Today’s lesson from the Gospel of St. Luke concerns the Gadarene man who is possessed by many demons. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ did not come to bring us a new moral teaching or to set down for us a revolutionary social or political program. Rather He came to heal our bodies and souls, to redeem us from sin and death, to give us new God-centered lives through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Let us remember what He said, “I will never turn away anyone who comes to me” and again, “Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest”. Jesus’ gift of new life involves not only new attitudes, new ways of doing things and a new spiritual direction, but also a new self. For a new self in Christ means a new understanding of a new relationship to self, Christ, God, Holy Spirit, others and the world.
We must understand that Christ changes not merely the spiritual circumstances in which we live, but also our inner being or character – us. There in the depths of our heart, where we experience what we are and how we feel about ourselves, where our own self-image is often distorted and covered up by frustration and guilt, where God has nevertheless placed a treasure of spiritual gifts and powers, there is where the personal identity of each human being is located and awaits an explosive release by the grace of Christ.
This same question of identity is as important to us today as it was to the Gadarene man in the Gospel account who was possessed by many demons. This my dear brothers and sisters, is one of the most important key questions of life, however, many are inclined to ignore this.
Let us pray to Christ to deliver us and all people from demonic forces which distort our identity as human beings and more often than not threaten to destroy us all together.
“Christ our Saviour, Son of the living God, cast out from us and all peoples the legion of demons that assault us inwardly and outwardly…cleanse us from the evils of the old self…” Amen.
