Monday, January 30, 2023

 Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(Hebrews 11:32-40; Mark 5:1-20)

Pity the Geresene demoniac.  He is driven by evil spirits.  He cannot do what he wants.  Evil impulses control his behavior.  Pity him because we may find ourselves in a similar situation.

We don’t have to be living in a tomb to find our conduct out of control.  Many of us are driven by addictions that destroy our peace and ruin our relationships. They wreck our bodies as well.

The demoniac has sense enough to turn to the Lord for help.  So should we.  We approach Jesus in prayer, in reading the gospel, and, last but not least, in the community of helpers around us.  Doing so diligently, we should find ourselves relieved of the spirits, resolved to live better.

Monday, January 31, 2022

 Memorial of Saint John Bosco, priest

(II Samuel 15:13-14.30, 16:5-13; Mark 5:1-20)

Teen suicide worries many today with good reason.  Its incidence has increased dramatically over the last couple of decades.  Adolescents are experiencing much more anxiety in this era of instant communication.  They appear in some respects like the demoniac in today’s gospel.

Whatever the demon is, it is torturing the man it possesses.  Mark describes the man as “crying out and bruising himself with stones.”  The people may have feared him, but Jesus does not recoil in a confrontation.  Jesus is in such control that he extracts the demon’s name.  From that point on, the demon submits to Jesus’ authority.

Today’s patron, St. John Bosco, possessed a similar control over adolescents.  In his day they may not have had great anxiety issues but faced their own challenges.  John Bosco urged that his followers always treat youth with patience and understanding.  He realized that children are never bad but need adult guidance to grow in the right ways.

Monday, February 1, 2021

 Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(Hebrews 11:32-40; Mark 5:1-20)

A young monk was having great difficulty.  He could not pray but kept thinking of women.  He went to an old monk for help.  He told the veteran that he wanted to leave the monastery.  The old monk encouraged him to stay.  Then he took the youth to the roof of the monastery and told him to look at the western sky.  When the young monk raised his eyes, he saw hundreds and hundreds of warriors in a war dance.  The elder said that they were devils ready to launch an attack on people.  Then he directed the young monk to look at the eastern sky.  When he did, he saw a throng of thousands preparing a defense.  The old monk said that these were angels of Christ preparing to come to the young monk’s aid.  They the old monk told the young monk to go back to his cell and call upon the Lord.  The young monk did so assured that he could overcome temptations.

The story parallels today’s gospel.  A legion, which is roughly five or six thousand soldiers, of devils pit themselves against Jesus.  They are powerful but really no match for the Lord.  Jesus makes them reveal their identity and then directs them to a herd of swine where they are vanquished. 

Jesus can help us when we feel unable to overcome some difficulty.  This may be the desire to look at pornography or perhaps resistance to do some necessary task.  We have to call upon him and ask him, like we might a doctor, to assist us.  He will not refuse our request.

Monday, February 3, 2020

Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(II Samuel 15:13-14.30.16:5-13; Mark 5:1-20)

Police departments are informing people on what to do if an “active shooter” enters their premises.  Such incidents have become so common that public education is now deemed necessary.  Confronting the villain is considered a last resort.  First people are advised to flee.  In today’s gospel Jesus does not choose the preferred option when confronted by the mad man.

The man must be terribly frightening.  The passage describes him as incapable of being held back even by chains.  Yet Jesus does not even flinch when the man comes into his midst. Rather he cool-headedly seizes the initiative.  He tells the demons possessing the man to depart.  Then he manipulates them to surrender authority by revealing their names.  After he has them completely in his power, Jesus sends the demons into a swineherd.

Sometimes Jesus is pictured as a weak sort.  But in this story, he shows himself quite forceful.  There is no testimony in the gospels indicating that Jesus looked like a body builder, but this episode attests to his bravery.  The point is that we can count on him.  He will help us in every situation when we call on him.

Monday, February 4, 2019

Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(Hebrews 11:32-40; Mark 5:1-20)

In the final scene of George Bernard Shaw’s play Saint Joan, the protagonist appears in a dream.  She has been convicted of heresy, executed, but then exonerated and made a saint.  She now proposes that she work a miracle and return to her people.  But no one in the dream thinks it a good idea.  They say that the world is not ready for saints like her.  The gospel passage today has a similar conclusion.

Jesus has just resolved one of the Gerasene territory’s biggest problems.  The man who was possessed by demons and terrorizing the people now sits as graciously as a butterfly.  You would think that the people should thank Jesus and invite him to dinner.  But they ask him to leave their area.  True, the taming of the strongman did result in the loss of a herd of pigs.  However, the reason for the people’s desire that Jesus distance himself lies deeper.  His evident holiness makes them painfully aware of their own sinfulness.  Rather than seek his mercy, they beg that he move on.

We may not directly ask Jesus to leave, but our response to Jesus’ presence may be little better.  We often refuse to acknowledge him.  We neither ask his help nor follow his example.  Instead, we often choose to worry about our problems and curse our luck if not rivals.  But he is there to cast out the demons that get us worked up.  We only have to open ourselves to him.

Monday, January 30, 2017

Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(Hebrews 11:32-40; Mark 5:1-20)

The man possessed by a devil in today’s gospel shows two characteristics of evil.  He is demonstratively violent, and he is frighteningly alone.  The man pulls apart the shackles and chains meant to bind him and apparently uses them to intimidate others.  He seems to have no feeling for anyone which makes the tombs a fitting dwelling.

But he cannot bully Jesus.  The Lord speaks directly to the source of the man’s outrage.  “’Unclean spirit, come out of the man!’” he commands.   The demon cannot help but obey.  It leaves the man as tranquil as a sleeping child.  Importantly, he is able to return home although he prefers to sing Jesus praises in the public square. 

Jesus gives us a lesson on how to face evil in our lives.  First, we should trust in him by prayer.  He will assist us as surely as he did the possessed man.  Second, if we cannot avoid the evil, we need to confront it with courage.  We respect an evil person like we do everyone else.  We need not shake or shrink.  Finally, although addressing a command to the evil may be fruitless, we might firmly offer a word of peace.

Monday, February 4, 2013

Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(Hebrews 11:32-40; Mark 5:1-20)

In the final scene of George Bernard Shaw’s play Saint Joan, the protagonist appears in a dream. She has been convicted of heresy, executed, but then exonerated and even made a saint. She now proposes that she work a miracle and return to her people. But no one in the dream thinks it a good idea. They say that the world is not ready for saints like her. The gospel passage today has a similar conclusion.

Jesus has just resolved one of the Gerasene territory’s biggest problems. The man who was possessed by demons and terrorizing the people now sits as graciously as a butterfly. You would think that the people should thank Jesus and invite him to dinner. But they ask him to leave their area. True, the taming of the strongman did result in the loss of a herd of pigs, but the reason for the people’s desire that Jesus distance himself lies deeper. His evident holiness makes them painfully aware of their own sinfulness. Rather than ask for mercy, they ask that mercy move on.

We may not directly ask Jesus to leave, but our response to Jesus’ presence may be little better. We often refuse to acknowledge him and choose instead to worry about our problems and perhaps curse our rivals. But he is there to cast out the demons in our lives that get us worked up. We only have to open ourselves to him.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Memorial of Saint John Bosco, priest

(Hebrews 11:32-40; Mark 5:1-20)

Wild boars create problems. Farmers say that they destroy crops. They also threaten people. And they are not as edible as their name suggests. In the gospel when the demons possessing the man in the territory of the Gerasenes ask Jesus to send them into a herd of swine, they no doubt have nothing but mischief in mind. But they are not in control of the situation. Jesus is, and plotting the demise of the demons, he dispatches them into the pigs as requested. Immediately the swine hurl themselves into the sea thus returning the evil spirits to the watery abyss from which they are thought to originate.

Once again Jesus demonstrates that he is the rock on whom we can count in trials. Here he reveals himself in charge of foreign territories as well as where we usually encounter him. He will save us wherever we are and from whatever fury breaks upon us. In Left to Tell Immaculée Ilibagiza tells the story of how Jesus protected her during the Rwandan genocide.

“But does appealing to Jesus always achieve the desired end?” we ask quite honestly and realistically. Christian wisdom suggests a somewhat unnerving answer. By faith we know him as the gracious Lord of the universe. His desires are always honored, but those desires may not be exactly ours. As we pray, “Deliver us from evil,” we must remember that we have already resigned ourselves to his discretion by having said, “Thy will be done.”

Monday, February 1, 2010

Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

II Samuel 15:13-14.30.16:5-13; Mark 5:1-20)

When we think of power, perhaps we conjure images of a nuclear explosion in which a fistful of fissionable material produces a mountainous cloud of gases and dirt of temperatures rivaling the sun’s surface. We might, as well, picture Jesus driving out the demons in the gospel story today. A man, whom no chain could hold down because of the fury of demons that possess him, is tranquilized at the word of Jesus. Meanwhile, the demons show themselves to be so numerous and so forceful that they take hold of a herd of swine and fling them into the sea.

This gospel portrait shows Jesus as more than powerful. He is also, quite surprisingly after such a display of force, demurring and thoughtful. When the people out of fear ask Jesus to leave their area, he concedes to their wish. But when the dispossessed man wants to go with him, Jesus thinks it best that he stay behind to tell his family of the goodness of the Lord. No reason is given for the rejection, but we might speculate that the time is not ripe for non-Jews to join Jesus’ mission.

The story relates that Jesus is truly extraordinary – powerful yet restrained, on a mission yet reflective. Read at mass, it begs that we consider his presence to us this day. We can count on him to provide strength to take on challenges as well as good sense to think through what we are doing. His companionship ensures that we will respect all whom we meet and help those who stand in need.

Homilette for February 4, 2008

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.