Gospel: Mark 5: 1-20
We human beings are so captivated by this story of the demons and the swine that we will overlook who the real demons are in today's Gospel reading. Consider the people of Gerasene: their entire economy is dependent on a profession that is unclean in Judaism - the raising of swine. The man in their town who is possessed represents the entire town in the grip of a sinful economy of their own making.
That the town is more concerned with their swine than the man's welfare represents the fact that this town is in the grip of a legion of demons. The fact that they expel Jesus from their district indicates that they will return to their unjust economic system as soon as they are able, and they would prefer that the healed man follow Jesus rather than remain in their midst.
But Jesus orders the man - he orders us - to remain in the midst of these unjust systems in order to remind them of the mercy of God that has been extended to the world. We are to stand as reminders to the world of the dignity of the human person, that the human person is prior to economics, that economic systems are to justly promote the flourishing of every human being. Will we work to create a new economic order based on justice, or will we expel Jesus from our midst as the Gerasenes did?
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