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“Our natural will is to have God, and the good will of God is to have us, and we may never cease willing or longing for God until we have him in the fullness of joy. Christ will never have his full bliss in us until we have our full bliss in him.”
- Julian of Norwich
(Get in touch with your longing for God, knowing that this is a response to God's love for you.)
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HEB 11:32-40; PS 31:20, 21, 22, 23, 24
MK 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.
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
Jesus "gave the word, and with it
the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine." –Mark 5:13
After Jesus drove the unclean spirits out of the demoniac and into the swine, the townfolk begged Jesus to go away (Mk 5:17). The people apparently preferred to live with a legion of demons rather than with the Lord, for at least they
could eat pork chops, bacon, and ham.
Jesus left the district, as the people requested. However, by declining the request of the former demoniac to accompany Him, Jesus made sure that His truth, power, and love would stay in the area through the new life of the former demoniac (Mk 5:19).
There are places, businesses, cities, nations, families, and even churches where Jesus has been told to go away. However, He has left us behind. We live in these cities and families. We work in these businesses and churches. Jesus is still present through us, the members of His body. We are to bear His presence in the Christ-less
situations of our society, invading the secular world by carrying within us God's presence.
Satan showed his presence through a herd of pigs; may the Lord show His presence through us.
PRAYER: Father, may I be a
"walking tabernacle" for You in this world (see 1 Cor 3:16).
PROMISE: "Women received back their dead through resurrection." –Heb 11:35
mycatholic.com
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Theological Gems from Emile Merch's Theology of the Mystical Body - selected by Jim and Tyra Arraj
Book III: Christ
Chapter 13: Revelation and the Trinity
398. So long as people are on earth, they are not human to the full extent of their capacity. At the present time we are not far along the road. Likewise the human consciousness we have at present is not yet a fully developed consciousness, but only its beginning. Full human consciousness, while remaining interior and personal, is a consciousness that is inwardly linked with every other consciousness.
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