves no more space for God. The heart becomes too heavy to beat for two masters. Indeed one cannot serve both God and mammon (Matt. 6:24). God made the heart indivisible because he is a jealous God.
Materialism not only lessens a person’s desire for God but also brings down the quality of his choices. When worldly concerns corrupt a person’s sense of balance, his fundamental option for God disintegrates. The herd of pigs that won the sympathy of the citizens of Gadara is a caricature of the extent to which a person can go down with his values. When man is addicted to the world, he can give up his God for anything, even for a herd of pigs! – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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