Monday, 3rd February

Mark 5:1–20

They
came to the other side of the lake, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when
he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an
unclean spirit met him. . . .  When he
saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; and he shouted at
the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High
God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” For he had said to him, “Come out
of the man, you unclean spirit!” Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He
replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” He begged him earnestly not to
send them out of the country. Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine
was feeding; and the unclean spirits begged him, “Send us into the swine; let
us enter them.” So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out
and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down
the steep bank into the lake, and were drowned in the lake. The swineherds ran
off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it
was that had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there,
clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they
were afraid. Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the
swine reported it. Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. As
he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged
him that he might be with him. But Jesus refused, and said to him, “Go home to
your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy
he has shown you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how
much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

 

Reflection

In
my real life, here and now, do I consider the spiritual battles going on around
me? 

Why
do I resist Jesus’ presence, in dramatic situations or ones more ordinary?