Today’s Gospel reading (Mark 5: 1-20) is the story of the man by the caves, possessed by many demons (a legion). Jesus commands the demons to leave the man, they go into some pigs, into the sea, etc… A powerful story to be sure. But this morning, this is the part that jumped out at me:
And people came out to see what had happened.
As they approached Jesus,
they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion,
sitting there clothed and in his right mind.
And they were seized with fear.
Granted, this must have been quite a sight, especially as the pigs dropped into the sea. But how telling is it that the people, seeing one of their own free from the bondage of a demonic possession for the first time, are seized by fear. How often are we seized by fear, unable to see or appreciate the miracles in our own lives? Or in the lives of those around us?
On that note, happy Monday everyone!
2 comments:
I was flicking through the channels and came across today's Mass on TV and was delighted with the readings -- the sad story of David & Absolom, and the tale of the legion of demons. I, too, was struck at how we are comfortable with the demons we know and afraid of the challenge of liberation from them.
The site of this Event is a few miles from my home. It is quite a weird place and there are a lot of stories (especially associated with fertility problems) associated with it; both Christian and Jewish
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