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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 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 as
he goes on his penitential pilgrimage.
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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. 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
[2]
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
re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4]
Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. pp.74
