Contemplating today's Gospel
Today's Gospel + homily (in 300 words)
As David went up the Mount of Olives, he wept without ceasing. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. All those who were with him also had their heads covered and were weeping as they went. As David was approaching Bahurim, a man named Shimei, the son of Gera of the same clan as Saul’s family, was coming out of the place, cursing as he came. He threw stones at David and at all the king’s officers, even though all the soldiers, including the royal guard, were on David’s right and on his left. Shimei was saying as he cursed: «Away, away, you murderous and wicked man! The Lord has requited you for all the bloodshed in the family of Saul, in whose stead you became king, and the Lord has given over the kingdom to your son Absalom. And now you suffer ruin because you are a murderer». Abishai, son of Zeruiah, said to the king: «Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over, please, and lop off his head».
But the king replied: «What business is it of mine or of yours, sons of Zeruiah, that he curses? Suppose the Lord has told him to curse David; who then will dare to say, ‘Why are you doing this?’». Then the king said to Abishai and to all his servants: «If my own son, who came forth from my loins, is seeking my life, how much more might this Benjaminite do so? Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. Perhaps the Lord will look upon my affliction and make it up to me with benefits for the curses he is uttering this day». David and his men continued on the road, while Shimei kept abreast of them on the hillside, all the while cursing and throwing stones and dirt as he went.
But you, o Lord, are my shield; my glory, you lift up my head! When I call out to the Lord, he answers me from his holy mountain.
When I lie down in sleep, I wake again, for the Lord sustains me. I fear not the myriads of people arrayed against me on every side.
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 he 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.
“Unclean spirit, come out of the man!”
Fr. Ramon Octavi SÁNCHEZ i Valero (Viladecans, Barcelona, Spain)Today, we find a fragment of the Gospel that might induce someone to smile. Imagining a herd of some two thousand pigs rushing down a cliff and into a lake, is a sort of funny image. But the truth is that those herdsmen did not find any humor in what had happened; they were very angry and begged Jesus to leave their neighborhood immediately.
While the herdsmen's attitude may seem logical, it is actually quite admonishing: for they would have undoubtedly preferred to save their pigs rather than have that demonized man delivered from his evil spirits. That is, first the material goods, which bring us money and ease, instead of a dignified life for a man who does not belong “to our class”. Because the man possessed by the evil spirit was nothing but a person that “Night and day among the tombs and on the hillsides he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones.” (Mk 5:5).
Quite often we run the risk of clinging to what we own and become infuriated when we lose whatever material possessions we may have. Thus, we have the farmer despairing when he loses his crop, even if fully insured or the stock market investor who gets angry if his shares go down. On the other hand, few are those who actually anguish when they see millions of human beings, many of which may live next to us, living in extreme poverty or dying of hunger.
Jesus always placed persons before anything else, even before the law and the powerful people of His time. But, just too often, we only think of ourselves and of what we believe may bring us happiness, despite the fact that selfishness never has brought any happiness to anyone. As the Brazilian Bishop Dom Helder Cámara would say: “Selfishness is the deepest root of all unhappiness. Your own and that of the whole world.”
Thoughts on Today's Gospel
“It is as if Jesus said: Get out of my house, what are you doing in my home? I wish to enter: Come out of this man, of this abode prepared for me.” (Saint Clement of Rome)
“Christian is someone who has a a deep desire within him: to meet his Lord with his brothers and sisters.. This is our happiness.” (Francis)
“Mortal sin, by attacking the vital principle within us - that is, charity - necessitates a new initiative of God's mercy and a conversion of heart which is normally accomplished within the setting of the sacrament of reconciliation.” (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, Nº 1856)
