|
|
|
6th in Luke Ocala 10/24/04 Page 1 "Then the villagers went out to see what was done, and found the man, out of whom the demons had departed sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind; and they were afraid." Luke 8:35 Today's Gospel lesson is most unusual, because it speaks of the healing of the demoniac; a person besieged by demons, living in a deserted area in the tombs. It seemed he terrorized the area and people were reluctant to even pass by the road near him. It seemed that at times he was most violent and the authorities in the nearby village were successful in binding him in chains to contain him. But, with his uncanny power he was able to break loose even from the chains. Then one day, the Master and Lord Jesus came by and approached him. The demoniac, voicing the unclean spirits said to Jesus: "Thou Son of God most High; I beseech thee not to torment me." When Jesus ask the demoniac for his name, he answered "legion" simply because many demons had possessed him. The demons begged Jesus not to command them to go out into the deep. Nearby there was a large herd of swine. The demons asked to enter the swine, and as a result the whole herd rushed to the edge of the cliff and fell to drown in the deep waters. Those in charge of the swine ran to the city to tell the owners that their investment was completely lost. Hearing what happened the owners rushed out and what did they see? It was a peaceful sight compared to what was before. The demoniac, finally cleansed from the evil spirits was clothed,*.* with a serene glow in his face sitting by Jesus' feet and listening to His teachings. The Gadarenes, who illegally were herding swine, being that the eating of pork was prohibited, were enraged at their financial loss, and asked Jesus to depart from their area. The healed demoniac asked Jesus to stay in his home but the Lord told him to return to his own, and relate to all the great things that God did unto him! This is another instance of human nature, that instead of looking at the great miracle that had happened, they equated it with their monetary loss. Sinful life as a way of blinding people so that they cannot see or imagine beneficial things. The Gadarenes knew well the Mosaic law prohibiting pork; yet their greed to profit, even illegally, took precedence. Similar examples abound in all ages, and most assuredly in our today's society, which has become so money oriented. The Lord did not destroy the herd because He condemned riches. This He never did, but he wanted to emphasize the mania to become wealthy no matter by what means. He knew, as we surely know, that the mania for wealth is catastrophic for the soul. That is why the Lord said: "You cannot serve two masters; you cannot serve God and Mammon (god of the material)." Yet, Mammon is the god, that so many serve at the cost of forfeiting their soul. While the Lord invites all people, overburdened by the weight of cares of this world to come to Him for alleviation and comfort, somehow too many fall in the category of the Gadarenes, overlooking the fact that we have obligations beyond our own living. Obligations to be true stewards of God. To give as He gave and gives. To bless as He blesses. To comfort as He comforts etc. We' are all brothers and sisters with God as our Father. If we have been blessed with material goods beyond our need, we should look over our fence to see if our brother or sister has some need. Selfish and egocentric living is not commensurate with our Lord's teaching. He spoke in Parables to emphasize the manner in which we should live. In the Parable of the rich man and the poor Lazarus, the Lord didn't condemn the rich man because of his riches, neither did he extol the poor Lazarus because of his poverty. He condemned the rich man for his selfish living, and not having any mercy, seeing the destitute Lazarus every day in front of his property, and always looking the other way. Conversely, the poor Lazarus was rewarded, not because of his poverty, but for the fact that he suffered his trials with exemplary patience. It's a powerful scene in the after-Life, when we see the rich man tormented in Hades, begging Abraham to send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and come to him to cool his tongue, because he suffered so much torment. The greedy and miserly of this world are surely blinded to the needs of others. Having more than they can ever use, they will not break the shell of materialism that envelops them. They almost live in a world of self deception that their life of opulence will never end; that is until they sense the voice from above repeating the words that were spoken to the foolish rich man. "Oh foolish man, this night your soul is demanded of you. All that you have amassed, for whom will they be?" A Christian is a Christian if he pledges to be a steward of God. To become God's arm. To enjoy of course the things for which we labored, but also to extend our hand to help in any way we can, thus becoming the hand of God. Christians cannot go on with life routinely, or strictly absorbed in their own cocoon. As the trees absorb the rainwater and give back gallons of water through their leaves, so should it be with Christians; we gladly receive blessings from Above, and as stewards we spread our blessings whenever their is a need. The Lord stands at our door and knocks. It is up to us to choose to open the door and receive Him. He comes to purify our souls, and seeks to expel the demons of our life, and to cure our physical and spiritual ailments. So many will not open the door to Him, simply because they resemble the illegal swine herders, and choose to serve Mammon instead of God. They think that they can serve two masters simultaneously, but that doesn't work out. There is no question that a superficial glance or thought might sway us to do something that is not consonant with Christian living, but the price we pay is enormous in so many ways. That is why it is ultra important to be more conscientious of our Christian living, which has the power to grant us such serenity and peace, which I'm sure all people desire. But it comes at the cost of truly attuning our life with the Lord's commandments. What a blessing would come to our life if we could possibly repeat and believe the 38th and 39th verse of Chapter 8 in his Epistle to the Romans. He states: "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord." Amen. + Fr. George Papadeas
|
|
Back to home page
Send mail to
epantaz@yahoo.com with
questions or comments about this web site.
|