"Our worst fault is our preoccupation with the faults of others." - Kahlil Gibran
Another long trip back to Asia! It feels good to be back in the Middle Kingdom and back in the apartment. I had a full day (which started early thanks to jet lag) and got just about everything done that needed to be done. I fly to Xi'an (the ancient capital of China) tomorrow for meetings and then head back to Jilin for Sunday mass at the cathedral before traveling to a few places in Asia (beginning on Monday the 10th) on
Maryknoll business. I will arrive in Hong Kong on the 13th or 14th to get ready for the summer program orientation which begins on the 16th of July with the arrival of 16 teachers from the USA.
The community mass was moved from this morning to this afternoon to help me with my jet lag. That was actually a mistake as I was up and about at 2:30 a.m. working on a number of things and then around 3:30 p.m., I was really dragging! The mass was at 4:00 pm so I almost slept through my own homily. Sometimes it is not easy being me!
Some pictures from the day:
The sun rose at 3:20 a.m. today. Here is what it looked like outside at 3:55 a.m.
While I was gone the school cleaned and reinstalled the curtains in my office. They are now ready for another 11 years of service.
Fr. Gao stopped by to say hello and discuss his plans to study in Rome for his doctorate. He will be leaving later this year for 3-4 years of study.
Wang Wei and I spent a good part of the morning working on things for the China Teachers Program Full Year and Summer Programs.
Maryknoll China Teacher, Kathleen O'Brien, stopped by to talk about her summer plans.
Today's Gospel and some comments:
When Jesus came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs coming out of the tombs met him. They were so fierce that no one could pass that way. Suddenly they shouted, "What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" Now a large herd of swine was feeding at some distance from them. The demons begged him, "If you cast us out, send us into the herd of swine." And he said to them, "Go!" So they came out and entered the swine; and suddenly, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water. The swineherds ran off, and going into the town, they told the whole story about what had happened to the demoniacs. Then the whole town came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighborhood. Matthew 8:24-34
The city of Gadara was in pagan territory, and so it was “unclean” to Jews. It is not surprising to find pigs there: these were “unclean” animals, which no Jew would ever have on the land. In this unclean place they were met by two demoniacs who lived in the tombs. For Jews, a dead body was “unclean”, so tombs were “unclean” places. To touch a tomb, even accidentally, was to become ritually unclean. Only a demoniac would think of living in one. Everything in this story, then, is unclean, untouchable. At least it was appropriate that all these unclean things and people should be in the one place. There’s a kind of right order in that.
By the end of the story Jesus has rearranged everything: the demons have gone into the pigs, which in turn have gone into the water. Jews had a great fear of water – for them the sea was the abode of Leviathan, the monster of the deep – so it was appropriate that the pigs should end up there. [Jesus’ walking on water was a symbol of his power over evil.] Besides, water was also considered fatal to demons: so it was right that they too should end up there. Thus, in this story, Jesus restores everything to its proper place. He establishes right order.
But the other order could be said to be ‘right’ too, in a sense. The local people were happy with it. They begged Jesus to go away: he had upset the arrangement of their world. That makes us ask: what are the arrangements in our life that seem ‘right’ to us (at least in the sense of being familiar), but which are far from right…?
