Who is your hero?

WORD 2day: Monday, 4th week in Ordinary time

January 30, 2023: Hebrews 11:32-40; Mark 5:1-20

The Letter to the Hebrews lists today a set of heroes, heroes of valour and vigour, heroes in history on whom the people pinned their hopes! But they were all gone in the way of their fathers. Today we too have our own heroes - persons or role models or absolute values or needs or priorities - heroes of various kind. It is important to ask ourselves who is our real hero?

With what Jesus did to the people of Gerasenes, they should have made him their hero. Jesus solved their years of problem in a moment. He just sent the legion of demons away from their living quarters...but did Jesus become their hero? No! They asked Jesus to leave - may be because they felt their loss (that of the swines) was too much! And probably, they had some other considerations for their hero.

The world today has too many things to contend with, when it comes to the Lord being the hero! Even drawing people to God, there are many who propose material well being as a source of attraction. Come to the Lord, you will have all the prosperity you can think of. Come to the Lord and you will have your dreams so miraculously fulfilled. How many times we hear these jargons and can we get sillier than this?

Jesus taught them, that to have him meant losing a lot of other things. It was hard for them. Because the wellbeing that Jesus proposed had a different meaning altogether - it was being free from demonic possessions, slaveries and fears that do not let humans be humans, which prevent persons from living their lives to the full. It is all about what our choice is. The crucial question therefore is: who is my hero?