God is the giver of all good gifts. And every gift of God is so perfect that it makes people wonder. A miracle and nothing else is the gift of God, which people are amazed at. And people are amazed at the gifts of God because of the perfection of these gifts. If people were paradisiacal pure and sinless, they would not wait until God resurrects the dead, or multiplies the loaves, or fills the nets with fish, in order to exclaim: "Here is a miracle!"; but of every thing created by God, of every hour and every breath of one's life, they would say: "This is a miracle!" In order that man may not become completely dull from this habit, wither, and become brutal, God, in His mercy to sick humanity, adds to His innumerable miracles, if only to awaken man and sober him up, freeing him from the gloomy soul-destroying habit of miracles as non-miracles.

With each of His miracles, God wishes, first, to remind people that He watches vigilantly over the world, wisely governing it according to His almighty will; and, secondly, that people can do nothing good without Him.

No work without God's help is successful. No sowing without God's blessing brings a harvest. All human wisdom, directed against God's law, is incapable of bringing good by itself, not even with a grain of mustard seed. If for some time it seems that it brings good, it is clear that it is not it that brings good, but the mercy of God, which for some time does not distance itself from the most fierce opponents of God. For God loves mankind and does not execute immediately, but endures for a long time and waits for repentance. For He wants all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth.

A person deceived by the habit of this world sometimes thinks that he can do something good without God, and even contrary to God and God's law. Sometimes, in such an infatuation, he thinks that by himself he can become good, or rich, or wise, or famous. But this infatuation either quickly disappoints him, makes him wise and returns him to God sober, or carries him in the muddy stream of the world until he completely loses his human dignity and completely surrenders, like a shadow, into the hands of invisible evil forces. And he who looks at the world as a trembling miracle of God, and at himself as a miracle of miracles, constantly explores the ways of Providence along the bends of this boundless and amazing series of miracles. Only such a person can say, like the Apostle Paul: I planted, Apollos watered, but God grew; therefore he who plants and waters is nothing, but God who grows all things (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). A similar idea is expressed by a proverb that exists among many peoples: Man proposes, and God disposes. Man presupposes by making plans, and God accepts or rejects these plans. Man proposes thoughts, words, and works for consideration, and God approves them or does not approve them. What does God affirm? That which is His, that which is of Him. Everything that is not His, that is not of Him, and that is not like Him, God rejects. If the Lord does not build a house, those who build it labor in vain. If architects build in the name of God, they will build a palace, even if their hands are weak and their means are scarce. But if the architects build in their own name, against the will of God, their work will crumble, as the tower of Babel crumbled.

In the course of history, it was not only the Tower of Babel that was destroyed, but numerous similar towers, which were built by individual world conquerors, wishing to gather all peoples under one roof - under their own - and under one hand - under their own. The innumerable towers of wealth, glory and greatness, which were built by individual people, wishing to take possession of God's creations - things or people - and become little gods - crumbled to dust. But what the apostles, hierarchs and other saints of God had built up did not crumble. Numerous kingdoms of men, created by human vanity, have fallen apart and disappeared like shadows, but the Apostolic Church stands today, and will stand unbending on the graves of many of today's kingdoms. The palaces of the Roman Caesars, who fought against the Church, lie in ruins, while the caves and underground catacombs of Christianity exist to this day.

There is no such force that could destroy God's work. Godless palaces and cities are crumbling, but the tabernacle of God stands. That which God holds with His finger stands firmer than that which props up the whole world with its backs. So that no flesh should boast before God (1 Corinthians 1:29)! For all flesh is like grass waiting for its days to expire and turn to dust. May the Almighty Lord also preserve us from thinking that we can achieve anything good without His help and His blessing! Let today's Gospel serve as an admonition to us, so that such a vain thought will never even be conceived in our souls. For today's Gospel reading says that all human labor is in vain if God does not help. As long as people, the apostles of Christ, were fishing themselves, they caught nothing; and when Christ commanded them to cast their nets into the sea once more, so many fish fell into them that they almost broke through. But this is how the whole story sounds:

At the time of it, when the people were crowding to Him to hear the word of God, and He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, He saw two boats standing on the lake; and the fishermen came out of them and washed their nets. Entering one boat, which was Simonov's, he asked him to sail a little from the shore and, sitting down, taught the people from the boat. When a huge crowd gathered to hear the word of God from the lips of Christ, He could not have found a better place than one of the fishing boats, so that all could see and hear Him. And here, on the shore, there were two boats, and the fishermen were busy washing their nets. These boats are the most common fishing boats with sails, which are still used today on the Lake of Gennesaret. The boat into which the Lord entered belonged to the fisherman Simon, the future Apostle Peter. So the Lord asked Simon to sail a little away from the shore, and when Simon did so, the Savior sat down and began to teach the people.

And when he had ceased teaching, he said to Simon, Sail out into the depths, and cast your nets for fishing. Entering the boat, the Lord had in mind several good goals that He wanted to achieve. Firstly, from the boat it was easier for him to teach the people and serve the people, nourishing their soul with His sweetest teaching. Secondly, knowing that the fishermen were anxious and grieved that they had not caught anything that night, He wanted to comfort them with a rich catch of fish, and thus to satisfy their bodily and other external needs. For God cares for our body as well as for our soul. He is the Giver of all flesh (Psalm 135:25). Thirdly, the Lord wanted to nourish the souls of His chosen ones with faith in Himself, in His omnipotence and all-goodness. And finally, the most important thing, the Lord wanted to clearly show His disciples, and through them all of us, that with Him and in Him all things are possible, as well as that all human labors and efforts are empty without Him, just as were the nets of the fishermen, who fished all night and caught nothing. As soon as the Lord achieves one goal, having given instruction to the people, He immediately strives for another. For this purpose he commands Simon to sail into the depths and cast the nets again.

Simon answered and said to Him, "Master! we labored all night and caught nothing, but according to Thy word I will cast a net. When they had done this, they caught a great multitude of fish, and even their nets were broken. And they signaled to the comrades who were in the other boat to come to help them; And they came, and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. Simon does not yet know who Christ is: he calls Him simply "Teacher" and addresses Him with respect, as many others have done. But he is still far from believing in Christ as the Son of God and Lord. At first, he shares with Him his grief that they worked all night and caught nothing. But out of reverence for Christ as a good and wise Teacher, he agrees to listen to him and cast the net again. God never rewards human labor as He rewards an obedient heart. Peter's heartfelt obedience was all the greater because he immediately fulfilled the word of Christ, although, obviously, he was very tired, did not get enough sleep, was wet and was in a bad mood after his vain labor, which lasted all night. Therefore, his obedience was quickly rewarded by the mercy of Christ and the obedience of fishes. For He who created the fishes commanded them in His spirit to gather themselves together and fill their nets. The fish are silent, so the Lord does not command them aloud to swim into the nets, as He aloud commanded the noisy wind to cease and the stormy sea to calm down. Not by voice and word, but by the power of the Lord, the fish are directed to the place appointed by them. By gathering so many fish, the Lord richly rewarded the fishermen for their nightly labor, dissipated their care, and satisfied their external needs. Thus He achieved His second purpose, which He set that day. Seeing such an abundance of fish as they had certainly never seen in their lives, Simon and those who were with him in the boat signaled to their companions to come and help them with their boat. And not only Simon's boat was filled, but also the boat of James and John, Simon's companions, and they were so full that they began to sink because of the heavy load. They probably would have drowned if the Lord had not been present.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell down on the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, O Lord! Because I am a sinful man. For terror seized him and all who were with him, from this fishing of the fish they caught; and also James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's associates. Terrified by the unprecedented sight, Simon falls on his knees before Christ. He did not doubt for a moment that this catch should be attributed to the presence of Christ in the boat, and not to his, Simon's, labors. This event shook Simon's soul so much that He now calls Christ not Teacher, but Lord. For people can also be teachers, but the Lord is one. When Simon heard Christ speak wise teachings to the people from a boat that had sailed away from the shore, he did not call Him Lord. Do you see how much more important a deed is than a word? And when we speak the sweetest words to people, we will be called learned people, but only if we confirm our words with deeds, we will be called people of God. Probably, Simon also, hearing the words of Christ, thought in his heart: "How beautifully and wisely He speaks!"

But listen to what Simon said to the Lord. Instead of expressing his gratitude for such a gift and his admiration for this miracle, he says: come out from me! Did not the people of Gadara also ask Christ to leave them when He healed the demoniac man? Yes, but not from the same motives that Peter did. The Gadarenes drove Christ away from them out of covetousness, for they felt sorry for the pigs, which had been drowned by demons expelled from man by the Lord. Peter, meanwhile, says, "Because I am a sinful man." Out of a sense of his sinfulness and unworthiness, he asks the Lord to leave him. This sense of one's own sinfulness in the presence of God is the precious stone of the soul. The Lord values him more than all the formal hymns of admiration and gratitude. For if a man sings many hymns of admiration and gratitude to God, but does not feel his sinfulness, it is of no use to him. This sense of sinfulness leads to repentance, repentance to Christ, and Christ to resurrection. The feeling of one's sinfulness is the beginning of the path of salvation. When a person wanders along the wrong roads for a long time, then he can only follow this path, no longer turning from it either to the left or to the right. What was the use of the prayer of that Pharisee, who thought that he was giving praise to God by praising himself in the temple? It was not he who was justified before God, but the publican who struck his breast, crying out to God: God! be merciful to me, a sinner" (Luke 18:13)! But, behold, this is the beginning of Peter's teaching of faith in Christ. The time will come when he will say something completely different to the Savior. The time will come when many of Christ's disciples will depart from Him and when Peter will say to the Lord: Lord! To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life (John 6:66-68). And now, in the beginning, terrified by the power of the Lord, he said to Him, "Depart from me, O Lord!

Terror, however, seized not only Peter, but also his associates: James and John, the sons of Zebedee, and all who were with them. All of them, therefore, began with the fear of the Lord, and ended with the love of Christ. As it is written: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7).

To Peter's fear, kneeling and exclamation, the Good and Omniscient Lord answers:

Don't be afraid; From now on you will catch men. That is: this world is a sea of passions, my Church is a boat, and my Gospel is a snare with which you will catch people. Without Me you can do nothing, just as last night you could not catch anything; but with Me you will always have such a catch that your boat will be overflowing. Only be always obedient to Me, as you were today and you will not be afraid of any depth, and you will never return from fishing empty-handed.