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2nd Sunday in Matthew Ocala June 10, 2007 "Follow Me, and I shall make you Fishers of men!" Matthew 4:19 With that most simple invitation, the great Miracle of the Lord's Church has its beginning. After the Lord had fasted in the wilderness for 40 days, during which He was tempted three times by Satan, He walked down to the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and sees two men preparing their nets for their daily chore of fishing. Approaching them He says: "Follow Me, and I shall make you Fishers of men!" . It really is odd, that no questions were asked by these two men to the Person extending the invitation, nor did He give them any personal identification. But, there is no question, they _ must have never seen such a magnetic countenance. A face, which radiated love and peace. The Bible states, that they immediately dropped their nets and followed Him. Those first called Apostles were the brothers Peter and Andrew. A little further, the Lord sees the sons of Zebedee, James and John mending their nets. Hearing the same invitation as Peter and Andrew, they responded forthrightly; they left their nets and followed Jesus. What is impressive, is the fact that the Lord didn't choose His Apostles from the intelligentsia of His Day to spread His message all over the world. Thus, no one could ever accuse, that He chose the wise to lure the poor and illiterate. He could have selected powerful people from the philosophical world, from the scientists, or the influential of the day. Furthermore, He didn't force religion upon the people, neither by the sword or persecutions. He simply preached love and peace for all, by word and by example. St. Paul in 1st Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 27, verifies this by saying: "that God has chosen the foolish of the world, to shame the wise." Worthy of note, is the fact, that Jesus made no promises of any kind to the poor fishermen. Rather, He repeatedly told them, that He had nothing; not even a place to lay His head. Later though, after they had become witnesses to His lofty teachings and His Miracles, the Lord promised them, that in the future, when He would come into His Glory, the Disciples would sit on 12 thrones to judge he 12 tribes of Israel! The Disciples left their livelihood, and all that they had, with no guarantee for their future. Were they rewarded materially on this earth? By no means; but supernaturally they were rewarded because, formerly being illiterate, now they became fountains of wisdom, speaking in various tongues, and performing Miracles in imitation of the Lord, by His Grace. So now, here we are, some 2000 years later, and millions of Christians continue to venerate them, especially on their Nameday. We feel close to them, and commemorate them at all times. That is why, in their honor, the God-inspired hymnographer composed the beautiful main hymn of the Day of the Holy Spirit,-that is, the Day after Pentecost, as follows: "Blessed are You, O Christ our God, Who made the fishermen all-wise, having sent down upon them the Holy Spirit, and through them, You drew the world into Your net; O Merciful Lord, Glory be to You." Thus, the simple invitation to the Fishermen to follow the Lord some 2000 years ago, without question, have become history. But the Lord's invitation reaches out to every soul for all time. It has not stopped reverberating in the hearts of humans down through the centuries, and surely will continue until the Day He comes to judge the living and the dead. In Matthew 11:28-30 the Lord says: "Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavily laden, and I shall give you comfort. Pick up My yoke upon you, and learn from Me; for I am meek and humble in heart; and you shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is soft, and My burden is light." We know from history, and no less from our present day experiences, and of course on in future years, --- as long as people live on this earth, various invitations will always be offered from the mouths of people, and for as many purposes. In some peculiar way, most, if not all of the proposed invitations, offer so many promises to those, who would follow. They make all type of promises to all, who would follow them; --- promises, that they will benefit greatly, and assuredly will achieve much happiness. But the wise and conservative recognize, that all such invitations are sugar-coated. One can readily see the diametric difference between invitations. Those who offer the sugar-coated invitations with all types of promises, by and large benefit greatly, whereas their followers are always left hanging. However, the Lord's invitation is aimed at the human soul, hoping that the listener will accept this invitation to save his or her soul. The Lord seeks to free us from the humane;--- the material, which of their own cannot grant the desired happiness. By following the Lord, we have the promise that He will raise us up to the heights of Heaven. Just think on one of the Lord's declarations, When He poses the question: "For what shall it profit a person, if he or she would gain the whole world, and lose their own soul?" And, "what can a person gain in exchange for his or her soul." The Lord based the complete substance of His teaching on the worth of the soul, which is the breath that God gave us from creation. The soul, which people sell so readily, to their own detriment and devastation. Christianity presents to us the greatest Heroes in the history of humankind. And these Heroes became such, because they conformed totally with the Lord's teaching, when He said: "Do not fear those, who could cause you bodily harm, even causing your death, but beware of those, who could bring damage to your soul!" Matthew 10:28 Casting a glance at society and the world today, one sees much unhappiness and pain, but very little happiness. But, odd as it may seem, there is a solution to the complex societal and world turmoil. It is a simple solution which hinges on the world's acceptance of the will of God! The world, as individuals, or as groups suffers, because so many choose to follow strictly the human invitations, which at best have a temporary value, whereas the Divine invitation, not only guarantees fulfillment, but leads us to our Heavenly destination. The media, whether it is a newspaper ad, a magazine, radio, or TV, publishes so many ads, which are laden with promises of security for those, who would follow; --- promises of riches, happiness and fulfillment. The unfortunate part is that so many fall victims to various charlatans. But the person, who is grounded in his or her principles, based on the moral code, cannot be victimized by the demagogues. The serious Christian believes in depth, that he or she possesses a soul, which is the breath of God within us. Still further if we want to achieve the happiness we all desire, we must ever be conscious, so as to be able to subject all the material things of our life, to our spiritual being. As Christians our focusing point must be aimed to perfection. We were created in the image and likeness of God, Who is perfect. Very emphatically St. Matthew in his Gospel 5:48 states: "Therefore, you are to be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect." As the first called Apostles responded to the Lord's invitation to follow Him, in like manner I think, that all you devoted Members of the greater Ocala Family responded, by the commitment to Him to establish a House of Worship in His Honor; you, all my beloved as the Lord's Flock, and I as His appointed Shepherd. We all have a Holy Mission. There cannot be a grander feeling than this, and for this, in behalf of all, I thank God for all, and in all. I always fervently call upon Him, to continue to bless and guide us, to bring to a reality our dream in common. Amen. + Fr. George Papadeas
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