(Optional Memorial for Saint Blaise, Bishop and Martyr) or
(Optional Memorial for Saint Ansgar, Bishop)
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| “Christ Encounters ‘Legion’”, Artist and Date are UNKNOWN |
Reading I: 2 Samuel 15:13-14, 30; 16:5-13a
An informant came to David with the report,
“The children of Israel
At this, David said to all his servants
who were with him in Jerusalem
“Up! Let us take flight, or none of us will escape from Absalom.
Leave quickly, lest he hurry and overtake us,
then visit disaster upon us and put the city to the sword.”
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.
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Commentary on 2 Sm 15:13-14, 30; 16:5-13a
Recall that Nathan had said that the Lord would put enmity in the House of David for the sins of murder and adultery the king had committed when he took Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12:8-12). Following this prediction, the child born to David and Bathsheba died, in spite of David’s contrite attempt to convince God to spare it. In addition, David’s eldest son Amnon was killed by another son Absalom after he (Amnon) had raped Absalom’s sister and then further dishonored her by casting her out.
These actions ultimately led to the situation we hear about in this passage. King David's son, Absalom, has supplanted David as king and David is forced to flee, fearing his household will be killed. He goes to the Mount of Olives, once more to beg for God’s mercy. Even though God has promised that David himself will not be killed, nothing good will come of this, and David is humiliated even further by Shimei, a bitter supporter of Saul who accuses King David of unjustly killing the former king and his sons. David tells his guard not to hinder the rock throwing Shimei as he goes on his penitential pilgrimage explaining that he may be acting on God's orders, apparently accepting this humiliation as God's punishment.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 3:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
R. (8a) Lord, rise up and save me.
O LORD, how many are my adversaries!
Many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me,
“There is no salvation for him in God.”
R. Lord, rise up and save me.
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.
R. Lord, rise up and save me.
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.
R. Lord, rise up and save me.
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Commentary on Ps 3:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
Psalm 3 is a lament, singing of the plight of one attacked and oppressed by enemies on all sides. These strophes are clearly an echo of King David’s sorrow, as all that the Lord has given to him seems to be at risk with no sign that God will come to his aid. In spite of this apparent abandonment, the singer has faith that God will continue to defend his servant.
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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.
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Commentary on Mk 5:1-20
This is St. Mark’s version of Jesus casting out the multitude of demons and sending them into the herd of swine. Swine [pigs] are considered unclean animals under Hebrew dietary laws (Leviticus 11:7-8. This action not only reinforces Jesus’ universal mission, but adds a dimension of symbolism. It is important to note that this is a pagan region, so what the Lord is doing in helping the man with unclean spirits is ministering to non-Hebrews, indicating the breadth of his mission. Also in this story, the demon addresses him as “Jesus, Son of the Most High God,” a title that identifies him clearly and without equivocation as the Messiah.
“Allegorically (St. Bede, In Marcum): the demoniac represents the Gentile nations saved by Christ. As pagans, they once lived apart from God amid the tombs of dead works, while their sins were performed in service of demons. Through Christ the pagans are at last cleansed and freed from Satan’s domination.” [4]
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Reflection:
Those of us who are not mystics (which means probably most of us these days) may have some belief issues with the story of Jesus casting out the unclean spirits described in the Gospel of St. Mark. Did Jesus really cast out these unclean spirits and cause them to go into swine? From a purely logical perspective, we see the message from the Gospel in the following way:
First, we understand, as St. Mark did, that Jesus has authority over all of God’s creation. This authority is constantly being contested by the evil one who himself was cast out of God’s presence. If we believe that God’s essence manifests itself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; can we not also believe that God’s greatest foe would not also have a spirit of evil that could find entry into the soul of humankind?
When Jesus encounters these manifestations, as he does in this fifth chapter of St. Mark’s Gospel, he recognizes it for what it is. The man “had been dwelling among the tombs,” in other words, living among the dead and completely out of touch with humanity. The encounter between this man and Jesus must have seemed surreal to the pagans who inhabited this region. As we have seen time and again, evil recognizes good. The spirit of evil recognizes its foe announcing: “’What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?’” Seeing the essence of what he faced, Jesus commanded the spirit of evil to leave its human host. The evil responds: “Swear by God you will not torture me!” (from the Jerusalem Bible translation).
The next part of the exchange has its roots in ancient lore. It is presumed from ancient times that in order for one person to have authority over another person or thing they must use the proper name for that individual or item. We see this from the earliest biblical references, as God gives man authority to name all of his earthly creation (Genesis 2:19-20) but withholds any name for himself (Exodus 3:13-14). The implication is that man may not command God. In this instance Jesus asks for the name of the unclean spirit to which he receives the reply: “Legion is my name. There are many of us.”
The formula is established, Jesus knows the name of the unclean spirits, and that fact is recognized as the spirit pleads with Jesus not to destroy them outright. The spirits ask that they be sent into the swine that are there. For the Jewish reader, to whom swine are considered “unclean,” this would make sense, unclean spirits being sent into unclean animals, reinforcing Mosaic Law. Clearly even the lowly hogs could not stand their presence, since we are told they rushed into the sea and were drowned.
We’ve spent a lot of time dissecting the incident in Gerasene territory. So, what is the lesson there for us? First, we must come to grips with the notion that there is a spirit of evil that is ready to move into us as soon as we let our guard down. Second, the only protection we have against such attacks is the one who has authority over them, Jesus. We must have him thoroughly installed so that when we encounter that spirit of evil we can recognize it instantly, and it will of course recognize Jesus, Son of the Most High God, in us.
Our prayer today is that we may grow in faith and love of God to a point where we have the ability to resist evil in all its forms. We also pray for those who have succumbed to that force and ask that they find the Lord who will wash away all evil.
Pax
[1] The picture is “Christ Encounters ‘Legion’”, Artist and Date are UNKNOWN.
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. p.74.
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