WEBVTT

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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

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of the Holy Spirit, amen. Glory to Jesus Christ.

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Today's gospel is taken from the fifth chapter

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of the Gospel of St. Luke. You probably noticed

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that during the summertime, after Pentecost,

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we have the gospel readings from the Gospel of

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Matthew, but then after the Feast of the Elevation

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of the Holy Cross, we move into readings from

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Luke. This is informally called the Lucan Jump

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when we move into the Gospel readings from Luke.

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This, of course, depends on the variableness

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of our Orthodox Byzantine lectionary on when

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Easter is. Be that as it may, this gospel, the

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miraculous catch of fish, occurs at the very

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beginning of Jesus' public ministry. This miraculous

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catch of fish, this miracle, begins more or less

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Jesus' public ministry in the three what are

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called synoptic gospels. Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

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And then a similar or parallel event occurs at

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the end of St. John's Gospel, but we'll get to

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that in a moment or two. This is the beginning

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of Jesus' ministry. It's the calling of Simon

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and Andrew. Simon, of course, his name is changed

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to Peter by our Lord. But Simon and Andrew and

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then James and John, their partners, sons of

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Zebedee, they're all fishermen. Most of Jesus'

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disciples were fishermen. What does St. Luke's

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narration of this miracle is the most detailed

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compared to Mark and Matthew. because it has

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a very significant element in there. It is the

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reaction of St. Peter. Notice what Peter does,

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and this is only, again, in Luke's Gospel. He

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says, depart from me, for I am a sinful man.

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That has always impressed me, because it shows

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the recognition of sinfulness in the presence

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of holiness. Depart from me, for I am a sinful

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man. We have the same sentiment oftentimes in

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our services, especially I'd call your attention

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to the prayer before Holy Communion. After we

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say, I believe, O Lord, and I confess that thou

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art truly the Christ, the Son of the living God,

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who didst come into the world to save sinners,

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of whom I am the first. The post -resurrectional

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miraculous catch of fish after the resurrection

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occurs only in St. John's Gospel. And here, Peter

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figures prominently also in this miracle. This

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is, again, the miracle after Jesus' resurrection.

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and it contains a very curious note. St. John

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tells us that all of these were miraculous catches

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of fish, and they all toiled all night long in

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Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and here they toiled.

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They didn't catch anything either. So Jesus tells

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them, throw the net on the other side of the

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boat. which of course is what they do, and they

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bring in a miraculous catch of fish. And then,

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curiously, I don't know if there's any significance

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here, but this net doesn't break. Some of the

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fathers see that there's a significance in that.

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But the fish are so many in the first narration

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of the first miracle that the nets start to break.

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Well, since I brought that up, I'll tell you

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what other interpretations is. that this shows

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that, well, first let me tell you the number

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of fish that they caught. 153 fish. That has

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puzzled Christians for 1 ,900 years. Why are

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there 153 fish? Those of you that are successful

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in fishing, you put your fish on the stringer,

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you probably don't even count them up, but here

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they say 153 fish. Now this, of course, has produced

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endless speculation, especially in numerology.

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50 times 3 plus 3, all that kind of stuff. But

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I don't think that really isn't so much to the

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point. But there is one curious element in there.

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And St. Jerome remarks that at that time biologists

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thought that there were 153 species of fish in

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the world. Now we know that depending on how

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you count species of fish nowadays, there are

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between, my matushka and I looked this up, there

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are between, at her prompting. There are between

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20 and 30 ,000 species of fish. But I am inclined

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to St. Jerome's interpretation of 153 fish, symbolizing

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every single fish that exists. And this shows

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that the gospel message that the apostles are

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to preach should be preached in all the world.

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And the gospel and the church are for all men

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and women, all races of all times. Peter again.

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He recognized the holiness of Jesus in Luke's

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gospel. And then you know what Peter did at...

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our Lord's passion and what he would put on trial.

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He came and he denied Jesus three times in the

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presence even of a teenage maid. And he began

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to swear, I don't know that man. And so that

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he did this three times. And at the gospel at

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the end of the miraculous catch of fish, at the

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end of St. John's gospel, That provides the opportunity

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for Jesus to say to him, Peter, do you love me?

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Ask him that three times, corresponding to the

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three denials. And then feed my lambs, feed my

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fish. The first miraculous catch of fish that

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we read, Jesus says, You will become fishers

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of men. You will catch men. And then this is

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fulfilled again in the universal call with these

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153 fish. St. John might tell me in the kingdom

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of heaven, they just had 153 fish. There's no

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significance to it. But I think it's curious

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to see what possibilities there might be. But

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for us, What does this all mean to us? Jesus

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says you will catch, be fishers of men. This

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is discipleship, following Jesus. These three,

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the miraculous catch of fish at the beginning

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of the three Gospels, they notice the evangelist

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said they left everything, they left their nets

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and followed him. discipleship, like Peter, Andrew,

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James, and John, and all the disciples. This

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is our inspiration to renew our discipleship

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to Jesus Christ. There's no such thing, or there

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should be no such thing, as a part -time Christian.

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Whoever here is a part -time Christian, raise

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your hand. Don't anybody raise your hand. We're

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all expected to be full -time Christians. We

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don't live up to it all the time, but that is

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the expectation that Jesus has of each and every

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one of us, myself and all of you. So this should

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be our... thought for the day, so to speak. And

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we ask through the intercession of those fishermen

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that are called today, Peter, James, and John,

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and Andrew, to give us their prayers to make

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us, like them, renewed, full -time disciples

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of Jesus Christ. Amen.