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Amidst So Much Evil

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, Year 1


IN TODAY'S GOSPEL (Mark 5:1-20), Jesus and the Twelve arrived at Gergasa ("Country of the Gerasenes") on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee--on the other side of the lake in the region of the Gerasenes ( (v. 1). Here he encountered a demonically possessed person who lived in the tombs and attacks those who passed by. When the demoniac saw the Lord, he hastened to approach him, the possessing demons asking him that they not be "tortured" (v. 7). Saint Mark also identified the group of possessing demons as Mob (Christian Community Bible translation), or Legion (in other translations). Knowing that staying in the man was not acceptable to Jesus, Mob requested to be transferred instead to a herd of pigs.
 
The Lord shows us a beautiful show of the disciplined and respectful characteristic of love. He showed respect for the needs of the demons while making it clear to them that possessing a man was not an option. And he conceded to their request to be transferred instead to the herd of pigs.
 
His adamant demand from the demons to leave the body of the Gerasene tells us that he cared so much for the human being he cannot allow demons to possess and torture him outside the divine Providence that results in the glory of God being declared before mankind. Possession even of sinful people has its purpose in the greater scheme of things. Through it, God designed that a person experiences the power of God, attain conversion, and be saved in the Blood of Christ.
 
The dynamics of evil, even the actions of the Devil, in the lives of mankind is a very complicated mystery, mind-boggling to human reasoning, that aims to bring mankind to salvation like an electrical shock that revives a comatose soul. In the darkest of nights, the soul naturally seeks even for the smallest star to guide its path to a new dawn. Sometimes, the clearest perspective on God comes through the works of evil around us.
 
Letting us walk in the shadow of evil is one aspect of the Love of God that can be soul-purifying. When a soul desperate amidst so evil in the environment has to hold on to God to obtain salvation. This instinct of survival is inherent in each person; and works at its peak when evil assaults mankind from all sides. And this is the time to actively seek God's grace and help; giving in to desperation will only get the person swallowed by evil. It is a last-ditch effort for a man to defend the tower of his soul. It is through desperation God hopes to fan our love of God to the scorching flame of holiness, of total surrender to the will of God. It is no wonder that the Gerasenes demoniac offered himself to stay with Jesus--the man who had been possessed begged to stay with him (v. 18). Having directly experienced the loving power of God, his heart was aflamed with the love of God.
 
FATHER, let our hearts be burning with Your love. Let us be consumed by Your love that we may become ministers of Your love to Your people in times of great trials and conflagration. May we become a worthy instrument, a faithful channel of Your love, for others. Amen.
 
LORD, your brief life on earth has taught us so much of the love of the Father that consumed your being. Teach us to love the Father by loving you and your friends the Saints. Teach us to open our hearts to Love that it may consume us, transforming us forever into loving soldiers who serve only God and the people He happens to lead to us every day. Amen.     
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