An Instruction for the 18th Sunday After Pentecost

«He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat» (Lk 5:3).

What do I see? What a sight, at which heaven itself marvels! The pre-eternal Son of God, the Creator

of the Angels, borne upon the Cherubim, the Maker of heaven and earth, surrounded by the small number of His chosen disciples, sits in a boat, rocked by the waves of the sea; the pre-eternal Word of the eternal Father—He Himself, in the humble form of a man, teaches a people plunged into the darkness of ignorance. O boundless goodness, O boundless condescension! Behold, O man, what your God, your Maker, your Savior has done for you! He Himself came to enlighten you, to teach you the knowledge of God, the knowledge of His will. He Himself came to save you, a perishing sinner. See how dearly, how highly, He values your salvation! And how do you value this condescension, and your own salvation? Oh, it seems you have forgotten who you are and why you came into this world. You have forgotten that you are a being made in the image of God, that you are immortal in soul and will one day be immortal in a transfigured, spiritual body too; you have forgotten that you are called to do righteousness and holiness and to keep the commandments of God, which «are not burdensome» (1Jn 5:3), by the Apostle’s word. You do your own fleshly, sinful, ruinous will, and are mired in lawlessness, drowning in it. But let us see what our wondrous Teacher does next. When He had stopped teaching, He said to Simon, the owner of the boat: «launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. But Simon answered and said to Him: Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net. And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying: depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord! For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus told Simon: do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men» (Lk 5:1-11). Wondrous deeds from our wondrous Teacher! A single creative gesture—and a multitude of sea fish filled the fishing net. Here, on the land, stood a multitude of people, drawn by His heavenly teaching and His miracles; and here, in the nets, a multitude of speechless fish, depicting mankind, unable to answer before the divine righteousness. But it was not for himself and his companions that Peter caught, at the Savior’s word, so many fish: for, as the Gospel says further, having brought both boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him; which means the wealth of the sea fell to the people, among whom there were, without doubt, many poor as well—a rich catch fell to the people, as it were a reward for hearing the Word of God. And what falls to us from our divine Teacher? To us He has left His saving, sweet, wondrous word. Let us make use of it, as a bottomless treasure, for our own enlightenment and salvation. What, then, from this word—precisely from today’s word—shall we take for our own edification? We, the shepherds and fishers of human souls, shall take for our edification the words the Lord spoke to Peter: do not be afraid, from now on you will catch men—that is, you will, with the utmost understanding and the utmost diligence, care for the salvation of human souls perishing in the abyss of sin; and all of us, both we and you, shall take for our own lesson the last words of today’s Gospel: they forsook all, and followed Him. In these words there is much edifying thought. The Apostles forsook, for the Lord’s sake, for the salvation of others and of their own selves, everything: their boats with their fish, their nets, their homes, their families, their own habits and attachments, which, being men, they could not but have had, and their own will. Everything—and they followed their heavenly Teacher to the end of their lives, along His saving, cross-bearing path; they followed His holy will—they denied themselves and sin; they set about doing only the righteousness of God; they cared most diligently for the salvation of people from their sins; they taught the will of God; they brought those who had gone astray onto the path of righteousness and salvation, and, once enlightened, cleansed, sanctified, and renewed by the grace of God, they brought them to the heavenly Father, into His eternal dwellings.

Let us too imitate the Apostles, in whatever way we can. They forsook everything and followed the Lord. Let us too forsake—I do not say everything: home, property, and relatives; this is not required of everyone—but let us forsake sin, our own passions, our own sinful leanings, our sinful, harmful habits, everything that draws us into sin, that harms us, that dishonors us, that defiles us, that draws us into eternal ruin, that removes us from God, from His holiness and righteousness, that deprives us of eternal life. Oh, how much sin is in us—this ruinous, devilish seed, this accursed seed choking out the wheat of God! We—our own souls—are this wheat of God: for we were created in the image and likeness of God.

Let us, then, with God’s help, be pure wheat of God; let us strive always to have pure thoughts, pure and holy desires and intentions; let us both speak and do the pure righteousness of God; and let us root out, by every means, the devilish thorn—sin—from our heart, even though this work should prove very, very much not to our liking, even though it should come with sorrow and suffering; for it is better, after all, to endure and suffer a little for a time, than to perish forever. Amen.