Gospel of the 5th Sunday after Pentecost Matthew 8:28-9: 1.
Unfortunately, we now live in an age where evil is no longer recognised or considered to be real. How many times do people speak about their ‘demons’ in a psychological sense? There are even television shows that glorify evil such as ‘Lucifer’ and many more. One thing that today’s Gospel makes explicitly clear is that evil is real, and demons do indeed exist! Many people are happy to watch scary movies where the characters are tormented by demons; yet they will not acknowledge that there is a spiritual battle underway.
One of the saddest things is that we as a society have lost is the concept of the spiritual – I am not talking about spiritual in a hippie sense – rather spiritual in the sense that each person has a unique soul that is supernatural (because God created it to be so). Regrettably, since the early 19th century many people started to think in materialist terms – meaning that started to believe only in that which they could see! A world view like this then attempts to displace the role of God and place a random force in His place (nature). The problem with such a world view is that it then logically follows that man is at the centre of everything and can choose his own morals; which then places the concept of the sanctity of human life in danger – as happened under the socialist family tree (under the killing sprees of the Nazis and communists)! Meaning that if man is at the centre and is solely an animal; than it is perfectly fine to kill a person because their life means nothing and by default is disposable. This then is the manifestation of man following in the footsteps of Satan’s pride – the very pride that caused Satan and his legions to be expelled from paradise!
All is not lost – we as Christians know that Christ has power over all things - by virtue of being one of the persons of the All Holy Trinity! In today’s Gospel the demons even acknowledge this when they state:
“Have you come to torment us before the time?”
This then shows that even they know that they are subject to the All Holy Trinity as He is their creator, and it then follows that, that which is created, can never become greater than its creator! We do not live in some dualist scenario where good and evil are in balance and are battling for supremacy. Rather, evil knows that it is limited and that it cannot prevail. This is why it works so hard to try and get people to follow in its footsteps as it (Satan) desires the ruination of people’s souls! Remember the old adage, “misery loves company” this is exactly what the evil one and his legions desire – they care not for the happiness of those whom they trap. Rather, they desire that others may be in the same soul-destroying position as they are – this position of being in rebellion against the All Holy Trinity! Let us not despair because the All Holy Trinity has given us the most perfect weapons to stave off the attacks of the evil one – these are the weapons of: faith, prayer and the Holy Mysteries of His Church! By entering into the life of Christ’s mystical body one ‘puts on Christ’; this is perfectly expressed in the Trisagion of Nativity, Theophany, Lazarus Sunday, Pascha, Bright Week and Pentecost:
“All who have been baptised into Christ have robed themselves in the image of Christ. Alleluia”.
This then gives us the great hope that by entering into communion with the All Holy Trinity one can be saved and protected from the evil one – he is limited and cannot and will not prevail. Psalm 33 states this perfectly for it states:
“The righteous cried, and the Lord heard them, and He delivered them out of all their tribulations. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a contrite heart, and He will save the humble of spirit. Many are the tribulations of the righteous, and the Lord shall deliver them out of them all!”
Therefore, let our Faith and trust be in the All Holy Trinity, for truly our fortress and salvation lie in communion with the All Holy Trinity in His holy Church.
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