30 January, 2023 | Martyrs' Day (Shaheed Diwas in India) | Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel Mk 5: 1-20

 Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the sea,

to the territory of the Gerasenes.

When he got out of the boat,

at once a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him.

The man had been dwelling among the tombs,

and no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain.

In fact, he had frequently been bound with shackles and chains,

but the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles smashed,

and no one was strong enough to subdue him.

Night and day among the tombs and on the hillsides

he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones.

Catching sight of Jesus from a distance,

he ran up and prostrated himself before him,

crying out in a loud voice,

“What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?

I adjure you by God, do not torment me!”

(He had been saying to him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man!”)

He asked him, “What is your name?”

He  replied, “Legion is my name.  There are many of us.”

And he pleaded earnestly with him

not to drive them away from that territory.

Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside.

And they pleaded with him,

“Send us into the swine.  Let us enter them.”

And he let them, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine.

The herd of about two thousand rushed down a steep bank into the sea,

where they were drowned.

The swineherds ran away and reported the incident in the town

and throughout the countryside.

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.

Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened

to the possessed man and to the swine.

Then they began to beg him to leave their district.

As he was getting into the boat,

the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him.

But Jesus would not permit him but told him instead,

“Go home to your family and announce to them

all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.”

Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis

what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed.

Reflection:

 The many incidences of healing in the Gospel testify to us about the desires of Jesus for our wholeness and wellbeing. However, what really draws my attention is that the healed man requested to follow Jesus but he was asked to go back home and proclaim the goodness of God. Our call is absolutely God’s choice. As disciples, we wait to be told what to do and where to minister. Some of us are called to bear witness to Christ right where we are, within the family life while others are asked to leave their homes and family, but all for the same glory of God. No call is greater than the other, it is how we live our call with the grace of God that accompanies us that makes it great. On this ‘Martyr's Day ’, we reflect on Jimi Hendrix words, “When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.” 

Action Plan:

We pray for peace in the world  especially between the warring nations. “An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” Mahatma Gandhi 

( 75th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi - Father of Indian Independence, martyred on this day in 1948)

Read and Reflect: