MK 5: 1-20
They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him.
Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; and he shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”
For he had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; and the unclean spirits begged him, “Send us into the swine; let us enter them.” So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the sea.
The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood.
As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. But Jesus refused, and said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Those Living Among the Tombs
In today’s Gospel, Jesus heals a man who is possessed, with surprising consequences. The man is living among the tombs on the outskirts of town—as good as dead to his neighbors and family. Shackled and forsaken by society, he is the epitome of what today we might call a “person on the margins.”
In a twist in the story, rather than being joyful or relieved when the man is healed, the townspeople are “seized with fear” and beg Jesus to leave their town. For whatever reason, it was easier for the town that the man stay in his reduced, self-harming, nearly animal-like state than to rejoin them.
While it may be hard to place ourselves in this story, things are not so different today. Many mornings when I walk from the train to my office here in downtown Chicago, I pass men and women who are asleep in makeshift cardboard box shelters on the side of the street. Some of us on occasion look down, perhaps slow down, as we pass by. But mostly we just pass by. Last week, I locked eyes with a woman who peered out from inside…. It was a cold morning and I could only see her eyes–clear, light-blue eyes that pierced me through and through. What could I do? What should I do? I kept walking. I have not forgotten her eyes.
This scripture speaks to me both of the sin of indifference, as well as our human tendency to embrace the status quo…. a deadly combination for the Christian. Today, I ask myself: In what ways have I become indifferent to those who are suffering around me? What unjust systems in our society have I become comfortable with? How am I called to respond to those who live among the tombs today?
—Christine Curran is the executive director of the Ignatian Spirituality Project, a Jesuit ministry providing spiritual retreats and companionship to people in recovery from homelessness and addiction in 20+ cities.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, during your time on Earth, you were never far from those on the margins. You ate with tax collectors, touched the “unclean” lepers, and took time with the outcasts. Help us to model our lives on you, so that we may always recognize your face in all those we encounter, no matter their circumstances. Use me as your instrument today. Amen.
—Jesuit Prayer team