His Beatitude Sviatoslav: "Let us remember that the Lord God is in the boat with us”

Today we hear the story of how Jesus Christ, who comes to the shores of the Sea of ​​Galilee to proclaim the Gospel, meets fishermen who could not catch fish and were upset and desperate.

"Disappointed fishermen," says the Primate of the UGCC, "are told by Christ to go out where it is deeper and cast their nets." As His Beatitude Sviatoslav explained, this situation was strange for them, because the professional knowledge of fishermen suggested that the time and place were not suitable for fishing. However, Peter decides to cast the net at the word of Christ, although he does not really believe that anything will change. A miracle happens, and they catch so many fish that their nets begin to tear, and the boat lacks space for fish. Then Simon realized that before him was not some eccentric man, but a living God.

We often think that God will come to us only when we deserve His attention. However, if we look at the spiritual experience, we will see that the Lord God is standing next to man, perhaps at the most inconvenient moment for him.

“The Lord God is always in our boat, especially when we feel frustrated and powerless. We must understand that the boat is a living space of a person with his skills and knowledge, attitude to God and to his neighbor. When we feel lonely, thinking about where God is, why He has left us, and especially when we are experiencing the futility of our efforts, we must truly begin to seek the living God in our boat. It is interesting that He always speaks to us first,” His Beatitude Sviatoslav is convinced.

The Head of the Church noted that today we live in a difficult time when it is not easy to understand what is happening. "Today, the efforts of human wisdom and knowledge are often fruitless. We often feel like fishermen rinsing empty nets in an empty boat,” said the Primate of the Church.

"In such situations, Christ always tells us: do not give up, go out where it is deep, where it is most dangerous, and once again throw the net, perhaps at the wrong time and at the wrong time. If we do this at His word, then we will experience the power and fruitfulness of God's life-giving power and His Spirit,” the preacher is convinced.

"Let the experience of the first apostles become our experience, so that we may understand that we, as Pope Francis says, are a humanity that sails in the same boat. Let us remember that the Lord God is with us in this boat. May the moment of fear and awe become the moment of the discovery of the presence of the all-conquering power of the living God among us,” the Father and Head of the UGCC wished in conclusion.

The UGCC Department for Information