Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
(Mark 5:1-20)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Protestant theologian who taught in the United States in the 1920s and early 30’s. When Bonhoeffer returned to his native Germany, he found himself opposing the barbarism of the Nazi regime. Eventually, he was executed for taking part in a plot to assassinate Hitler. Before he died, he wrote a book called The Cost of Discipleship explaining that there is no such thing as “cheap grace.” Here is a paradox: grace by definition is free, yet it costs one to be a Christian.
Some are unwilling to pay the price. In the gospel today the people send Jesus packing apparently because he has cost them two thousand head of pigs. Too earnest businesspersons, they cannot appreciate how Jesus has restored the sanity of one of their own but only take note of their losses.
What does it cost us to follow Jesus? Perhaps a half hour’s sleep in the morning to attend Mass? Maybe eating our words rather than lash out at some perceived unfairness? Whatever it is, it is a bargain. What we expend is not ours to begin with, but a gift from God. What we receive, is eternal life – the joy of Jesus’ companionship forever.
