GO AND TELL THE PEOPLE WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE FOR YOU!

I am choosing the gospel today for our recollection. It is not something new and the interpretations are always given to us in depth. But I just thought of exploring the gospel, hoping to find its meaning in our lives and how it would change the course of our life. To help you understand better, it is good to read the gospel again… GOSPEL (MARK 5:1-20) I would be basing also of its parallel gospels in Matthew 8:28-34 and Luke 8:26-39. I would be pointing out 5 aspects that I have seen in the text. Again, they are not very new to us, but let us just be open, hoping that they would ignite in us some sparks of light. 1. AUTHORITY: The gospel first of all reveals the inner authority of Jesus and His life of prayer. Jesus as we know rises early in the morning to pray; and seeks for a secluded place in the evening to pray. The authority of Jesus is clearly manifested in His words and actions. He has a voice of His own, as He expelled the demon from the man. Today, demonic possession is still present, and the Lord does not want to see us in bondage. He wants us to be liberated, to live to the full and to love and to be loved. The devil is working overtime to win our souls, as He capitalizes on our weaknesses, our own mediocrity and foolishness, as we try to answer the temptations and hide ourselves with spiritual pride. Perhaps, it is good to see our authority over the works of the demons in us or with others. How do we exercise our authority, power, self-discipline and prudence in order to fight against the lurks of the evil one. Perhaps, it is good to check our inner selves, our own demons blazing with the fire of pride and hypocrisy. Are we alert, praying for grace and to take authority from the Lord Himself? BACKGROUND OF THE GOSPEL: The man dwells in the graveyard, a traditional place where evil spirits lurk. Mark clearly paints the picture of the man and depths of depravity to which the evil spirit had driven him. He has a supernatural strength that no one could control him. Mark stresses the overwhelming power available in Jesus, similar to that when he calmed the storm. The man falls on his knees: "What do you want with me, Jesus Son of the Most High?" His name is LEGION and in the two translations, from Matthew and Luke, it is MOB (for we are many). According to Theologians, it is suggesting the basic unit of Roman Army, meaning that the Roman Empire is demonic. There is a possibility that the man is beating the pain of the people. Herd is often used as a band of military recruits, so that Romans are worthy only to live in the filthy swine. It is also a tradition that Canaanites used to sacrifice pigs. Jesus dismissed the pigs. It was actually a command to the Roman Empire. Jesus was clashing with the authorities in the synagogue, which symbolically the same as against the Roman Empire. 2. THE MYSTERY OF JESUS AS LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH All creation was created by Him and all are subject to Him- even the sea and wind, the underworld, the dark side, a real of evil where Jesus is loathed and feared. In many instances of Jesus casting out demons, ‘the evil spirits beheld Him, they fell down before Him and cried out: You are the Son of God.” Today, in the gospel, the evil cried our loudly, “Jesus, Son of the Most High, what do you want with me? For God’s sake, I beg you, do not punish me!” What is this mystery of Jesus to do all these things? What is our task in these actions of Jesus? I just thought that through faith, to unravel this mystery of Jesus in us- to know Him better, more and more and to listen, to understand that we are powerless before Him. Looking deeply into our lives, perhaps, the words of St. Augustine will enlighten us of this mystery and power of Jesus over us: “The whole point of our life is the healing of our hearts’ eyes through which God is seen.” We need the mystery of healing for so many things in order that we could see the Lord clearly, love Him dearly and follow him day by day. Perhaps, it is good to contemplate on this area: Stay put and be imaginative, find this pearl in your prayer and unravel a mystery which Jesus may have hidden in the corner of your heart. Let us remember: Nothing is ours, no place, no person, no thought, no feelings, no honor or power and no suffering can take us away from Him. Jesus is the mystery in us, the fatherland, the homeland, the delight, the treasure. 3. JESUS GIVES MEANING OF OUR HUMAN EXISTENCE Jesus evoked a lot of human responses. He acted according to God’s power and authority, therefore, he was considered mad, out of His mind. Others considered Him prophet, Messiah and bowed down before, confessing Him as Lord. In the gospel, the wild man is now fully clothed and in possession of his senses. Jesus brings peace and sanity while the pigs went off to destruction. Pagan crowd are afraid- there is the implicit suggestion that they do not want to be disturbed. They want Jesus to leave the place. They have found their own evils; they were confronted with the reality of their harshness and neglect towards the man, who was considered lunatic. Jesus gives back life and meaning. His power have transformed the life of the person. He brought back the dignity of the person, the respect of his human nature. I have questions in my mind: Have we really felt the transformation that Jesus is working in our lives? Have we changed? Have we meditated the meaning of our lives, the meaning of our existence here? Have we understood of the dignity He gives us as priests and brothers so that we could dedicate our lives freely and willfully? 4. JESUS DESTROYS OUR DARK LOGIC INTO WISDOM The expulsion of the demon is liberation. We ought to match the power of evil and even to tie the evil down and render it helpless. It means to fight against the evil in us, temptations and pride by humility and strong power in prayer. The wisdom is that, we are stronger than our passions and desires, pride and hypocrisy. Evil is real, and they are hiding in us because we welcome them with beautiful shelter and safety in our hearts. The real evils, the Legions or Mobs are like strong military recruits, we feed them by constant pride and harshness to others. At times, our hearts could become ‘enemy-occupied territories’. Deep within us, there is the sabotage of evil intentions, to fight back, to revenge, to make even, so often, we landed on disguise in front of others. We become fake- plastic wares in front of people. The wisdom of Jesus points out that we take part in the battle, not to re-introduce our friend, the evil, with horns, into the lives of our friends. Sometimes, it becomes sabotage, when we gather together and form a small group to fight against the other, to manipulate and take the initiative of becoming a small community of our own 5. HEALING REUNITES COMMUNITY AND ESTABLISHES RECONCILIATION In the gospel, the man wants to go with them, but Jesus advised him to stay. 1) It will be too much for his disciples to have a pagan in their midst, eating, drinking and praying with them. It would be a big debate to have a man, considered insane and possessed by evil, suddenly becoming a follower. I would think that it would touch their ego, but also protecting themselves from the security of being with Jesus. It is unacceptable. The disciples’ minds were still too closed, all among themselves. It could also be the same with us, at times; we are not so comfortable to be with people in a real sense. It seems awkward when an ordinary filthy, dirty and smelly villager is with us. We avoid the food, the water, to be surrounded with people of the same type. In short, we despise people for we see people according to our measurement. We deal people according to the beauty of their clothes and manners. Perhaps, there is a call for us to become part of a real community. To go and search for people, visit villages and to associate, to welcome strangers and be open to their realities, to dirty our hands and work with them, not to get imprisoned in our four-cornered walls. 2) The man, having mentally ill for so long needs time to recover and finds its way back to ordinary life. Jesus said ‘no’ boldly, telling him to go back home with the family. The man was broken for so long, abandoned for so long, treated as insane and prisoner for so long. He was a product of a broken relationship, and now, he needs real healing and community life. Jesus has already introduced psychology; dark spots of the man were turned into wisdom so that he may be in the circle of his loved ones, who neglected him. The man has to be reconciled emotionally and socially. He has to undergo another stage of his life- that is to exercise his power in community living. For us, when we are broken, when we are neglected, silence is our immediate answer. There is inner revolt, anger and hatred piled up. Jesus wanted the man to be open and has to face the consequence, then experience healing and unity. 3) Jesus instructed the man to tell to all people what he has done. Proclaim the Good News. Jesus did not only heal the man physically, emotionally and spiritually, he made the man a missionary in his own hometown. ‘Go and proclaim what the Lord has done for you.’ Jesus transformed the man into somebody, the man neglected by his own people, family and community, which seems to be a parallel on His life, when Jesus was despised in His own homeland. As we move along, we have to remember that we can be effected missionaries even when we are alone, but we will always leave a mark in the hearts of people when we work in love and sharing as a community.