Today’s Sermon in a Nutshell:

Today’s Sermon in a Nutshell:

Today’s gospel tells of a man who was completely possessed by evil. Yet such possession doesn’t take place like in the movies, it grows slowly over time as we become more and more comfortable in the presence of evil. It begins when we ignore God, dismiss His Law and Teachings, and when we are no longer outraged by society’s moral lapses and/or ambiguities. It multiplies as we continuously give into our own sinful passions, accept the wrongdoings and misconduct of those around us being normal, and are no longer concerned with what is right or wrong. The more we tolerate evil, the more sinful we become, and the more sinful we are, the less shame we experience at our actions. This is what happened during the Prophet Jeremiah’s time. God spoke to Jeremiah saying, “Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush” (Jer. 6:15). In other words, the people forgot how to “blush” even at the mention of sin which then started a whole chain reaction towards spiritual destruction.

Therefore, if you want to know why our world is in the shape it’s in, it’s because we have forgotten how to blush at sin or find shame in disobeying God.

Fr. John