The Daily Homily by Fr. James Farfaglia, Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Today's Gospel passage is quite dramatic. As we begin to unravel this passage of the Sacred Scripture, Our Lord confronts the demons and the people who prefer a herd of pigs to a living relationship with the Messiah.

The biggest lie that Satan has sold the modern world is that he does not exist. Divine Revelation tells us just the opposite. The modern world has been put to sleep by buying into the lie that Satan does not exist. Thus, if Satan does not exist, there is no sin and there is no need for the Sacrament of Confession. If Satan does not exist, who then is Jesus?

If we deny such an essential part of Divine Revelation, everything falls apart and multitudes of people get caught up in a huge deception. People begin to follow a false religion. The fallen angels do exist and their power is very real.

What can we say about the townspeople in today's Gospel? They prefer the pigs! Here is Jesus coming into their lives and they prefer a bunch of pigs! Isn't this amazing? They were farmers and their livelihood goes over the cliff with the demons in them. The townspeople rejected the Lord and preferred to keep their pigs.

Materialism is a big deception, a big lie from Satan. What is one of the principle problems of the modern world? Too many people have made money and their possessions into their gods. The pagans of old used to worship images of false gods. Today, the new false gods is a car, a house, lots of money, a high paying job. Many people are willing to sacrifice themselves and anyone on the altar of materialism.

As disciples of the Lord we must be very careful not to fall into the trap of materialism. What practical steps can we incorporate into our daily lives? May I propose a few suggestions?

First, we need to live within our means. Secondly, we need to live within a budget. Thirdly, we need to avoid, as much as possible, living in debt. If we find ourselves in debt, then we should get into a program that will get us out of debt.

Aside from these practical steps, we need to always have a daily spiritual life that will keep our focus on our relationship with the Lord.

Finally, we need to live the Sabbath. It is preferable that our attendance at Mass takes place on Sunday morning. Let us remember that the Sabbath prohibits us from doing unnecessary physical work on Sunday. Living the Sabbath will help keep our focus on the Lord.