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.

And having pulled both boats ashore, they left everything and followed Him. They left the boats, let others do what they want with them. Moreover, Peter left his house and wife, and James and John their father's house and his father. And they followed Him. What should they worry about? Did they not worry and toiled all night, but in vain? He who can create all things without difficulty will be able to nourish them and their kinsmen. He who clothes the lilies of the field in a garment more beautiful than that of King Solomon, will take care of their garments also. Food and clothing are the least things. Meanwhile, the Lord calls them to the greatest, to the Kingdom of God. And if He can give them the greatest, will He not provide them with the least? The same Apostle Peter later wrote: "Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7). And, finally, if deaf and dumb fish in the water listen to Him, how can people, verbal creatures, not listen to Him?

However, this whole parable also has a hidden inner meaning. The boat means the body, the breaking nets - the old spirit in man, the depth of the sea - the depth of the human soul. When the Living Lord dwells in an obedient person, then the person sails away from the shore of this material world and withdraws from the shallow waters of the flesh to the spiritual depths. In these depths the Lord reveals to him the innumerable riches of His gifts, which man tried in vain to obtain by himself, by his labors all night of his life. But these gifts are so enormous that the old spirit cannot contain them and bursts out of them. That is why the Lord said that no one pours new wine into old skins. Seeing the unheard-of riches of God's gifts, an obedient person is filled with fear and horror both from God's omnipotence and from his own sins. And then he would be glad to hide from God, so that God would go out from him, and he would return to his old spirit and old life. For as soon as God's radiance and mercy are revealed to man, his own sinfulness, unworthiness, and long-term separation from God are immediately revealed to him. But he whom God has brought out into the depths of the spirit, He does not forsake, but in spite of his painful cries: come out from me, O Lord! - encourages and comforts with the words: do not be afraid. Further, when the Lord bestows upon an obedient man His indescribable Divine wealth, He does not want this wealth to remain only with him, like a talent buried in the ground by a wicked servant; but God wants the obedient person to share this gift with others. Wherefore Peter calls for another boat to load all the fish he has caught, and shares the catch with his companions, James and John, and the rest who were with them. But James, John, and all the rest of them are at work, pulling out nets, filling boats with fish, and rowing to the shore. In the same way, every obedient person, receiving the gift of God through another person, must know that this gift comes from God, and not from man; It is necessary immediately, without delay, to begin to work, preserving, multiplying, and further distributing this gift. The fact that obedient fishermen, having pulled the boats ashore, left the boats and everything else and followed Christ, means that a person gifted by God in the depths of the spirit leaves his body with passions and sinful ties that were hitherto guilty. And he leaves everything, that is, he leaves not only the body and bodily ties, but also the old spirit and all the ties of his old spirit, and follows Him Who clothes everyone who is called into a new robe of salvation and Who constantly calls the obedient to the great depths of the spiritual. The words of the Savior spoken to Peter: "From now on you will catch men" mean that the apostles, bishops, priests, and in general all Christians who have received gifts from God, out of love and duty, work in order to catch, that is, to save, as many people as possible with the help of these gifts. Each according to his gift: the one to whom more is given is obliged to bring a greater catch, and the one to whom less is given will have to bring less, as the Lord clearly teaches in the parable of the talents. The slave who received five talents brought ten talents, and the slave who received two talents brought four. If only no one would be proud of God's gift as his own, would not hide it from people and bury his body in the grave, for such a person will condemn himself to hell of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Thus, this Gospel story is full of teachings specifically for our time and our generation. Oh, if only the people of our time would take from this Gospel reading at least a teaching about obedience to God! Through obedience, all other teachings would be fulfilled by themselves. And all the riches that the human heart can desire would be caught in the golden net of Gospel obedience. We have before us two examples of obedience: the obedience of the fish and the obedience of the apostles. It is difficult to say which of them is more touching. The fish carry out the command of the Lord and without delay lay their lives at His feet. The Lord created them because of the bodily need of man. But look at how fish can also satisfy one of the spiritual needs of people! To apostatic, rebellious and disobedient people, they showed an example of obedience to the Creator. Indeed, these fish could not have been more famous even if they had lived and swam in the Lake of Gennesaret for another thousand years! They redeemed their lives with the great honor of serving in the economy of the Lord the Redeemer, as an example and a reproach to disobedient people. The unspeakable mercy of God is also evident in this. The Lord uses His creations to turn man away from the path of perdition, to awaken him, to sober him up, and to raise him to the height of his original dignity. But the example of apostolic obedience is also touching. Simple people are usually more attached to their home and their relatives than secular people. For the latter have many different connections in the world, and if they neglect some connections, others will remain with them. But these simple fishermen abandon everything, reject their small but very strong ties with the world, home and relatives - and with themselves - and follow Christ to a great and rich spiritual depth. Time has shown that the Lord divinely rewarded their obedience. They became pillars of the Church of God on earth and great luminaries in the Kingdom of Heaven. Let us all hasten to take advantage of their example of obedience. The night of our life on earth passes quickly, and all our labors remain in vain this night, and our snares are empty, and our heart is filled with despondency, and our soul and our mind hunger - without God's help. The Good Lord stands near the boat of each of us and asks. He, the Most High Creator and Almighty, asks each of us to let Him into our boat and with Him to fearlessly set sail from the shallow waters, from the muddy puddle of life, to the great depths of the spiritual sea, where He will fill our boats with all the longed-for abundance! So let us listen to Him while He asks, for when He dawns, we will see Him no longer as a Supplicant, but as a Judge. Let us not reject His request to enter into our hearts and souls, just as Peter did not reject Him; for He desires to enter in, not for His own sake, but for our sake. Know that it is not easy for the Most Pure One to enter under an unclean roof. Know that this is a sacrifice offered by Him. But He makes this sacrifice out of love for us. He doesn't ask us to let him in and take anything: He wants to give. He asks us only to allow Him to do a service and a sacrifice - and a sacrifice! - for us. Let us hear, my brethren, the voice of the Supplicant before we hear the voice of the Judge.

To our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ be honor and glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, One-in-Essence and Indivisible, now and ever, at all times and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost. The Gospel of Perfect Mercy

Luke, 26 rec., 6:31-36.

If people remembered God's mercy to them every day, they themselves would be merciful to one another.