Memorial of Saint John Bosco, priest
It can be easy to become discouraged when we look around our world today. People, even children, are dying from war, poverty, and starvation. Our environment is abused and taken for granted. And to many that we pass on the streets or in the stores, life is an apparently meaningless series of events that simply precede death. But, as our readings remind us, such a bleak picture is not the Christian view. Rather, we are meant to embody faith, hope and love, despite the challenges and difficulties and even failures we witness each day.
Of course, the problems we see today are not entirely new. At the time of Jesus there were also problems such as war, poverty, and starvation. Today in the gospel passage from Mark we have the story of Jesus driving out demons from a man and sending them into a heard of swine. The unclean spirits have an interesting name of “Legion,” “There are many of us,” says the spirit (Mk 5:9). Legion was not a proper name for individuals at this time period, but rather the primary association with this name was the Roman Legion, or, in other words, the foreign soldiers who came into the region and ultimately dominated and mistreated the people. And so when Jesus heals this man, we see at least two different levels at which the event can be understood. First, Jesus has compassion on the person in need and has the ability to drive out the demon. Secondly, the act of sending “Legion” into a herd of swine who then die has a symbolism that indicates Jesus’ disapproval of the acts of the Roman Legion. It shows that Jesus is on the side of the people downtrodden and abused by the occupying soldiers.
Though the event ought to have inspired hope, instead it brought fear to many, so that they asked Jesus to leave. The man once possessed, however, rejoiced to share the good news. He had faith in the man who had healed him and the love of others led him to bring this hope to them as well.
Our first reading is a continuation from St. Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews, and today we hear an account of the wonders God did for his people. These people suffered and were approved because they had faith in God and did his command. In comparison with them, however, it is we who have gotten to know the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. They had the promise, but we have the realization of that promise, which they only experience through us who live in the time after Christ.
And so, when we are tempted to be discouraged by the world around us or even by our own struggles and failures, it is good for us to remember that Jesus is on our side and that the battle has already been (mostly) won for us. Christ’s victory is our victory if we are willing to share in his work. Today’s saint is St. John Bosco, an Italian priest who lived in the 1800s. St. John’s early years were difficult, but rather than giving up to discouragement, he became a priest, founding the Salesian order and working hard to provide education and support to defend the Catholic faith.
“Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord” (Ps 31:25) is the refrain of our psalm today. It is certainly a great comfort for us to know that life is not meaningless for us. Let us take St. John Bosco as a model and strive to accept the gift of Christ in our lives and transform that into good for others.
Maria Morrow