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05 in Matthew 2005 Ocala, Florida Today's Gospel narrative, at first glance strikes us oddly, in that the Lord, having come across two demon-possessed individuals, living in empty tombs, has on ongoing dialogue with the demons, who had possession over the two men. These two, possessed by demons, or evil spirits posed a great threat to anyone who would pass that way. The demons, sensing the power of the Lord, entreated Him, not to torment them, but if they were to be cast out of the two men, or exorcised as we would say, they requested, that they be allowed to enter the herd of swine, which was nearby. "Demons be gone" said the Lord, and immediately the swine raged and fell over the cliff into the deep waters and were drowned. Odd as this story may strike us, because it is so different from all other Biblical excerpts, heard in our Churches, yet it has points that are very didactic; they teach us a lesson. Before I mention some of the parallels of demon possession, I would like to briefly mention the last part of today's Gospel lesson. When the swine herdsmen saw what had happened, they quickly ran to the city to announce to their masters the great financial loss, that they had suffered. The owners of the herd were enraged, and came out to face the Lord and tell Him that He was an unwanted person in that area. The entering of the demons into the swine, which was destroyed, was a powerful lesson to those, who were transgressing the Mosaic law of herding swine. But, as so many transgress the law even today for greater profit, in like manner the owners of the herd were violating the religious law for their material gain! Demon possession may be a rare phenomenon in our day, but it exists; a little known fact is that the Church has a brief ritual, in which She prays for their exorcism. In fact, the first part of the Sacrament of the Holy Baptism contains prayers of exorcism, and the Priest prays, that the child to be baptized will forever be free from the evil spirits, and the machinations of the evil one. However, who can deny, that our society today experiences bouts with various demons, who bring nothing but catastrophe to others, as well as to themselves! What misery, and I may say great suffering, comes to a family, to a group, to an organization, --and yes, even to a Church Community, when a certain individual is possessed by the demon, which we recognize as ego! Inflated ego is indeed a monster, a demon, which devours individuals and projects simply because, the egotist will not listen to reason, and furthermore refuses to comprehend our Lord's admonition, that he who exalts himself shall be humbled! Another very dangerous demon, or beast, is the sex mania of the mass media, under the guise of liberating the individual from the old antiquated taboos. This demon has enslaved so many individuals to such a degree, that only an act of God can liberate them, and bring them back to the desired, balanced state. While we must admit, that there has been a radical change in the norm of a couple of generations ago, ---- still, --- people cannot escape from the basic principles of their psychological make up. People may seek to evade, and perhaps even nullify their conscience, which is the voice of God in all of us. They may surrender to the power of lust, but these transgressors must also realize, that there will come the day of reckoning, and even of recognition, that so much was lost along the way --- and further, that as a result of their choice they had transformed their life into a vast wasteland. It isn't by chance, that the Great Apostle to the Nations, St. Paul stated so epigrammatically: "The wages of sin is death!" Perhaps not always physical death, but most assuredly spiritual death, which eternally condemns us. Unfortunately, there are so many demons, that seek to possess and dominate us, whether these be envy, jealousy, anger, avarice, greed, selfishness, slander, vain-glory and others, which surely can never construct, but positively can destruct. Christians have to be careful, and always be on guard lest we permit any demon, however small or insignificant to enter the domain of our soul. It is within our power to stave off all attacks of the evil one, that is the devil; and that power is forever energized by God, Who as St. Paul said: "seeks to strengthen us, to be able to accomplish all things!" The dedicated Christian "does all," as St. Paul says, "for the glory of God." The Lord wants us to be in this world, but not of the world! There is a vast difference between these two settings, that is, to live in the world, but not be part of the world, which lives apart from God. In preparing these thoughts my mind came to a little known but very important Saint, whose memory we commemorated on July 11th. She was St. Euphemia, who was in the world, but not of the world, even if she was born into an aristocratic family where everything was in abundance She forsook all her worldly possessions to further God's Kingdom during the horrifying persecutions of the first three Centuries. The Roman Emperor Diocletian in the beginning of the 3rd Century demanded that she deny Christ and worship the Idols. St. Euphemia could have saved her life by denying Christ; but the Lord, and the people she was helping were the most important in her life, and as a result she was thrown to the wild lions in the Arena. She lost her life, but gained her soul, and lives gloriously forever in the annals of the Church, and surely near the Throne of God eternally! We Christians of today do know the word "sacrifice," but only as a word, because we have not experienced the merits and glory of this word! The countless martyrs of Christianity, to whom we owe the continuity of the Lord's Church gave full meaning to the word sacrifice. They believed, as St. Paul said in the 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 6, verse 2: "Now is the acceptable time; behold, - --- now is the Day of salvation!" Each day is in reality the day of salvation. This phrase should be the everyday password for all Christians, that is, the Day of Salvation, because no one knows when the Lord will summon us to depart from this earth. St. Paul was God inspired, and in turn transmitted to us his inspiration. His Epistles are an inexhaustible source of teachings, which lead us directly to Christ, our Lord. He was always most careful of his life, as every Christian should be. He continues his exhortation to the Corinthians in the 6th Chapter of his 2nd Epistle, verses 4-6 as follows: "We commend ourselves in every way as true servants of God, through great endurance, in tribulation and suffering, in hardships and privations, in sore straits and calamities, in beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless watching, hunger; in purity, knowledge and spiritual insight, long-suffering and patience, kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in sincere love. "All things quoted in these two verses, were first hand experiences of St. Paul, so that there was no room for demons to enter his heart. His life was one of complete submission to God, who gave him the strength to overcome all obstacles. Can any of us today say that we have suffered any of the things St. Paul suffered? Sufferings, as I just mentioned, which were an everyday occurrence for him, and his many followers. Thank God for St. Paul and the innumerable Saints, who bequeathed to us the pure Religion, as taught by the Lord. It behooves us as the inheritors of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, to exert ourselves in every possible way, to preserve the fullness of the Faith and the Traditions, which support the Faith, as well as the age-old Christian customs, as preserved only in the Orthodox Church, which of course add so much significance and beauty to life. One of the great voids of society today, where unhappiness and the lack of fulfillment is rampant, is the fact, that most of the age-old traditions have been plowed under the vast wastelands. Consequently one day is like the other, without any highlights. It is no wonder, that so many people fall victims of the demons we mentioned and consequently they rush over the cliff to drown in the sea of self destruction. So here we are, at the dawn of the 21st Century, having witnessed and constantly seeing so many changes in the life and mentality of our citizenry, --- when unbelievable aberrations have come to pass, which are contra to the beliefs of the majority of our citizens. In a way, we can say that the vast silent majority is the victim of the very vocal minority. We surely have lost our compass, because it seems that our law-makers are gradually and methodically undoing all, which only a generation or so ago, were considered inviolate and holy. Can we then say, that some of our authorities are demon possessed? That is why, we, as dedicated Orthodox Christians must hold steadfastly to all that we have inherited and preserved in totality since the Day of Pentecost, when the Church was founded. It is not easy in today's confused world, but it is possible. We must take extra pride in our religious history, unmatched by any other, and always seek to be faithful sons and daughters of our most glorious Church. Amen. + Fr. George Papadeas
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