His Grace Bishop John Yazigi Sunday Sermon
Dean & Abbot of Balamand July 7 2002
Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men
Second Sunday after Pentecost
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
Walking by the Sea of Galilee, the Lord Jesus saw Peter and Andrew. He said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." And they immediately left their nets, and followed him.
Afterwards, he saw James and John, the sons of Zebedee. He repeated the same words to them, so they left their father and followed him.
Beloved! Let's meditate today on this event, the calling of the disciples in which Jesus invites the fishermen Peter and Andrew, and also James and John, saying, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
The Lord is the One who invites. He is the One Who "makes" fishers of men.
People usually try to live depending on their own strength. They search for their ends meet, as did the fishermen on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. The Lord passed by and called them, saying: "Leave behind your nets and your ship, leave your parents, your father and mother, put away everything, and follow me. I will make you fishers of men and not of fish." This takes you back to the calling of each and everyone of us.
As you know there are the royal priesthood of all and the ministerial priesthood. Every person baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus is anointed with the Holy Chrism of the Holy Spirit and is given the pure body and blood of the Lord Jesus. Every baptized person coming out of the baptismal font, which symbolizes the womb of the church, becomes in a way a priest of the most high, an icon of God, seeking to proclaim God in his life. There are some faithful who would like to consecrate their life to the Lord in the service of his holy people in the church through the priesthood or through the monastic life.
All of us, clergy, laity and monastics, ought to remember the words the Lord to His disciples, "Follow me and I will make you." Most often we forget these words, and we take pride in our works and education. We think in a way or another that we are going to fix the world and the Church or we will accomplish greater good. No, my beloved. It is God who plants and we water. It is God who develops these plants. Everyone ought to remember this and look to the One Who made Him a Christian and a servant in the church. It is Him Who is our source of strength and this strength keeps us walking on the path of virtue, and makes us good shepherds in His Holy Church.
"Follow me " They left everything and followed Him. Whoever wants to be totally dedicated to the Lord, he or she must leave everything behind. This is the hardest thing to do in the world. It is difficult to get rid of our desires. We are usually self-absorbed, self-loving, wanting to posses. In order to abandon this love, we face difficulties. We shall not be faithful disciples to the Savior unless we abandon all our weaknesses and passions, the old man of sin, desire, and self-centeredness, and seek to be a new creation on the likeness of the Lord Jesus into Whom we were baptized in the baptismal font. Unless we do this, our march to the Lord would trip up.
They left everything and followed him." Every faithful has to leave everything, to die to the world and all its enticements as the Apostle Paul mentions. Doing this, the faithful participates in the saving act of the Lord's crucifixion. Whoever wants to consecrate himself to the priesthood or to the monastic life, he has to leave behind everything in the world. This is not because the world is corrupt, but because in doing so man can fully seek the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Today's Gospel, beloved, reminds all the faithful, monastic, clergy, or layperson, of the Lord's loving invitation to come to Him. Shall we answer the call? Shall we reply to his cry: "Come to me?"
Are we going to imitate the Holy Apostles as our example to imitate leave everything and follow Him? This question is directed to the conscience of each one of us. The Lord who loves us and came to us who are sinners, the mighty creator and lover, savior and redeemer came to us to save us from perdition and the hell of sin.
Shall we answer His call? Shall we extend our hand towards him, abandon everything and seek what He wants from us?
Today's Gospel reminds us of this invitation to follow Jesus and carry the Cross of the Lord and practice His commandments from all our heart and being, and members and senses. The Lord Jesus gives us the power to discover our calling, to recognize His voice in us and answer the call. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Whoever follows Him shall never walk in darkness but shall be in the light and receive eternal life. To Him be all glory and blessing. Amen
