Homily by Deacon Vasyl Motrichenko on the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
June 22, 2024
Christ offers us his help, but we must invite him into our lives and make our hearts the receptacle of God’s grace and the abode of the Holy Spirit. So that while living here on earth, we may be those chosen and beloved children of God who invite Christ into their hearts, live righteously, and establish the kingdom of God here and now on earth.
And two men came out and began to cry out: “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” (Matthew 8:29).
Dear in Christ!
On today’s Sunday, the Holy Gospel presents us with an episode in which a man confesses Jesus Christ as Lord, and an evil spirit obeys him and asks permission to go into a herd of pigs. The name Satan or evil spirit comes from the Hebrew word “shatan”, which means adversary, enemy, or devil, and from the Greek word “diabolos” meaning slanderer. Under this name hides an invisible person — a spirit whose action and influence are manifested in the actions and deeds of other persons or beings. From the beginning of the creation of the world, the evil spirit tries to lead man astray. Through the action of the first people, sin came into the world with all its consequences, and because of sin, man loses the ability to be in unity with God. But just as through man — Adam — sin comes into the world, so through man — Jesus Christ — salvation and victory over evil come into the world. But for this, effort and a constant struggle are needed, so as not to succumb to the temptations and temptations of the evil one, as we pray in the Our Father prayer, “And lead us not into temptation.”
Christ, walking through cities and villages, preaches the good news, announces the coming of the kingdom of God, and here he meets two men, so fierce that all the people in the neighbourhood were afraid of them. But when they saw Christ, they seemed embarrassed and asked him to allow the evil spirit to enter the herd of pigs.
What is interesting in today’s Gospel is that the Jews did not eat pork. For them, a pig is something unclean and disgusting. And here, a whole herd of pigs was grazing near the shore. Perhaps Christ, passing by that herd, wants to reveal that, despite the prohibition, people violated the law and ate the flesh of the pig, exposing them and emphasising that for disobeying the law, punishment, failure, and material losses await. And for everyone present, he emphasises that he is the master even over Satan, who obeys him.
Christ’s victory over the devil shows us that we too, if we live righteously and worthily, will be able to overcome all the wiles and temptations of the evil one and remain in unity with God. But this requires effort, and the basis of everything is prayer. Because prayer is direct communication and union with God, it lifts the human spirit to new heights. Next comes fasting, through the observance of which a person subjugates his body and frees himself from what is most pleasant. Charity is also important, which makes us able to open ourselves to the needs of other people because the one who helps a neighbour in need fills his soul with a feeling of joy, goodness, and love. So, dear ones in Christ, by following the instructions of Christ and following certain norms, we will be able to avoid the trick of the evil one and remain in union with Christ.
The next moment from today’s Gospel is that the entire city that came out to meet Jesus, seeing Him, asked Him to leave their neighborhood. That is, because of a certain fear and anxiety, because of what happened, they did not accept the Messiah but distanced themselves from the perception of God’s grace. In the same way, we, being in darkness, are unable to perceive the light, and, continuing in sin, we often do not want to convert and be in union with God, being afraid to go to confession and free ourselves from those fears that the evil one whispers to us.
Christ, seeing the fear of those people, does not enter their city but gets into a boat and sails to where they need him. In the same way, he offers his help to us, but we have to invite him into our lives and make our hearts the receptacle of God’s grace and the abode of the Holy Spirit. So that while living here on earth, we may be those chosen and beloved children of God who invite Christ into their hearts, live righteously, and establish the kingdom of God here and now on earth. And let us be sure that if we follow all the instructions on earth, then we will be with God in eternity in the heavenly abode, where the actions of angels and the faces of the saints praise the Lord. “For that which the eye has not seen, the ear has not heard, and the mind of man has not entered into, the Lord has prepared for those who love him.”