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Gospel: Mark 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.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Today’s Gospel gives a graphic example of the dehumanizing effect of evil.
There is a man possessed by demons, who self-mutilates and lives in a graveyard, often by shackle and chain. His only company is a herd of swine.
When Jesus approaches this man, he says to the demons inside of the man, “What is your name?”
“Legion,” they say.
In the ancient world, legion was a Latin term for a regiment of six thousand men. If taken literally, this man is telling Jesus that he’s bound by 6,000 demons.
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Making the story even stranger, he runs up to Jesus, prostrates himself, and calls Jesus, “Son of the Most High God.” These are things a disciple would do, revealing just how conflicted this man is.
He’s under the constraint of evil and needs to be set free.
That’s what Jesus does best; he heals. He saves. He sets people free.
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This is among the most extreme stories told in the Gospels. But if Jesus can set this man free – a man bound by 6,000 demons – then think of what the Lord can do for us, who likely struggle with much less.
Perhaps we’re bound by fear; COVID has unearthed insecurities in all of us. Perhaps we’re afraid of the future; afraid of change; or we need to shake a harmful habit.
Whatever it is, the Lord has come to set us free.
Lent is only a few weeks away. It’s the perfect time to return to the Sacrament of Reconciliation; it’s a time to focus on those areas where we need spiritual growth the most.
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“If today you hear God’s voice,” the Psalmist says, “harden not your hearts.”
This Lent, let Jesus set you free.
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