Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 5,1-20
Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the sea, to the territory of the Gerasenes.
When he got out of the boat, at once a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him.
The man had been dwelling among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain.
In fact, he had frequently been bound with shackles and chains, but the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles smashed, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.
Night and day among the tombs and on the hillsides he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones.
Catching sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and prostrated himself before him,
crying out in a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me!”
(He had been saying to him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man!”)
He asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “Legion is my name. There are many of us.”
And he pleaded earnestly with him not to drive them away from that territory.
Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside.
And they pleaded with him, “Send us into the swine. Let us enter them.”
And he let them, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine. The herd of about two thousand rushed down a steep bank into the sea, where they were drowned.
The swineherds ran away and reported the incident in the town and throughout the countryside. And people came out to see what had happened.
As they approached Jesus, they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion, sitting there clothed and in his right mind. And they were seized with fear.
Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened to the possessed man and to the swine.
Then they began to beg him to leave their district.
As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him.
But he would not permit him but told him instead, “Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.”
Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed.
Characteristics of a living dead person
1) Dwelling in the tombs. This is something that you and I can fall into. Living in the past; dwelling on things that used to be or used to happen, but are no longer there. Many years have gone by, but you keep thinking about those things or circumstances. You might still be dwelling on that situation with your parents, your siblings, a former fiancée, or the situation with your son, etc. In short… it is a situation from the past which you keep turning over and over in your mind and you don’t accept that it is history. You keep draging it back into your life.
This “possessed” person roamed around, disturbing and frightening people. He brought death with him instead of life. Something like this can happen to you, when you go about feeling bitter and embittering others; always seeing the glass half-empty instead of half-full. Don’t live as a dead person; don’t let the blows and failures of the past lead you to exist like that; to live among graves is to live in emptiness, to do nothing; not even to take care of your health or your appearance. You simply neglect yourself.
2) You cannot be restrained. Your world is your bed, your room, or your workplace… but it’s an environment in which you yourself generate bitterness and depression. Nobody can hold you down; not even yourself. There are times when your pride gets the better of you and you say: “I’m going to get out of this situation… I can do it on my own”. That’s precisely what makes you stay in that state; lifeless and without illusions! Let yourself be helped – ask for help, look for us! Look for those people whom you know love you and want to help you. Let us hold you so that you don’t fall, so that you don’t hurt yourself physically, psychologically, or spiritually. Take the first step and allow yourself to be helped.
3) Wandering around. When you do not find meaning in your life or in a certain situation, you wander about without a goal. You drift from one place to another or you’re simply distracted because you do not know what you want. Look for your goal today; search for what you want in your life. Stop doing too much… or doing too little – because these extremes are bad, and they only prove that you are not clear about what you want and where you want to go. Whether or not you spend hours watching Netflix or watching social networks, you have to pause and ask yourself: What do I want to do? What do I want to achieve? Are you doing anything productive for your life? What?
Let’s ask Jesus to free us and help us not fall into this evil. Let yourself be helped. Pray,pray, pray and seek out the Eucharist and confession when you can. These things will help you a lot.
God bless you and be with you in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Remember, Heaven is our goal!
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