In lacum Genesareth et in sanctum Petrum apostolum

Of our father among the saints John Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople, a homily on the lake of Gennesaret and on the holy apostle Peter. When the teacher is renowned, then the student is obedient, then the student is hopeful; when the teacher is eager, then the teacher reaps profit; when the student shows diligence, then the student receives the teacher's art, because he embraces the discipline as a friend. For it is otherwise impossible for a teacher to shine, unless he finds the student's lamp supplied with the oil of love of learning; and it is otherwise impossible for him to shine, unless the teacher pours forth the channels of wisdom abundantly. For both sides require effort and zeal, and each must contribute his power to the building up of improvement: one must sharpen his tongue, the other prepare his hearing; one must have his mind fully equipped, the other present a tranquil soul. These things are necessary not only in bodily matters, but are especially urgent in spiritual matters. For just as in bodily education a boy is not otherwise freed from the rod unless he stays awake over his lessons, so too in spiritual teachings a mortal is not otherwise released from condemnation unless, according to the prophet, he meditates on the law of the Lord day and night. Since these things are so, and all of us present are fellow students in Christ—for we all have one and the same master and teacher, Christ, according to the divine saying, "And all shall be taught of God"—

Bring forth today also the twofold hearing—the spiritual, I mean, and the bodily—and let us prepare it more spaciously for the Lord’s teaching, so that receiving the word as seed, we may be able to bear fruit from the Lord’s care in thirtyfold, and in sixtyfold, and in hundredfold the many-grained ear of obedience. For you heard just now the evangelist Luke crying out: “And Jesus, having embarked on one of the boats, which was Simon’s, asked him to put out a little from the land. And sitting down, he taught the crowds from the boat.” Did you see the divinely announced teaching of the teacher? Did you see the lovable thronging of the crowd? Did you see the soul-beneficial zeal of the disciples? Did you see the rewarded perseverance of the people? Did any of those hearing the word of God grow weary, or depart from the lake, or come down from the mountain, or ask, saying as some of those present do: “Why do you spin out the word, teacher? I have something to do, an appointment awaits me, I have not yet bought anything for lunch, the hour for the bath has passed, and now the heat oppresses me”? Did any of those present at that time say any of these things to the Master? Not at all. Why? Because they knew that he who had spoken all things is good in their season. You have entered the church of God, you have been deemed worthy of the company of Christ: if you are not dismissed, do not leave; for if you leave before the dismissal, you travel the road as a deserter. Six days you spend on bodily matters, and two hours you devote to spiritual things. Do not be sour here and cheerful outside; do not have a frown here and a smile outside; do not praise here and revile outside. We are presenting the things of the Lord; we are not telling myths, are we?

We read the prophets—do we then abhor the righteous? We remember the apostles—do we then despise the fathers? You often go up to the theater and do not come down until the dismissal; and you enter the church and leave before the divine mysteries? Fear him who said, “He who despises a thing will be despised by it.” What then does the evangelist Luke say? It happened that while the crowd was pressing upon Jesus, he himself was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. O the skillful teaching of the Lord! The river stood by the lake—or rather, the fisherman of men came to the lake, to catch the hunters of fish. For nothing is idle with the Master Christ—not place, not word, not riddle, not step. For since Peter and Andrew, James and John were tracking down the Lake of Gennesaret, practicing the art of fishing, having their hope in uncertainties, letting down worn nets, contending with the boundless deep, not seeing whence they should be fed, stealing rather than laboring, luring rather than persuading—for without deceit a fish is not caught—the Lord, observing these with his divine and unerring gaze, seeing that they were suited for the catching of fish, came to the lake to counter-sweep them, using not a dyed net but a teaching word. And because the aforementioned apostles, trusting in the lake-running boats, did not know the Master of the lake and of all things, for this reason the Lord came to the lake, to teach the crowds and to hook the fishermen. What then does the evangelist say?

Jesus, having embarked on one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, asked him to put out a little from the land. Do you see how he who has no need of a boat embarks in a boat, in order to gain the master of the boat? And why does the Lord also entreat Simon? Why? Listen attentively. Simon, as you have just heard, having labored throughout the whole night and accomplished nothing, remained without success. He was greatly distressed, washing his nets with empty hands, joining toil to toil and seeing no profit. For this reason the Lord, having seen Peter dejected, entreats him; for he is the comforter of the afflicted. For the Lord saw Simon afflicted, and answering him with a word of encouragement, said: Lend me your little boat for a little while, sailor, that I may enter and teach and catechize the multitude which you see following me; let your little boat be a church for me, sailor; hear the word of God. Do not think me burdensome; for I have come to improve you. Abandon your vain bodily hope, and look to the spiritual portion; lend me your little boat for a little while, sailor. But Simon, still immersed in the grief of his failure, answered the Lord and said: From where have you come, stranger? Why do you trouble me? Look for some other boat, if you wish to wander about the lake. Do you see me mourning, as one not having bread, and you promise to supply the word of God? Shall I not look around for money to borrow, that I may feed my mother-in-law and my wife, but instead spread out my little boat for you, that I may toil in vain by day as by night?

If you bring a fare, board the boat; but if you cannot bear it, go away, I beg you; for a gift, not a word, nourishes me. But the Lord said to Simon, "Do not be vexed, Simon; truly you speak as a sailor; the word of God is more nourishing than bread; I will feed you abundantly; for I am the bread of life. Do not consider my presence a loss; take as much as you wish; for I am the well-provisioned child of a wealthy father." Hearing this, Simon, having brightened his face a little, received the Lord into the boat, and rowing with oars, said to him, "Sit in the middle, stranger." He was disposed as one carrying a passenger, not perceiving that he was carrying the one who carries all things. Jesus, having embarked on the boat, which was Simon's, asked him to put out a little from the land. And when Simon had put out, in hope of payment, Jesus sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. And what did he teach? Unfeigned love, unwavering faith, guileless peace, undivided brotherly love, unadulterated piety, knowledge of God

free from love of money, unstained virginity, unbroken asceticism, undivided union; to endure every toil for the sake of truth, not to shrink from those who kill the body, but who cannot kill the soul. While the Lord was teaching these things and still adding more, saying: "He who loves his soul will lose it"; and again: "He who wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me"; and further: "Do not acquire gold, nor silver, nor bronze for your belts, nor a bag, nor a purse, nor two tunics." While the Lord was teaching these things, Simon, who had seemed to have let the boat to the Lord, began to grumble and say to himself: "Shall I expect to receive payment from this man? I have fallen into a daily loss; what has happened to me today? He talks about poverty; he teaches that no one should have anything. Perhaps he wants me to sell even the boat, so that I may distribute to the poor; shall I expect to receive payment from him?" While Simon was saying these things to himself, the Lord completes the teaching, in order to display the miracle and to fully convince Simon. For it is a labor to persuade a layman by word alone at any time.

Then, when the Lord had fulfilled his word and the whole crowd was pleased, Simon approached the Lord and said: "Your words are good, and your voice is pleasant, and your teaching is valuable, but nevertheless, fulfill for me the matter of the agreement; command me to receive the wage of my fishing, so that I too, rejoicing with the crowd, may go to my home." And the Lord said to Simon: "As you have just heard, do you wish to receive your wage, Simon? Put out again into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch, and take the wage promised to you by me." And Simon said to the Lord: "Shall I fish again and let down nets and endure toil? Would that I had not even groped with empty hands in the night. For are you more skilled than my fishing? Or do you possess something in the unseen deep? You can be a teacher; but are you also a hunter of fish? Get away from me; for I see you carrying nothing. Why do I also waste the time? Did I not testify this to you from the beginning?" And the Lord said to Simon: "Do not regard me as resourceless, Simon; do not observe my hands and my bosom; I carry your wage not in my hands, but in my mouth. Having toiled all night, you took nothing; for night is the time of poverty, the Jewish way of thinking. Let down the nets in the day of grace; for light is the time of good fruit, the Christian obediences. Put out again into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch." Then Simon said to the Lord: "As you have just heard, Master, having toiled all night, we took nothing, but at your word I will let down the nets.

And when they had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fish; but the net was breaking. O the paradoxical things! Peter was not lacking in concern: the net was breaking. And he looked around for Christ, and he observed the fish, and he considered the matter. He was not able to release the burden, and he summoned helpers; for they nodded, it says, to their partners in the other boat, in which were James and John, that they should come and assist them. They nodded, they did not shout, those sailors who accomplish nothing without shouting and uproar. Why? Because the strangeness of the matter reduced them to speechlessness. For what had they to shout, except only to nod, as if beholding a divine mystery? And those from the other boat, where James and John were, having run together, began to gather the fish, and the more they gathered, the more they multiplied. For the fish were eager, each one to be first to serve the command of the Master; the small ones outran the large, the medium-sized outflanked the larger, the large leaped over the small; they did not wait for the hands of the fishermen, but they threw themselves headlong into the boat. The bottom of the lake was not stirred, none of the fish remained below.

He endured it, for they knew the one who had said, "Let the waters bring forth creeping things of living souls." What then of Simon, who had fallen into two difficulties, who had labored through the night and caught nothing, and by day, at the word of Jesus, had hunted everything? When he saw the nets torn, and many other fish standing outside and gaping to be caught, and not enduring to stay far from the nets, as one suffering violence, he fell at the Lord's feet, saying, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. I know now who you are; I have never seen such a catch of fish. It is customary, Master, for the fish to be enclosed within the net; but now I see the opposite: the fish outside are holding the net. Depart from me, I beg you. Restrain your divine command now; leave at least two fish in the lake for breeding. Depart from me; I am not pushing you away, but I am lamenting myself." "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord." And the Lord said to Simon, "I will depart, Simon, from your boat; I am departing; but I will enter into you. For this reason I came to you. For while hunting, you were hunted; what you do, you have suffered. For you drag from life to death, but I from death to life. Do not fear, Simon; from now on you will capture men alive. Leave the lake, net the world; break the rod, and prepare the cross; tear the line, and proclaim piety; cast away the hook, and heal diseases; hate the nets, and forge the keys of heaven; depart from the boat, and enter the Church.

Do not fear, Simon; from now on you will be catching men alive. O the power of the Lord! O the understanding of Peter! The fisherman who had been caught did not say, "What is this strange counsel of the teacher? I will catch men alive, and what net shall I prepare? And where shall I set these man-trapping nets? Does not a word that has hooked me seize me?" Simon said none of these things; he only heard, and immediately obeyed. He did not sell the fish, he did not need his prosperity, he did not take leave of his wife, he did not say to the Master, "Save my modest means, Master; let me settle accounts with my creditors, let me leave a small provision for my household." Simon said none of these things; for he was wholly Peter. And not only Peter obeyed the Lord's command, but also Andrew, and James, and John; for these are the two faithful and sister pairs. Do you see the Lord's business? For what reason did he go to the lake? That he might teach the crowds and hook the fishermen. You have just heard the evangelist saying, "And having brought their boats to land, leaving everything, they followed Jesus.

And what of the Lord? For it is necessary to conclude the discourse. When he saw the eagerness of the apostles, that they had left everything and followed him, he hastens to provide healing, lest the devil find a foothold of disbelief; for the race of humans is prone to change of mind and ready for counterbalance. For the apostles of the Lord would have said, if they had seen no other sign, "Have we not in vain abandoned our possessions and followed him? And has the gathering of the fish occurred in some natural way, and not by divine command?" Therefore, so that the apostles might not be stained by such thoughts, he merely withdrew from the lake, and in one of the nearby cities, with a crowd having gathered, he opens a divinely healed clinic, and immediately by will alone he strips the leper and cleanses his speckled sheepskin of leprosy, so that Peter and those with him might know that not only do the animate fish obey the Lord's command, but also the inanimate affliction is put to flight by his nod. And you were just now hearing the leper crying out, "Lord, if you wish, you are able to cleanse me." O the knowledge of the leper's pious doctrine! Not

The leprous skin, wholly filthy, stained his orthodox opinion; the disease crept from without, for within it found no pasture; it devoured the body, but did not touch the soul; it bore an insulting title, but the companion did not approach; he was full of leprosy, but he hated the lawless Uzziah; the synagogue thrust him away, but the Church embraced him; Moses insulted him, but Christ healed him. Here he is healed, and there he is commanded to offer the gifts of healing. Why? So that both the philanthropy of the Lord Christ might be known, and the mercantile spirit of the covetous Jews might be revealed. What then does the reproach of the heterodox, the leper, say? "Lord, if you wish, you are able to cleanse me." I do not say, "Beseech," but "Exercise authority"; I do not say, "Pray," but "Heal." For it is proper to God to heal by his own will, not by another's nod. "Lord, if you wish, you are able to cleanse me." For I heard the prophet saying, "Our God in heaven and on earth did all that he wished." Since, then, you brought all things into being by will, and stretched out the heavens like a skin, and spread out the earth like a linen cloth, and clothed the things between them in manifold forms, restore to me also the garment of nature, so that I may shun the law as burdensome and glorify grace as philanthropic, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.