St. Volodymyr's Parish

Sunday Gospel Luke 5, 1-11

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"Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” (Luke 5, 5) this is the answer of Simon, when Christ said him to go into deep water and let down their nets. By listening to today’s Gospel we can see that Simon and his friends worked all night. They were probably fishermen from birth. They inherited this profession from their fathers. They knew everything about fishing in this vicinity. They had some experience, knowledge and skills. But, as the evangelist said: they "toiled all night and took nothing”. Night was the best time for fishing and they worked all night…

And when Jesus said: "Go and let down your nets”, someone else would say: "no, you are not fisherman, you so know nothing about fishing, now is a bad time for fishing, why I should listen to you?”, but Peter said something quite different, he said: "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” "At your word I will let down the nets… Because it’s your request – we will do it.” As a result they caught so many fish, that couldn’t take them to shore. They asked their friends to come and help them and they "filled both the boats, so that they began to sink”.

When we look into our lives and listen this Gospel we should ask ourselves one question: "Do I listen to what God tells me and do I fulfil it in my life? Do I hear God’s will in my life?” We pray, ask God about different thing… But do we listen Him?

Each of us was a child, most of us have children… and I think that it’s pleasure to us when our kids listen to us, it was a pleasure for our parents when we listened to them… but do we, who are children of God, listen Him and do what He asks of us?

Christ never forces us. He didn’t say to Peter: "Go fishing, because you must do it, otherwise you will be punished”, - no, He asked him. God never forces us. God doesn’t force us to pray, to go to church. he doesn’t force us to Confess or to receive the Holy Mysteries. He never forces us… He asks us…God says: "if you are My child – find time to talk to Me in prayer; if you are My child – find time to be with Me in a church; if you are My child – find time to apologise in Confession when you offended Me, if you are My child – listen what I would like to tell you…” Simple words, but how we fulfil them in our lives? I think, that each of us can look onto our lives and give an answer for ourselves for this question. Each of us has free will, which God granted us; we have a mind, which is God’s gift as well; we have a life, which does not belong to us, but is God’s gift for us. But how we use all of these gifts depends on us.

I would like to wish for all of us that we really understand for ourselves how much we personally listen to God and fulfil His will in our lives. We see that when the apostles listened to Christ they received great rewards. Despite the fact that they worked all night and caught nothing, they didn’t give up, but at the word of Christ went and casted nets. I also wish that we never gave up in our lives. Because when we do give up and do nothing we get nothing. But if we put in the effort, listen to God and do what He asks of us, we will get a great reward, because God cares about us. He grants us everything that we need. He never leaves us alone. But sometimes we turn away from Him and do what we want to do rather than listening to Him.

I wish to us to have open ears and know how to listen God, who speaks to us; to be able to listen to our Heavenly Father, who wants everything good for us, who never forces us, but asks us… Asks us to live with Him every day, which He grants us on Earth and also for ever, in the Heavenly Kingdom, which He has prepared for us. Amen.

Fr. Andriy Mykytyuk