And they came to the other side of the sea, into the region of Gerasa.
And when he got out of the boat,
immediately a man met him
with an unclean spirit,
out of the tombs,
who had a home in the tombs.
And no one could ever bind him not even with a chain,
that’s –
many times he had been bound with fetters and a chain
and the chain had been torn apart by him
and the fetters broken in pieces
and no one was strong enough to control him.
And through every night and day
he was crying out,
in the tombs and in the mountains
and he was cutting himself with stones.
And seeing Jesus from a great distance
he ran,
and fell down before him
and crying with a loud voice, he said:
‘What do you have to do with me, and what do I have to do with you,
Jesus, son of the Most High God?’
‘I beg you by God, do not torture me.’
(For he had said to him: ‘Come out of the man – unclean spirit!’)
And he asked him ‘What is your name?’
And he said ‘My name is Legion, because we are many.’
And he begged him many times not to send them out of the region.
God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.