The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

The words of St. Peter should echo in our own hearts and minds: "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."

Because of the miracle he witnessed, St. Peter recognized the fact that he was in the presence of God. With this realization comes the appropriate posture, "he fell down at Jesus' knees." What is the appropriate and the natural posture for sinful men when they are in the presence of God?

Perhaps we should back up a bit and ask first, who or what are we? Do we realize who and what we truly are? Not that which the world sees or that which we delude ourselves into thinking about ourselves but, that which we really are in the eyes of God.

It is true that we are the greatest of God's creatures here on earth and that we have been placed above all of these creatures but, at the same time we must realize that we are far beneath the dignity of our Creator. There is a greater distance between us and God than there is between the most insignificant grain of sand and us. We are as nothing when we are placed next to God. And because of sin we are even lowlier.

Thus we see that St. Peter naturally and logically assumes that position which is most appropriate for him: near the ground in as lowly a position as he can assume.

When we enter the house of God, decorum requires that we do not assume that true position that we should assume (flat on our faces on the floor). Our Holy Mother the Church has established the custom for us to get down on our knees. The position for us to be in as we present our petitions, thanksgivings, adorations, etc is truly on our knees. How much more so is this position necessary when we receive Him in Holy Communion?

If we could truly see the Divinity Whose presence we are in we would faint away for fear. It is truly a gift from God that He remains hidden under the appearance of bread and wine. But, at the same time this tempts us into a contemptuous familiarity.

We must learn to see not with the eyes of our bodies but with the eyes of our souls. And as we gaze with faith upon our Lord residing in His Tabernacle the first thoughts that come to us are the same or similar to the ones used by St. Peter in today's Gospel. We express our unworthiness to be in the presence of our God.

St. Peter was overcome with humiliations at seeing the physical miracle of the catch of fishes. We on the other hand witness much greater miracles than this (The forgiveness of our sins, Transubstantiation, Holy Communion, etc.) and still we are not humbled. We do not feel overwhelmed with being in the presence of God. This most probably must be attributed to a lack of true faith.

St. Peter's and the others faith and humility was such that ". . . when they had brought their boats to land, they left all and followed Him." What is our response to seeing God and hearing His words? Are we ready, willing, and able to forget all our worldly cares and concern ourselves about eternal affairs, for even a few moments out of the day or even out of the week?

We may often wonder why the things that the Saints did in ages past are not happening today. Perhaps it is because they had a faith that we do not have today. They had a humility that we lack today. They knew who and what they were while we (following the suggestions of our passions, the world and the devils) delude ourselves into thinking we are something whereas we are nothing.

After this initial fear of St. Peter's we see that our Lord comforts him and draws him close. "Do not be afraid". He is eager to do the same with us. But, how can He if we lack that initial reverential fear and awe? To become truly intimate with God it is necessary that we first remove that which causes us to naturally recoil from His presence _ our sins. "Depart from me for I am a sinful man."

Once we have renounced our sins and turned to Him then He will lift us up. We will not rise of ourselves (that would be contrary to the humility that places us in our position in the first place). Then we will be given our mission just as St. Peter and the others were given theirs: "henceforth thou shalt catch men."

Our mission may not be the same as theirs but it will nonetheless be a great gift from God that will inspire us to "follow Him", just as the Apostles did.

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