Demons Recognize Holiness - Fr. Ernesto - July 9, 2023

In today’s Gospel reading, Matt. 8:28-34, 9:1, we hear from St. Matthew the story of Jesus casting out two demons in the country of Gergesenes. This passage is often referred to as the story of “the demons and the swine.” Father Ernesto challenges us to analyze this familiar story in a new way by asking the questions: Why weren’t the two demoniacs thrown out of town by the people?; and why didn’t the people rejoice when Jesus cast out the demons? By looking at the context of the story’s time and place, we find that the casting out of these two demons may have caused spiritual distress, as the townspeople were pagan and not Jewish, and financial difficulty, as this greco-roman community likely farmed pigs. Like St. Paul’s casting out of the demon possessing the female slave in Acts chapter 6, we find that, when faced with Jesus’ holiness, the demons are compelled to speak the truth of who Christ is. Father Ernesto explains that sometimes strong action is taken by God and his disciples to protect the Gospel. In this case, the demons were cast out so that the townspeople would not follow the demoniacs - for in this moment they confessed the Truth - and ultimately be led astray to the wrong authority, which the demons followed. Christ’s casting out of the demons did not result in a warm welcome by the people, but it did protect the truth of the Gospel to be one day preached in Gergesenes.