In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
Today’s apostolic epistle tells us that he who sows sparingly – reaps also sparingly, and he who sows bountifully gathers a bountiful harvest. And sometimes it seems to us: what can I sow – I am so wretched: how can I sow when I have nothing that I can sow for eternal life, not temporary, but eternal?.. And then we must remember that an earthly sower, which sows the seed in the field, does not sow something he owns; he did not create a seed; it does not belong to him. The Lord created the seed, the Lord gave strength, the Lord opened the field before him, and this seed is the Lord’s seed; it will bear fruit not because the sower is rich, not because he knows how to sow, but because he generously spreads what the Lord gives him from hour to hour throughout the field. He cannot claim for himself this seed, he cannot even feel that he is rich, and he can only feel that seed is pouring from his hands over the face of the earth, and believe that this seed will bear fruit.
And so, in some moments of life it happens that you sow: you sow from the bottom of your heart, you sow with love: you sow, however, with a cramped feeling that you are so wretched, that you have nothing to give. And suddenly you remember that the Lord is a great Sower, that He created and sows a seed and gives fruit to this seed, and warms it with the sun, and grows it …
Christ entered the boat of Peter and ordered him to sail away from the earth, and He spoke, as if the seed poured and laid down in the souls of men. Peter then did not notice what the Lord was doing, but when the Savior told him: Plunge the net into the sea, and when he collected so many fish that he could not place the catch in the ship, suddenly he faced the image of the One Who sowed this seed. Here it’s like a parable: Christ sowed the word, and no one noticed what kind of wealth it was: but when Peter pulled out many fish, he suddenly discovered the wealth that the Lord gives, as if the seed had blossomed. And he was scared: Get away from me, Lord, I’m a sinful person, I’m scared to stand with the One Who can do this… But Christ reassured him: Do not be afraid, now you will not catch fish, but gather living human souls into the net of the Lord, bring them, remove them from the storm, so that they enter peace… And Peter left everything and, together with his friends, went after Christ.
What a generous lesson to us, how simple it is! To follow Christ does not mean for us to go somewhere, it means to remain with Him and to sow in the same way as He sowed, and to collect in the Kingdom of Heaven in the same way as He collected. To sow, without thinking about whether I am rich or poor: only love is needed here – the Lord will give seed. And when you suddenly find out how terrible our deed is, because it is God’s work itself, we will listen to God’s word: Do not be afraid: sow, sow by open, loving heart. You will gather a rich harvest, but the seed was not yours, and the harvest will belong to the Lord … What a joy! Indeed, the time will come, which is stated in the Gospel when both he who sows and he who reaps a harvest will rejoice together. Amen.
Source: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Antonij_Surozhskij/propovedi/15_39
