The Twenty-Third Sunday After Pentecost (Eph. 2:4–10; Lk. 8:26–39)

After his healing, the Gadarene demoniac clings to the Lord and desires to be with Him always; then, having heard His will, he goes and proclaims the benefit he has received throughout the whole city. A benefactor draws one to himself; his will becomes law for the one benefited; and the tongue cannot restrain itself from declaring what has been received from him. If we were never to forget all the blessings received and being received from the Lord, there would be no ingrates among us, no violators of His holy will, no one who did not love Him above all things. In baptism we were delivered from the ancestral sin and all its destructiveness; in repentance we are continually cleansed from sins that constantly cling to us. By God’s providence we are protected from dangers, often invisible to us ourselves, and we receive a direction of life most safe for us and most favorable to our aims; indeed, everything we have comes from the Lord. Therefore it is fitting for us to belong to the Lord with all our soul, to fulfill His will in everything, and to glorify His most holy name—and above all by our life and deeds—so as not to be worse than the Gadarene demoniac, who immediately proved himself so wise as to become a worthy example of imitation for all.