Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
"Hate evil and love good." (Amos 5:15) Most everyone believes this conventional wisdom. When we hear such words we often nod our heads in agreement. We agree so instinctively to this that these words often wash over us like a swiftly flowing stream. Yet, do the waters soak in below the surface? If we all really lived our belief in living for good, would not our homes, workplaces and communities be more peaceful places.
For the people in the time of Amos the prophet’s words seemed agreeable enough. But did Amos tell us to "seek mostly good and a little bit of evil is ok?" No - he did not. And that is the challenge. When the Israelites realized that Amos was criticizing their worship of prosperity and false gods and that Amos had prophesized the fall of the royal house and the captivity of the people, it was more than anyone could tolerate. Amos was exiled from the northern kingdom, yet his poetic message still echoes today. When our discipleship offers only lip service to God, God receives precisely that, lip service.
Honesty and the ability to be genuine are not easy. In today’s gospel, Jesus encounters two people possessed by demons. Ironically, the demons recognize the holiness of the Messiah and perceive that he will drive them out of their current victims. So they ask Jesus if they could be driven into a herd of swine, perhaps figuring that they could wait there until Jesus was gone and repossess others later. The scripture gives us little clue as to why the demons even asked for such treatment. All Jesus says in the whole story was “Go then!” With that command, the demons entered the swine and the swine charged into the sea to drown. For Jesus, good could not triumph until the source of evil was removed. Thus Jesus drove out the demons; but even then evil is not easily gotten rid of as the seeds of evil have still been sown. While the people who forced Jesus out might not have been malicious per say, still their deed was still a rejection of a source of good.
The poison was still just beneath the surface of the people where the demons had dwelt.
This could explain why the swine herders and the towns’ people reacted to Jesus, the way Jesus had to the demons. The story ends with the whole town saying to Jesus, ‘go then’ please leave of us. If the people of that village had understood who Jesus was, would their instinct still have been to drive him out? How is Christ presented in our own lives and do we invite him in or send him away?
"Lord may your justice be like an unfailing wave that draws us constantly into Your love. Help us always to be dependent on You so that one day we will be one with You who lives and reigns one God, forever and ever. Amen."
-Michael Montgomery