September 22, 2024, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros celebrated the 1st Sunday of Luke at the Slavic Vicariate Saint John the Forerunner and Baptist Orthodox Cathedral in Brooklyn, New York, alongside the clergy of the cathedral.
In his homily, His Eminence discussed the day’s Gospel reading (Luke 5:1-11), asserting his belief that one of the reasons for the Gospels’ focus on St. Peter is that “Saint Peter’s human life is a kind of a snapshot of the spiritual path of every person.” In this reading, His Eminence continued, “the Lord tests Peter’s capacity for faith,” asking Peter to “give it another try” after he has “passed a fruitless night on the water.”
Peter responds that though he has tried all night with no success, at Christ’s word he will try again. This, His Eminence stressed, is truth, belief, and faith, which is “all God expects of us – that we try with an open mind and an open heart, even when everything we perceive tells us the opposite. It’s not an easy way to live, but it is the way that makes the most sense. For even when the net is not filled, if we listen deeply and sincerely to the word of the Lord, we will find the truth of our lives made manifest.”
Read His Eminence’s full remarks here.
Photo: GOARCH/Dimitrios Panagos.
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