The cure of the demoniacs

July 01, 2015 Wednesday
13th Week in Ordinary Time 1st Reading:
Gen 21:5, 8-20
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)

Jesus did the people of Gadara a big favor by driving out demons from their area. 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 this place as a “possessing territory that lay on that sea”. By restoring two demoniacs to their normal selves and driving demons away Jesus was trying to change the image of Gadara. No one could do what Jesus did. Surprisingly the people drove him out of their locality.

Today’s Gospel reading offers us a lesson on the indivisibility of the human heart. God is a jealous God and he won’t settle for half the human heart. But if God is a jealous God, the devil is also a solicitous and zealous deceiver. He makes use of material things to capture the heart inch by inch until the total heart is subdued. Thus, if one has given in to materialism, he becomes less interested about the things of God. No one can serve both God and mammon (Matt. 6:24).

So let us be judicious when it comes to earthly pursuits. We cannot say with certainty that the people of Gadara drove Jesus away because of the damage Jesus did to their pigs when he drove the demons away. But one can say with certainty that unhealthy concern for material things not only lessens our desire for God’s presence but also brings down our fundamental option to its lowest. The herd of pigs that probably won the sympathy of the people of Gadara is a caricature of how low man can go with his values once corrupted by materialism. When man is addicted to the world, he can give up his God for anything, yes even for a herd of pigs! – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: [email protected]. Website: www.frdan.org.
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