Daily Gospel Reflection
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February 4, 2019
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.
Sometimes I forget that the life of Christ is full of just as much excitement and adventure as my favorite books, and today’s Gospel is the perfect reminder. As a child (and still), I loved the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson books—books with magical worlds existing on the periphery of my own—worlds I wanted to be a part of. I was convinced, if I looked hard enough, or believed more than anyone else, they would appear. I would find my own Hogwarts, stumble into Camp Half-Blood.
The best books are immersive, creating worlds you are reluctant to leave, that you take pieces of with you. Yet, I found a danger in them as well. These fantasy books I loved could become an escape that I hated to leave, that I preferred to the real world.
Although young adult fantasy novels are certainly not as destructive as other substances of addiction—video games, alcohol, pornography—that desire for escape is the common current underneath them all. In today’s reading, the Gerasene Demoniac also longs for escape, “crying out” for relief while trying to beat out the demons with stones, isolated from his community.
Instead of barricading myself in the imaginary, as an escape from the challenges of real life, I remind myself to turn and run, like the Gerasene Demoniac, to Jesus. With my feet grounded in the reality of Christ’s love, my beloved fictitious worlds are not escape routes, but reminders of the excitement and adventure in the great (true) story of Christ’s love for the world. Today’s Gospel reminds me that, like the cured demoniac, I have to “go home” to this world while it is my home, and announce to it how very happy our “ever after” already is.
Prayer
Our days, O God, are often spent in the midst of a world that is filled with the mystery of human weakness. We experience bewilderment and disorder as we attempt to decipher the contradictions of mind and spirit. Many of our brothers and sisters often give up hope of rediscovering peace of mind and right judgment. With the help of your divine grace, O Lord, help us to understand that our daily life is not to be understood as conflict and confusion, but rather as an opportunity to grow in tranquility and holiness. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Venerable Pierre Toussaint, the first layperson to be buried in the crypt under the high altar of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City is an inspiring figure whose cause for canonization is currently underway.
Pierre Toussaint was born in June 1766 on the Caribbean island that is now Haiti and the Dominican Republic. His mother was enslaved, thus Pierre became the property of the Bérard family. While enslaved himself, Pierre learned to read and write alongside the children of his enslavers.
The Bérards returned to France, leaving their eldest son, Jean, in charge of the plantation. In 1787, in the face of mounting unrest that would become the Haitian Revolution, leading to the Islands and its enslaved peoples independence, Jean Bérard and his wife fled to New York City, taking Pierre and his sister Rosalie with them.
Bérard soon returned to Haiti and died. Pierre became the main breadwinner for the household, as he was apprenticed to New York’s chief hairdresser. Pierre was allowed to keep his allowance, yet he continued to support the widowed Madame Bérard until she married again. Mrs. Philip Schuyler (mother of the now-famous Schuyler Sisters and mother-in-law of Alexander Hamilton), who wrote an early biography of Pierre, noted his extreme kindness to Madame Bérard. On her deathbed, Madame Bérard’s dying wish was for Pierre to be freed.
At the age of forty-five, Pierre was freed and he paid for his sister Rosalie’s freedom. In 1811, he redeemed his young bride, Juliet, from slavery and they were wed. Together, they cared for Pierre’s orphaned niece and raised her as their own.
Pierre became a hero of the immigrant Haitian community in New York—he and Juliet provided employment services, lodging, and a credit union for newly freed slaves arriving in the Port of Manhattan. Pierre raised money for the first Catholic school for free black children in New York and for the church that would become the Basilica of Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which still stands today.
In 1853, Pierre died at the ripe old age of eighty-seven, and his remains were buried in Old St. Patrick’s, next to Juliet’s. They were later transferred together to the crypt in the new St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where they remain today.
In 1996, Pope St. John Paul II declared Pierre Toussaint Venerable, the first step towards canonization. As a Venerable, Pierre Toussaint does not yet have a feast day, but prayers may be offered, asking for his intercession.
Venerable Pierre Toussaint, who used new-found freedom and hard-earned prosperity to generously serve others—pray for us!
Venerable Pierre Toussaint's enslavers were Catholic, even though the Church forbids the enslavement of human beings for any purpose (CCC 2414). To learn more about the Church's involvement with the horrors of American slavery, read this article from the University of Notre Dame's Cushwa Center.
Image Credit: Our featured image of Venerable Pierre Toussaint is in the public domain. Last accessed January 23, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
