What the Text Says
Jesus and the disciples cross the sea to the country of the Gerasenes. The moment he steps out of the boat, a man possessed by an unclean spirit comes out from among the tombs to meet him. Nobody could bind him anymore, not even with chains. Night and day he cried out among the tombs and the hills, cutting himself with stones (Mk 5:1-5). Seeing Jesus from a distance, he runs and falls before him, shouting, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me” (Mk 5:6-7). Jesus asks his name. “My name is Legion, for we are many,” the spirit answers (Mk 5:9). The demons beg to enter a nearby herd of swine instead of being sent out of the country. Jesus allows it, and the herd, about two thousand strong, rushes into the sea and drowns (Mk 5:10-13). The townspeople find the man “sitting there, clothed and in his right mind,” and they are afraid. They beg Jesus to leave (Mk 5:14-17). The man begs to go with him, but Jesus tells him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you” (Mk 5:18-19).
Jesus crosses back over the sea, and a large crowd gathers. Jairus, a synagogue official, falls at his feet, begging him to come heal his dying daughter (Mk 5:21-23). On the way, the crowd presses in, and a woman who has suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years, having spent everything on doctors with no relief, comes up behind him and touches his garment, thinking, “If I touch even his garments, I shall be made well.” Immediately her bleeding stops (Mk 5:25-29). Jesus, aware that power has gone out from him, asks who touched him. Trembling, the woman comes forward and tells him the whole truth. He tells her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease” (Mk 5:30-34).
While he is still speaking, men arrive from Jairus’s house saying his daughter has died and there is no need to trouble the teacher further. Jesus overhears and tells Jairus, “Do not fear, only believe” (Mk 5:35-36). At the house, amid the weeping, Jesus says the child is not dead but sleeping, and the mourners laugh at him. He puts them all outside, takes the girl’s hand, and says, “Talitha cumi,” meaning, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” She gets up immediately and walks. Everyone is overcome with amazement (Mk 5:38-42).
What the Church Teaches
Exorcism is a real, specific, and authorized act, not superstition or folklore, and it comes directly from the authority Christ himself exercised. CCC 1673 teaches that “when the Church asks publicly and authoritatively in the name of Jesus Christ that a person or object be protected against the power of the Evil One and withdrawn from his dominion, it is called exorcism. Jesus performed exorcisms and from him the Church has received the power and office of exorcizing.”
Every healing in this chapter is a sign pointing at something bigger than the healing itself: who Jesus actually is. CCC 548 teaches that “the signs worked by Jesus attest that the Father has sent him… to those who turn to him in faith, he grants what they ask. So miracles strengthen faith in the One who does his Father’s works.”
Christ’s authority over sickness and death is not two separate powers. It is one power the Church names directly. CCC 549 teaches that “by freeing some individuals from the earthly evils of hunger, injustice, illness and death, Jesus performed messianic signs.” The healed woman and the raised girl are the same sign shown twice: Jesus has authority where men have none.
Personal Reflection: For Young Men
(This section is personal application, not a restatement of defined doctrine. If you are working through a real discernment question about your identity, direction, or vocation, bring it to confession or a spiritual director rather than resolving it from a reflection alone.)
Look closely at the man possessed by Legion before you look at what happens to him. He lives among tombs, isolated, self-destructive, unable to be controlled or helped by anyone around him. Then look at him afterward: “sitting there, clothed and in his right mind.” That description matters. Sin and disorder scatter a man, isolate him, and strip away his dignity. Grace does the opposite: it puts a man back in his right mind, clothed, and sitting calmly instead of running wild among the dead. If any part of your life right now feels scattered, isolated, or out of your own control, that contrast is worth taking seriously.
Then notice what Jesus tells the healed man to do. Not follow him somewhere new and dramatic. Go home. Tell your own people what God has done for you. That is a real answer for a young man who wants his life to matter: you do not need to leave everything and go somewhere exotic to have a real mission. Your own family, your own friend group, your own ordinary life is the first mission field you have been handed, and it is often the hardest one, because those people already know exactly who you used to be.
The woman with the hemorrhage did something quiet and unnoticed by almost everyone in that crowd. She reached out in faith without announcing it, and Jesus felt it happen. Real faith does not always look dramatic from the outside. It can be one honest, private act of trust that nobody else in the room even notices. And to Jairus, in the worst possible moment, after hearing his daughter was already dead, Jesus says only, “Do not fear, only believe.” That is not a promise that everything will go the way you want. It is an instruction about what to do with fear when you are given no other information yet.
Call to Action
This week, name honestly whether any part of your life currently feels more like the man among the tombs than the man sitting clothed and in his right mind, and take one real step toward getting help, confession, a conversation with a priest, or breaking an isolating habit. Practice one quiet, unannounced act of faith this week, prayer, fasting, a kindness, that nobody else needs to know about. The next time you are given bad news and no clear next step, repeat “do not fear, only believe” to yourself as an actual instruction rather than a phrase you have heard before.
Doctrinal note: Claims above are tied to CCC 1673, 548, and 549. Translation used: RSV-CE. Please confirm any point you plan to teach publicly with a priest, deacon, or trusted catechist before publishing.
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