Word to the Wise
Monday, January 30, 2017 - Monday in the 4th Week in Ordinary Time
[Heb 11:32-40 and Mark 5:1-20]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 incient explained to themwhat had happened to the possessed man and to the swine. Then they began to beg him to leave their district. [Mark]
It helps in reading any of the four gospels to keep the "big picture" in mind because the lectionary feeds us the gospels in bits and pieces over two different annual cycles (Sunday and Daily) and occasionally the daily portion is replaced by some feast day. We can easily lose sight of what the relationship of any given part is to the whole. The story of the Gerasene demoniac is an example of this. In itself, the scene is quite dramatic with the demoniac possessed by Legion (a collection of evil spirits?) confronting Jesus, the dialogue between Jesus and Legion, the victory of Jesus manifested in sending Legion into a huge herd of pigs, the fearful reaction of the people and Jesus' refusal to allow the former demoniac to get into the boat and follow him.
The big picture in the Gospel of Mark is that most people do not understand who Jesus is until his death and resurrection. The reaction of the people is not one of faith but fear. In other cases, it is amazement, but still not faith. In short, in the Gospel of Mark, a miracle is just one more occasion of preaching that goes unheard beyond ordinary amazement. This is not a question about the reality of miracles but of their impact. There are some folks who will not believe unless they get a steady diet of miracles! There are others who will simply say, "It's just another thing that research and science will eventually figure out and duplicate." We can ask ourselves what role miracles play in our own faith. We might even read C.S.Lewis' classic: MIRACLES. Reading the whole Gospel of Mark and then coming back to today's passage at least will help us understand what Mark means. AMEN
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