WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.099 Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory to God. The human 00:00:04.099 --> 00:00:09.500 body, our bodies, especially the baptized and 00:00:09.500 --> 00:00:14.500 chrismated body, the Christian body, is more 00:00:14.500 --> 00:00:19.940 holy than any church, than anything in the church. 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:25.859 Think about this. I give you holy communion, 00:00:26.039 --> 00:00:32.159 but if I drop a particle, On the floor. I will 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:34.920 go down on my hands and knees to consume it. 00:00:35.039 --> 00:00:40.799 And I will burn that spot on the floor. To consume 00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:45.240 it. You become a chalice. When you receive Holy 00:00:45.240 --> 00:00:50.520 Communion. A living chalice. And St. Paul is 00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:53.740 very clear about what Christians are. We are 00:00:53.740 --> 00:00:58.289 the temple of the Holy Spirit. It's through the 00:00:58.289 --> 00:01:01.390 Holy Spirit that Christ is with us at the liturgy 00:01:01.390 --> 00:01:03.950 in the Holy Communion. What do we say at the 00:01:03.950 --> 00:01:06.950 liturgy? Send down thy Holy Spirit and make this 00:01:06.950 --> 00:01:09.969 bread the precious body of thy Christ. And that 00:01:09.969 --> 00:01:12.170 which is in this cup the precious blood of thy 00:01:12.170 --> 00:01:17.549 Christ. And first we say, make us also upon us 00:01:17.549 --> 00:01:22.109 and this bread and this cup. So you're holy. 00:01:22.590 --> 00:01:26.950 You're sanctified. You're a chalice. God is living 00:01:26.950 --> 00:01:29.510 within you. Do we feel it always? No, we don't. 00:01:30.430 --> 00:01:33.909 Our senses are so attuned just to the world and 00:01:33.909 --> 00:01:37.030 how we feel and taste and see and touch that 00:01:37.030 --> 00:01:43.269 our spiritual senses need to wake up more. Contrast 00:01:43.269 --> 00:01:46.950 this, brothers and sisters, with this story, 00:01:47.109 --> 00:01:52.430 this account you hear today. A legion. Thousands 00:01:52.430 --> 00:01:55.950 of demons have fragmented this man. He doesn't 00:01:55.950 --> 00:01:59.810 even have a name anymore. He's a living dead, 00:02:00.090 --> 00:02:04.030 which is why it says he lives at the graves. 00:02:04.989 --> 00:02:07.909 He's full of violence. They have to tie him down. 00:02:08.210 --> 00:02:12.349 He's naked. He tries to destroy his soul and 00:02:12.349 --> 00:02:17.349 his body. The demons hate humans because we have 00:02:17.349 --> 00:02:21.610 a body. We're not just spirits. Not just souls, 00:02:21.870 --> 00:02:25.770 but we are a mixture of the heavenly and the 00:02:25.770 --> 00:02:29.789 earthly. Where one begins and the other, we don't 00:02:29.789 --> 00:02:34.770 know. It's our body. It's keyed together. The 00:02:34.770 --> 00:02:37.550 demons hate that because we have been called 00:02:37.550 --> 00:02:41.150 to be holy, to be chalices, to be the temple 00:02:41.150 --> 00:02:44.370 of God, and to sanctify everything around us, 00:02:44.449 --> 00:02:48.039 the whole world. This is our calling. to pray 00:02:48.039 --> 00:02:51.919 and to offer everything to God, to sanctify it. 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:57.020 The fallen angels, the demons, hate that. They 00:02:57.020 --> 00:03:00.400 hate it. They're jealous. They seek to destroy 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:04.340 us. They seek to destroy our body and our soul, 00:03:04.500 --> 00:03:08.919 to mutilate both, to disfigure them by temptation, 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:14.539 to violence, to anger, to hatred, to murder. 00:03:15.469 --> 00:03:21.270 to see others as less, to gluttony, sexual immorality, 00:03:21.430 --> 00:03:31.990 addiction, on and on, illness, sometimes. We 00:03:31.990 --> 00:03:36.530 have to take care of what we have. I remember, 00:03:36.650 --> 00:03:41.430 it must have been 1975, the summer after high 00:03:41.430 --> 00:03:45.419 school graduation. I went to a drive -in movie. 00:03:45.860 --> 00:03:47.879 Now, maybe some of you don't know what a drive 00:03:47.879 --> 00:03:52.360 -in movie is. I very much date myself. You drive 00:03:52.360 --> 00:03:55.120 the car into this big lot. There's a giant screen 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:57.639 bigger than that back wall, and there's a speaker 00:03:57.639 --> 00:04:00.560 on a post, and you put that speaker on your window. 00:04:00.599 --> 00:04:03.780 You roll that up a little bit like this. There's 00:04:03.780 --> 00:04:09.659 no buttons in 1975. Well, unless you had a Continental 00:04:09.659 --> 00:04:15.860 or Cadillac. And you watch the movie. My friends 00:04:15.860 --> 00:04:18.259 and I went to see, a group of us went to see 00:04:18.259 --> 00:04:24.699 The Exorcist. The horrible disfiguration of that 00:04:24.699 --> 00:04:30.120 girl's face, her body, her voice, scared me so 00:04:30.120 --> 00:04:33.480 badly. I could not sleep that night or for an 00:04:33.480 --> 00:04:36.459 entire week without the radio on, listening to 00:04:36.459 --> 00:04:39.949 Jazz Station. It turns out, brothers and sisters, 00:04:39.990 --> 00:04:43.029 that the violence and the hatred and the disfigurement 00:04:43.029 --> 00:04:48.449 of the human in that movie, while real, while 00:04:48.449 --> 00:04:52.509 accurate in some ways, can't compare with the 00:04:52.509 --> 00:04:56.689 reality of what goes on in the world and the 00:04:56.689 --> 00:05:03.170 hatred and the violence. Jesus went to that village 00:05:03.170 --> 00:05:10.420 to free that man. From the shackles that he was 00:05:10.420 --> 00:05:14.300 under. He was caught. We don't know the story 00:05:14.300 --> 00:05:17.920 of how that happened. That doesn't matter. But 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:21.439 freedom is the core message of the gospel. Our 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:25.920 freedom in Christ. We become servants of God 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:30.279 and we are freed from the slavery of the darkness 00:05:30.279 --> 00:05:33.360 of this world and of ourselves too. I've quoted 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:35.639 this verse from the epistle to the Hebrews many, 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:41.360 many times. St. Paul writes, Christ came to destroy 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:45.680 him that held the power of death, that is the 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:48.240 devil. That's why you see that fresco of Christ, 00:05:48.300 --> 00:05:53.000 the descent to Hades, on the bars and gates of 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:58.600 death and sin, crushing them. He came to destroy 00:05:58.600 --> 00:06:00.480 him that held the power of death, that is the 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:03.660 devil, and free those who all their lives were 00:06:03.660 --> 00:06:06.680 held in slavery by their fear of death. And John 00:06:06.680 --> 00:06:09.600 the theologian wrote this. He said, the reason 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:12.639 the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's 00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:17.279 work. St. Paul wrote that we wrestle not against 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:19.899 flesh and blood, but against principalities, 00:06:19.980 --> 00:06:22.819 against powers, against the rulers of darkness 00:06:22.819 --> 00:06:25.899 in this world, against spiritual wickedness in 00:06:25.899 --> 00:06:30.019 high places. All this destruction talk, this 00:06:30.019 --> 00:06:35.379 gospel of freedom. But we wonder, don't we? Have 00:06:35.379 --> 00:06:38.000 the old spiritual powers that were cast out, 00:06:38.100 --> 00:06:45.040 have they returned as people forget God? St. 00:06:45.100 --> 00:06:47.339 Peter says, be sober, be vigilant. The devil 00:06:47.339 --> 00:06:50.779 goes around like a roaring lion waiting to consume. 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:55.620 Yes, the demons still harass us. This is the 00:06:55.620 --> 00:06:59.980 truth. Psalm 110 claims, and we sing this at 00:06:59.980 --> 00:07:03.399 Christmas time, note it, Christmas is coming. 00:07:05.100 --> 00:07:09.579 That Christ rules all things. He is the Pantocrator. 00:07:09.939 --> 00:07:12.579 That's what that icon up there is. The ruler 00:07:12.579 --> 00:07:17.379 of all. Pantocrator. He rules all things. Even 00:07:17.379 --> 00:07:21.519 Psalm 110 says. In the midst of his enemies. 00:07:24.379 --> 00:07:29.560 There is footstool. And yes. We most certainly. 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:32.800 are wrestling against principalities, against 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:35.759 powers, against rulers of the darkness of this 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:40.579 world. But not only is Jesus ruling in the midst 00:07:40.579 --> 00:07:44.300 of his enemies, those forces against us, listen 00:07:44.300 --> 00:07:48.839 to what he said before he was crucified. Now 00:07:48.839 --> 00:07:52.860 is the time for judgment on this world. What's 00:07:52.860 --> 00:07:57.060 judgment? To set it right, to fix it. Now the 00:07:57.060 --> 00:07:59.819 prince of this world will be driven out. And 00:07:59.819 --> 00:08:02.439 I, when I am lifted up from the earth, he means 00:08:02.439 --> 00:08:06.259 on the cross, will draw all people to myself 00:08:06.259 --> 00:08:11.560 to save them because he will be crucified and 00:08:11.560 --> 00:08:16.839 rise from the dead. And that icon is the reality 00:08:16.839 --> 00:08:23.680 of what happened. The villagers, the citizens 00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:28.180 of this world, of all times, The villagers in 00:08:28.180 --> 00:08:31.819 the gospel were witnesses of two things. The 00:08:31.819 --> 00:08:36.159 terrible, horrible, demonic power. And there's 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:37.919 a long story there. I'm not going to go into 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:40.460 that. Why they were afraid. Why they asked Jesus 00:08:40.460 --> 00:08:43.980 to lead. They were witnesses of that. They also 00:08:43.980 --> 00:08:47.500 saw the power and authority of Jesus over that. 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:54.240 Complete, utter power control over that. They 00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:58.059 saw those things. The whole world sees these 00:08:58.059 --> 00:09:01.519 things. So let's set aside the notion that people 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:03.960 need to see miraculous things in order to believe 00:09:03.960 --> 00:09:09.080 in Jesus. You heard last week, the man in Haiti 00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:12.200 says to Father Abraham, just send somebody back 00:09:12.200 --> 00:09:15.559 from the dead and they'll believe. Jesus says 00:09:15.559 --> 00:09:17.759 in the parable, well, even if I send someone 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:19.279 back from the dead, they're not going to believe. 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:23.639 After seeing what had taken place, those villagers 00:09:23.639 --> 00:09:27.559 begged Jesus Christ to leave them. And so he 00:09:27.559 --> 00:09:33.320 did. God leaves us free. God is about freedom. 00:09:34.700 --> 00:09:39.179 Those people chose darkness to continue what 00:09:39.179 --> 00:09:42.720 they were doing, raising pigs for pagan sacrifices, 00:09:42.740 --> 00:09:45.919 because that's what Roman sacrifices used, were 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:50.860 pigs. And the word of the Lord is ever true. 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:57.289 This is the judgment. The light... Capital L. 00:09:57.429 --> 00:10:01.169 The light has come into the world and people 00:10:01.169 --> 00:10:06.990 love darkness rather than the light. Such is 00:10:06.990 --> 00:10:10.909 the state of things. How does it operate? If 00:10:10.909 --> 00:10:13.830 Jesus has destroyed him who held the power of 00:10:13.830 --> 00:10:18.490 death, that is the devil, we still have to recognize 00:10:18.490 --> 00:10:23.440 that dark and evil spirits Not just an inclination 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:26.299 that a person has. That doesn't explain what 00:10:26.299 --> 00:10:29.259 happens in the world, the horrible things. Dark 00:10:29.259 --> 00:10:32.960 demonic spirits operate, yes, only through suggestion. 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:40.480 Only through temptation, manipulation, and deception. 00:10:43.019 --> 00:10:46.879 But if we enter into that temptation and deception, 00:10:47.159 --> 00:10:51.720 there is no end to the bottom of that. And many 00:10:51.720 --> 00:10:55.240 are very willing to believe the lies to acquire 00:10:55.240 --> 00:11:00.039 power for their ego, control, money, whatever 00:11:00.039 --> 00:11:02.860 it might be, thinking they can manipulate dark 00:11:02.860 --> 00:11:06.399 forces for their own happiness. And all of it 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:12.460 just produces profound misery and cruelty. The 00:11:12.460 --> 00:11:14.840 gospel is called the good news because it remains 00:11:14.840 --> 00:11:20.159 true that Jesus releases all of us from the bondage. 00:11:20.669 --> 00:11:24.350 Of that terrible thing. The account we heard 00:11:24.350 --> 00:11:27.590 today. Reminds us that Jesus is indeed. Lord 00:11:27.590 --> 00:11:32.049 over all things. Has power over all things. He 00:11:32.049 --> 00:11:35.690 says behold. I have been given. From the father 00:11:35.690 --> 00:11:41.009 all authority. Both in heaven and on earth. And 00:11:41.009 --> 00:11:43.529 he sits at the right hand. At the throne of the 00:11:43.529 --> 00:11:48.250 father. Ruling and we are in him. And he is in 00:11:48.250 --> 00:11:51.610 us. You have become the chalice. You have become 00:11:51.610 --> 00:11:55.009 the bearer of the good news. Not just words, 00:11:55.129 --> 00:11:58.570 but your actions, your life. You are the witnesses 00:11:58.570 --> 00:12:04.490 of that good news. God, help us, please, Lord. 00:12:04.570 --> 00:12:08.049 Help us to rejoice that we are in Christ and 00:12:08.049 --> 00:12:11.269 that he is within us and that he is our peace, 00:12:11.370 --> 00:12:15.809 which is why we start the liturgy with the peace 00:12:15.809 --> 00:12:19.110 from above and the salvation of our souls. let 00:12:19.110 --> 00:12:23.110 us pray to the Lord that peace is the precious 00:12:23.110 --> 00:12:28.970 gift from God to us. And if we fall into sin, 00:12:29.110 --> 00:12:34.470 if we fall into temptation, we can cleanse it 00:12:34.470 --> 00:12:38.350 through confession. Our conscience convicts us 00:12:38.350 --> 00:12:41.269 and we can be cleansed and peace will return 00:12:41.269 --> 00:12:44.690 to our soul. And that power has no control over 00:12:44.690 --> 00:12:47.529 us because we are illumined by the grace of God. 00:12:48.750 --> 00:12:52.509 And we struggle to keep our conscience free. 00:12:54.269 --> 00:12:57.809 The gospel says that the man formerly possessed 00:12:57.809 --> 00:13:01.110 was what? He was sitting at the feet of Christ. 00:13:01.750 --> 00:13:06.750 He was clothed and in his right mind. This is 00:13:06.750 --> 00:13:09.350 the picture of the Christian. This is what we 00:13:09.350 --> 00:13:13.250 are. This is what we are to be. Being clothed, 00:13:13.250 --> 00:13:15.990 that's the description of the baptized Christian. 00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:21.100 having died with Christ, risen in baptism, and 00:13:21.100 --> 00:13:25.659 put on Christ. Now it is not I who live, you 00:13:25.659 --> 00:13:28.740 heard in the epistle, but Christ who lives in 00:13:28.740 --> 00:13:31.860 me. Rejoice, brothers and sisters, for the Lord 00:13:31.860 --> 00:13:35.519 our God has saved us, and he will save everyone 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:39.360 who desires it. To him be glory, now and ever, 00:13:39.419 --> 00:13:41.299 to ages of ages. Amen.