Homily Three for the Second Sunday of Matthew
(2nd Sunday of Pentecost)
By St. John of Kronstadt
"And they (Peter and Andrew) immediately left their nets and followed Him (i.e. Christ)" (Matt. 4:20).
(2nd Sunday of Pentecost)
By St. John of Kronstadt
"And they (Peter and Andrew) immediately left their nets and followed Him (i.e. Christ)" (Matt. 4:20).
The Gospel of Matthew, read today, tells of the calling of four simple and uneducated fishermen to the apostolic ministry: the two brothers, Peter and Andrew, the sons of Jonas, and James and John, the sons of Zebedee the fisherman. It speaks of their immediate and resolute following of the Savior for the great work of the salvation of mankind; of the preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom by Jesus Christ throughout Galilee, and of His healing of all kinds of diseases and infirmities among people. Let us strive, through pious reflection and discussion, to derive benefit from the Gospel read today.
What lessons can we learn from this Gospel? The exemplary act of the simple fishermen towards Jesus Christ is quite instructive for us; their firm, unquestioning, and unwavering resolve to immediately follow Christ in all things and everywhere, their perfect obedience without any hesitation, their selflessness and impartiality towards earthly so-called goods, which are so dear to everyone – namely: to home, to parents, to wives, to other relatives, to the joyful and honest occupation of fishing and others. But you may say: we cannot emulate the apostles, we cannot leave everything behind and follow Christ, who now does not visibly walk the earth.
It is true that we cannot fully imitate the holy apostles in everything, as their position and ministry at that time were special, exceptional, and extraordinary. However, in many ways, we can and must emulate them. Can we and should we, even today, follow Christ? Of course, we do not walk visibly with Him, for He is now in heaven with the glorified humanity, while He remains with us on earth invisibly. Yet we can and must follow Christ; that is, we must live and act according to His heavenly teachings and commandments, emulate Him in His righteousness, holiness, love, mercy, gentleness, humility, peacemaking, freedom from malice, non-attachment to possessions, and voluntary poverty, as well as in His self-restraint, prayer, contemplation of God, obedience, submission to the perfect will of the Heavenly Father, and His ceaseless efforts in teaching and enlightening people, and in performing good deeds for them; His patience and long-suffering.
If we, as Christians, are to follow the teachings and life of Christ, then we can and must also emulate the example of His disciples or His first followers. They left everything for Him and followed Him. The Lord does not command all of us to abandon everything in order to follow Him. He allows us to enjoy our homes and acquired possessions, He permits us to live with our loved ones and relatives. However, He commands us not to become attached to earthly goods, as they alienate us from God, darken our souls, hinder our spiritual progress on the path to God and salvation, and distort our lives, turning everything, so to speak, upside down.
"It is impossible to serve two masters: God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13), God and the sinful flesh filled with desires; for the rebellious, sinful flesh predominantly demands what is contrary to God. For example, it craves frequent pleasures, indulgences – in short, all forms of self-gratification; it seeks to enrich itself and pays no heed to the needs of others, on the contrary, it is often ready to wrong them, to take away from them what rightfully belongs to them; it is inclined to anger, pride, envy, greed, gluttony, lack of self-control, drunkenness, idleness, and laziness. All these passions and lusts, or sins, a Christian must abandon to follow Christ; that is, to live according to His teachings in meekness, humility, and every virtue, in temperance, non-attachment, in sincere goodwill toward every person, in philanthropy, in purity and chastity, in fostering the spiritual salvation of oneself and one's neighbors, in all truth and righteousness. Indeed, there is much, much that we need to leave behind in order to adhere to Christ's teachings and to be worthy disciples and followers of Christ our God; it is essential to abandon and mortify all sins, passions, bad habits, and inclinations within ourselves – to uproot every sinful thorn from the soul and to sow therein only seeds of virtues, nurturing them with tears of repentance and prayers, constant vigilance over oneself, sorrows, and diligent labors, unquestioning obedience, and patient endurance.
Let us, with God's help, abandon our sins, passions, and desires, such as: self-love, malice, pride, deceit, envy, ill-will, judgment, hardness of heart, stinginess, greed, falsehood and lying, sensuality, lack of self-control, laziness, especially towards prayer; for prayer is as essential for a Christian as air is for the body - and only then can we follow our Heavenly Teacher and Savior. Thus, let us follow Him. Otherwise, we shall not walk with Him throughout our lives, and we shall perish in our sins: "for the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
