In the name of the Father and Son and the Holy Spirit

In this holy Gospel, in the story when our Lord Jesus Christ came to Capernaum, it tells of two possessed people who met him and who sadly, had been possessed by the domination of the devil and were so evil, that no one was allowed to pass by where they lived, by the cemetery. When Jesus came, the devils got scared and were trembling.

There were many devils, and Jesus was alone. He said nothing, but can you see how much they got scared of Him? This shows how we in our spiritual life should never be scared that the devil’s force can do something while we are with God. When we are with God, all the devil’s forces conform to us. When God is with us, there is nothing to be scared of, as He doesn’t fight but wins (IC XC NIKA). And those demonic forces move in us, mostly because we are living bad, ugly, unmoral and non Christian lives, that is living our life without consideration for our soul: in luxury, eating and drinking, and every bodily pleasure. In this way, our passions move in and take over and when they move in, we become their servants, in other words, we become slaves to the devil. This testifies to our submission to them. This is why we do everything they tell us.

And as for us, even though we are Christians, even though we are baptised, and even though we go to Church and confess, and receive Holy Communion, if we don’t fulfil the acts of God, and if we don’t fulfil God’s will, when we truly feast and eat, we will then be the same as these possessed men, who confess, but don’t respect God and don’t love Him. This is how we show that we are Christians by word only, and not by our deeds. This is why we won’t receive anything in His Heavenly Kingdom.

In this Gospel we can notice something strange: when God came and was healing those possessed men, who were someone’s sons, brothers and cousins from the town’s folk of Capernaum, they met him and, instead of according Him glory and honour, they expelled Him from their town. Surely you are asking yourselves: why? Because, to them economic value of their pigs were more important, than their sons, brothers, cousins, more important actually even than people. This means, they were more concerned with the material world than they were with spirituality. And it was more important to them that they fulfil their passions than show love for the two poor persons. They loved their pigs more then their sons. But one man, brother and sister is more worthy then everything in the world. One man’s soul is of more value than the whole universe.

But we should look more into our own reality and into today’s times. Are we not also like those imprudent people from Capernaum? Is the same happening to us? Do we love this world and its passions more than our brothers and sisters, in other words more than God.

Whereby, as you can see when He left this town in which they were enslaved to passions and lusts, he returned to his boat, in other words His Church, and his town, in other words to the Heavenly Kingdom. And Heavenly Kingdom, brothers and sisters, we said, is in us, in our hearts. This is why we should make an effort through our pure life, to cleanse our hearts, to cleanse ‘God’s town’ from all filth and every demonic force.

And as we read in the Apostle today, when we are self-centred, when we position ourselves as a criteria and authority, this is when we put ourselves in God’s place and instead of God’s kingdom being within us and Him being our King and God, we become kings and masters, but without Christ. And then like the people of Capernaum, we push away (expel) Christ from our hearts, and in it allow hatred of the desolate, in other words we allow entry to the devil, through his passions and we become his slaves, similar to the possessed people.

We should therefore concern ourselves with the cleansing of our hearts and souls, and we shouldn’t say that our soul seeks pleasure, luxury, food and drinking. Our soul doesn’t seek that, it’s the evil passions that seek it. Our soul seeks: prayer, silence, serenity, happiness, mercy, love, freedom…

Vo imeto na Otecot i Sinot i Svetiot Duh,

Vo ova sveto Evangelie, vo nastanot koga na{iot Gospod Isus Hristos do{ol vo Gergesinskata zemja se zboruva za dvajca besoma~ni lu|e koi go sretnale i koi za `al, bile obzemeni od vlasta na |avolot i bile tolku lo{i, taka {to nikoj ne smeel da pomine od tamu kade {to `iveele tie - pokraj grobi{tata. Koga do{ol Isus, demonite se ispla{ile I stresele. Toa bile mnogu demoni, a Isus samo Eden. Toj ne I rekol ni{to, a gledate kolku tie se ispla{ile od Nego? Taka da i nie vo na{iot duhoven `ivot nikoga{ da ne se pla{ime deka demonskite sili ni mo`at ne{to ako nie me so Gospod. Koga nie sme so Gospod, site demonski sili ni se pokoruvaat. Koga Gosopod e so nas nema od {to da se pla{am, za{to On ne se bori tuku pobeduva (IS HS NIKA). A tie demonski sili vo nas se vseluvaat najpove}e preku nedobar, neubav , nemoralen i nehristijanski `ivot, pominuvaj}i go na{iot `ivot vo negri`a za svojata du{a, vo rasko{, vo jadewe I piewe, I sekakoe telesno zadovoluvolstvo. Na toj na~in strastite se vseluvaat I zacaruvaat vo nas, a koga tie }e se vselat vo nas toga{ I nie postavuvame nivni slugi ili poto~no preku niv mu robuvame na |avolot . Toa go potvrduva na{ata pokornost na niv. Za{to se {to }e ni ka`at nie toa I go pravime.

Pa I nie, iako sme hristijani, ako sme se krstile, pa duri i odime na Crkva i se ispovedame, duri i pri~estuvame, ako ne gi vr{ime delata Bo`ji, i ako ne ja ispolnuvame Bo`jata volja, koja e na{a vistinska naslada i hrana, toga{ i nie }e bideme isti kako ovie besovi, koi go ispovedaat, ama ne Go po~ituvaat i ne Go sakaat. I so toa }e poka`eme deka samo po zbor sme hristijani, a ne I po dela. Zatoa I }e nemame ni{to vo Carstvoto Nebesno so Nego.

Vo ovoj Evangelski nastan mo`eme da zabele`ime ne{to ~udno: koga Gospod do{ol i gi izlekuval tie besni lu|e, koi se ne~ii sinovi, bra}a i rodnini Gergesenski, go presretnale i namesto da Mu oddadat slava i ~est, tie go izgonile nadvor. Sigurno se pra{uvate: zo{to? Zatoa {to nim im bila pova`na cenata na ne~istite sviwi, otkolku cenata na nivnite sinovi, bra}a I rodnini, odnosno lu|eto. Zna~i, tie se gri`ele pove}e za materijalnoto, otkolku za duhovnoto. I bile pomili zadovoluvaweto na nivnite strasti otkolku qubovta kon tie dvajca siroti lu|e. Pove}e gi sakale svoite sviwi, otkolku svoite deca. A ~ovekot, bra}a I sestri, e mnogu poskap od s# ona {to e vo svetot. Edna ~ove~ka du{a e poskapa od celata vselena.

No da pogledneme malku vo realnosta I vo dene{no vreme. Dali I nie ne sme kako ovie nerazumni Gergesinci. Dali I so nas ne ni se slu~uva istoto? Pove}e da go sakame ovoj svet I negovite strasti otkolku na{ite bra}a I sestri, odnosno Boga.

Za{to, kako {to gledate, koga Toj si zaminal od ovoj grad koj im slu`el na strastite i na pohotite, se vra}a vo korabot, odnosno vo Svojata Crkva, i vo svojot grad, odnosno vo Carstvoto Nebesno. A Carstvoto Nebesno, bra}a i sestri, neli rekovme, deka e vo nas, vo na{ito srca. Zaradi toa da se potrudime preku dobrodetelen `ivot da gi is~istime na{ite srca, da go o~istime “gradot Bo`ji” od sekoja ne~istotija i od sekoja demonska sila.

I kako {to pro~itavme vo Apostolot deneska, koga se slu{ame samite sebe, koga nie se postavuvame kako kriterium I avtoritet toga{ nie go zamenuvame Bo`joto mesto vo nas i namesto Bog da se zacari vo nas i da bide na{ Car i Bog, nie se zacaruvame i stanuvame carevi i gospodari, no bez Hrista. I toga{ kako Gergesencite I nie go brkame (izgonuvame) Hrista od na{eto srce, a vo nego sednuva merzosta na zapustenieto, odnosno |avolot, preku negovite strasti I stanuvame negovi slu|I sli~ni na besoma~nite lu|e.

Zatoa da se gri`ime da gi is~istime svoite srca i du{i, i da ne velime deka du{ata bara u`ivawe, rasko{, jadewe I piewe. Du{ata ne go bara toa, toa go barat lo{ite stasti vo nea. Taa pred s# bara: molitva, mir, spokojstvo, radost, blagodat, qubov, sloboda…