(Please read the Scripture passage before reading the homily.)
There may be some comic relief in this story. Jewish people did not like pigs and sometimes found them funny at times. Gentiles, on the other hand, used to make fun of the Jewish horror about pigs. Be prepared, then, for some interesting turns of events.
The demons recognized who Jesus was and what he was about. They also acknowledged that the pigs were filthy and unclean animals.
The townspeople seemed confused and not able to comprehend fully what had happened. They can see the demoniacs healed. They also see how the swine went berserk when the devils entered into them. They also could appreciate the loss of property and wages experienced by the swineherds. In asking Jesus to leave, the townspeople asked for time to sort out the meaning of all that happened.
What anxieties and fears of our own can we find in this story of prejudice and stereotypes? The story as told by Matthew condemns no one, not even the townspeople who asked Jesus to leave. Imagine the fun of watching all our concerns, worries and anxieties stampeding down a great cliff into the churning sea. Imagine the relief of being freed of the nagging problems that seem to beset us on every side. Imagine the obedience of following the Lord as he commands, for our sakes, that the demons we harbor go into a herd of filthy, rotten things and be hurled into the sea.
Such, then, would be for us, comic relief along with the freedom to follow Jesus