Daily Gospel Reflection

Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.

February 3, 2025

Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Mk 5:1-20
Listen to the Audio Version

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.

Reflection

Emma Bleasdale ’26 M.Div.
Share a Comment

We may look at today’s gospel and wonder, “What does this bizarre story have to do with me?” I know more than once that I have wondered about this regarding the herd of swine plummeting into the sea, legion of demons, and all. Yet, at a closer look, a message of healing, love, and witness is found within Christ’s merciful actions.

In the end, the formerly possessed man asks to join Jesus and the disciples, but Jesus instead commands him to return home and tell his family what the Lord has done for him. The man obeys, returning to his homeland with joy founded in God’s mercy.

Similar to the Gerasene man, Jesus also calls us from lingering amidst the tombstones in our lives, out of those places of hurt, resentment, or fear, into the merciful love that Jesus offers us. In our need for healing—mind, body, and heart—Jesus reaches out to us in his love as the Divine Physician, drawing us into new life. We, too, share in the command given to the Gerasene man: go forth and spread the Good News of what the Lord has done, beginning with our own family and friends in the places where we find ourselves. Our witness to the love of God can then bring hope to a world that has not yet heard of what the Lord has done.

Prayer

Rev. Thomas O’Hara, C.S.C.

Jesus, you freed the tormented man who sometimes was shackled by others and at other times tortured himself into pain. Be with us, Lord, and free us from all the ways we may feel shackled by circumstances of life or the times when we inflict needless pain upon ourselves. As you did for the tormented man, free us from all that binds us and help us to know the deep peace that only you can provide. Amen.

Saint of the Day

St. Blaise

Many Catholics are familiar with St. Blaise because he is associated with a special blessing of the throats that is given on this day.

Blaise was born to a wealthy family of noble heritage in present-day Armenia in the fourth century. He received a good education—some accounts tell us that he was a physician before he was named a bishop.

During a persecution of Christians, Blaise escaped arrest by living in a cave. There are many stories about him interacting with wild animals during his hiding. People sought him out there to ask for his intercession because he was known for curing the sick.

One woman came to him with her little boy, who was close to dying because he had a fishbone stuck in his throat. Blaise healed the boy; this event and others like it has made him the patron saint of those with throat trouble.

He was eventually discovered and brought to authorities. While he was being transported to prison, the arresting party came across a poor woman in distress. The woman depended upon her pig for her livelihood, but a wolf had carried the pig away. At the command of St. Blaise, the wolf returned it unharmed.

While he was imprisoned, Blaise was beaten and starved. The woman whose pig he saved brought him food, and she also brought him candles so that he would not have to sit in the dark of his dungeon. Eventually, Blaise was tortured and beheaded.

The story of the throat miracle and the candles in the dungeon are the origins of the special blessing of the throats that is given today with candles. Traditionally, the candles are blessed on Feb. 2, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, also known as Candlemas.

Priests hold these candles in the shape of an “X” and place them over the head or under the chin, and extend this prayer: “Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

The Church prays in a special way today for all of those who are sick as well as those who care for them. St. Blaise’s relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica, and his image is used here with permission from Catholic.org.

St. Blaise, who saved a boy from choking to death and intercedes for those facing illness—pray for us!


Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Blaise is in the public domain. Modified from the original. Last accessed January 23, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.