Week 4 of Ordinary Time, Monday – 3rd February — Gospel: Mark 5,1-20
Personal response of the Demoniac
Let us look at the different responses in this passage. The unclean spirits knew who Jesus was and the power that he possessed. They only asked him to cast them into the herd of swine. The people who witnessed the miracle saw his power. They chose the path of fear and they begged him to leave their district. On the contrary, the Gerasene demoniac was different in his response. Jesus’ mercy and his saving power had set him free from the bondage of evil spirits. And so the man sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to him. To express his gratitude he wanted to follow Jesus. But Jesus told him to return to his family and make God’s glory known to them. This lost gentile, in making known the glory of Jesus, the living faith to others, becomes an icon of universal salvation. He learnt to obey Jesus in faith that he walked for about two hours to Decapolis proclaiming what Jesus had done for him.
