Daily Gospel Reflection
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January 29, 2024
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.
I love my sweet and joyful one-year-old, but he hates naps. Every afternoon, they are a struggle. As I wrestle him into his stroller and wheel him around the neighborhood, hips and back aching with another pregnancy’s pains, I begin an interior account of my many hardships. My sweet and joyful baby now seems a terror.
In these moments, I experience the temptation to self-pity. I know this demon well. Sometimes, he shows up before sunrise with the morning cries of my toddler, and I spend the whole day among the tombs, bruising my soul with bitter thoughts and feelings.
Dwelling in such bitterness leaves me like the demoniac, living in a place of spiritual death. But Jesus comes to me even at my distance. At first, it feels like he has come to terrorize me. His perfect simplicity casts out all deception, and I am left with plain sight of my broken humanity. My prayer is often imperfect because, like the demoniac, some part of me pleads to hold onto my misery. But Jesus, seeing to the heart of my anguish, answers my prayers perfectly.
The gospel story of the demoniac and the swine can be read as a type of baptism. Evil dies when the swine drown in the sea while what is true and good is given new life.
On these typical afternoons off in the tombs—waddling, aching, clanging my shackles—Jesus comes to me. He makes himself seen in the glory around me, in a goose flying overhead or a tree blazing with the evening sun. My aches do not suddenly disappear, nor does my baby instantly fall asleep, but this struggle is baptized. I see that pain is a noble part of pregnancy, and a struggle of will a formative part of childrearing. The demon of self-pity is cast into the sea, and a heart of grateful praise finds life.
Prayer
Jesus, in today’s gospel 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. With your peace, we can move forward, not being overwhelmed by any struggle of life. Amen.
Saint of the Day

Major relics of the early Christian martyr St. Severa rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. Upon entering the chapel, visitors are immediately drawn to a wax figure of St. Severa, which rests above two lead boxes that contain her bones.
Severa was a child in a Christian family of martyrs who were killed in the early Christian persecutions. Her parents are Sts. Maximinus and Secunda, and her brothers are Sts. Mark (not the evangelist) and Calendine. Severa's entire family is commemorated all together on this feast day.
Maximinus, her father, commanded a thousand soldiers. When it was discovered that he was converting many of his soldiers to Christianity, he was condemned to work in the mines. When he continued to make converts even there, he was executed.
His wife, Secunda, and her children were arrested and brought to trial. Secunda died from the anxiety of the crisis itself, and Mark, Calendine, and Severa were scourged and martyred.
St. Severa, the child-martyr whose bones rest in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart—pray for us!