Holy Martyr and Archdeacon Lawrence (249-51)
2 Corinthians 5:15-21; Mark 1:16-22
Post-feast of the Transfiguration; Dormition Fast
Read Mark 1:16-22
Today’s Gospel passage echoes to the Feast of Pentecost. Today we read: “And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men” (Mk. 1:16). In the Acts of the Apostles, we read that after the Holy Spirit descended and Peter made his speech, “those who gladly received his word were baptised; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them” (Acts 2:41). Christ’s words to Simon and Andrew while they were casting a net into the sea are now fulfilled by the descent of the Holy Spirit and the preaching of the apostles. Now they are “fishing” for men and bringing in large numbers.
Note that the passage from Acts does not say that three thousand souls “converted;” it says three thousand souls were “added.” The true Church was formed with the descent of the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room on Pentecost, and the Holy Spirit continues today to join the newly baptised to that same community, the Body of Christ, assembled in the Upper Room.
Jesus invited Simon and Andrew to follow Him to make them fishers of men. At first, they were ordinary fishermen catching fish, but working together with God they would catch the entire world. When God and man work together, our earthly acts are elevated by grace. In no greater way do we see the synergy between God and man than in the celebration of the sacraments. If we open ourselves to cooperating with God, there is no limit to the miracles that God can work through us in the world.