Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord!

In today’s Gospel reading, we heard how our Lord Jesus Christ, at the beginning of His earthly ministry, preached from a fishing boat to a large crowd of people in Galilee. We also heard how Simon Peter, together with his comrades, washed his nets after an unsuccessful night of fishing. The Holy Evangelist Luke so wonderfully describes this scene that we could close our eyes and easily picture all that was transpiring. It seems as if everything is right before our gaze: the Lord in sitting in a little boat, the people crowding around and attentively listening to the sermon, the fishermen, tired and crestfallen after an unsuccessful night’s work, sitting off to the side and washing their nets while listening with one ear to the sweet words of Jesus. We can imagine that they are thinking that soon their work will be finished and they will be able to go home to their families, have some breakfast, and lie down for a rest. Everything from this Gospel reading seems so alive!

We also heard how the tired Apostle Peter took the recently-washed nets and once again, abiding by the request of the Lord, rowed out into the deep to let the nets down into the lake. What was he and the other apostles-fishermen thinking, we do not know. Perhaps in their hearts they were displeased to continue working with no chance of success. Simon Peter pointed out that there was little sense in letting the nets out again, since they had caught nothing during the night and since the fish had all disappeared with the coming of the day. It is also possible that they loved their new teacher to such an extent that they were willing to grant Him any request, not simply as a courtesy of disciples to their teacher, but for the sake of love. Either way, the obedience of the Holy Apostle Peter was rewarded with a miraculous catch of fish. The disciples were so astonished by this miracle that they left everything – the fish, the nets, the boats – and became constant followers of Christ.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, how many truly wonderful examples we can draw from the Holy Apostle Peter in today’s Gospel excerpt! He is the image of hard work, humility, obedience, love, fear of God, and uncovetousness. Let each of us try to act as he did, so that Christ comes to us, makes His dwelling in us, just as He once upon a time entered into the Apostle Peter’s poor little fishing boat, and so that Christ calls us into the Heavenly Kingdom, just as He called Peter and the other apostles to follow Him.

priest Alexis