This Sunday’s Gospel is the famous story where Jesus meets a man who is so afflicted by mental illness and demons that he lives naked among the tombs, in an area on the banks of Lake Galilee known as Gerasene. The scene is one of unutterable hopelessness and suffering: a fellow human so horrifically afflicted, maltreated, abandoned and neglected, that he is reduced to living like a wild animal in a place of death. And yet, into all this hopelessness Jesus steps in. The scene is transformed into one of beauty and hope as he offers the man love, compassion and healing. And so, it is that Jesus steps into all the hopelessness of the world. With Jesus at our side, we need not be afraid. We can have great hope and joy as we know that our Saviour is with us, even in the darkest times and places.

Revd Richard