In today's Gospel reading (Mk 5: 1-20) we see Jesus heal a man who has a serious mental illness. The man has been ostracized from the town, and reduced to living among the tombs, howling in his isolation, "always crying out and bruising himself with stones." Mark (and Matthew and Luke) tells us that the man is possessed by an unclean spirit. When Jesus asks the spirit's name, He is told: "Legion is my name. There are many of us." The spirits know that Jesus intends to drive them from the man, and plead with Him not to do that. As a sort of compromise, and hoping for some home after they are out of the tormented man, the spirits suggest that they be sent to the herd of swine on the hillside. Jesus complies with the spirits' request, and the spirits inhabit the herd-- about 2,000 pigs-- and make them crazy. The herd rushes down into a lake and is drowned. It is interesting to reflect on what Jesus demands of this town in order to heal one poor, crazed person. A herd of 2,000 pigs is huge. It must have been the livelihood for a great many people in the town. Accummulating that many pigs must have taken generations. The herd was undoubtedly the town's biggest productive asset. Jesus insists on a huge sacrifice from the healthy people of the town-- who are Gentiles, by the way, since they are keeping pigs-- in order than one terribly-ill person may be cured. Pretty radical stuff. No wonder that the townspeople beg Jesus to leave their district. Who knows what more radical demands He has up His sleeve? We like to de-fang Jesus, make His message something other than the message of radical love and sacrifice that it is. We prefer a Jesus who lets us stay in the comfort of our homes and lives, perhaps saying a prayer now and then, and demands very little, a Jesus who lets us tolerate poverty and sickness because, after all, we will always have the poor with us (something Jesus said but did not intend to hold up as an ideal). We continue to have a difficult discussion in this country about healthcare. Everyone wants excellent care, and everyone wants it for the lowest price possible. We hear politicians promise us better, cheaper healthcare, and that sounds great to us. Why wouldn't it? The reality is more in line with the experience of the people in the territory of the Gerasenes, who had to sacrifice their entire swine herd to cure one marginalized person. If we truly want quality healthcare for everyone (which the Church articulates as the appropriate goal), we're going to have to pay more than we'd like. And sometimes the care is going to be given to people we don't like, to people we have marginalized. That's what Jesus demanded of the Gentiles in today's Gospel. He demands the same from us. Call it a radical demand if you will. But that's jesus for you.