Identity: Knowing Who We are in Christ

Today's gospel, the exorcism of the man of the Gerasenes, always brings to my mind the old song by Bob Bennett called Man of the Tombs. If you don't know it, click the link. It's a powerful meditation on identity, in the voice of someone whose life is full of pain, despair, and totally devoid of hope. 

But then.

But then Jesus arrives. And he speaks to this lost, tormented man, and tells him what He sees, and declares His power to save.

And having met Jesus, the man of the tombs has a completely new identity.

Christians receive this completely new identity in baptism, but without it being tested and even threatened, we often presume our identity without a lot of self-reflection. Oh yeah, I'm a Christian. I guess that means I believe in God and I'm going to heaven when I die, probably. A vague identity is not what St. Paul means when he talks about being rooted and grounded in Christ. The entirety of the Christian life is built on knowing who I am in Jesus Christ. It is where the gospel encounters me, and my life is now different. It is those 12 eternal inches between head and heart that confessors are always telling their penitents about. It is where we know and are convinced of the love God has for us (1 John 4:16).

To be rooted and grounded is to know who we are as God's sons and daughters. 

For a more extensive treatment of this topid, I highly recommend the Wholeness and Holiness podcast with Margaret Vasquez, especially this episode called Identity Is Key.