Fr Aidan's Sermon Sermon - Sunday 8th February 2004

We've heard about the Rabbi. Simon, James and John and the other fishermen who were on the Sea of Galilee at Capernaum. They had enquired about the carpenter's son from Nazareth, a grotty little village nowhere near as beautiful or splendid as Capernaum; and then he came to their village; he came to the synagogue; so they went and they saw how he healed someone possessed by a devil. And they all knew the man; they knew how long he had been a demoniac, weird, outcast. They were fascinated by his words. Coming out with him from the synagogue, Simon, being the first to do anything as usual, opened his mouth and his main idea was that perhaps the Rabbi could come and do something for them, so he came along to the house and they ate together. Simon was fascinated and disturbed and then he left. He wanted to hear more and James and John wanted to hear more but he disappeared, saying he had other places to go to and that he was a busy man. While he was away, they talked about him and Simon hardly slept. He had to sleep during the day because he fished by night and he couldn't sleep because of the strange Rabbi They asked Zeberdee what he thought about it and Zeberdee had seen it all before.

So he came back to Capernaum, this time not in the synagogue, but he came and there was a huge crowd, because obviously everyone here had been attracted by this great healer and a magnetic speaker who said words which just cut to the quick, which made your heart burn within you, as you knew he was right. He came and got into Simon's boat, thinking it was the best place to preach from, as the crowd were pressing in and he had the sense to see that it was probably the best place to preach from. Simon was with Jesus in the boat and again he was spellbound by his words. When he had finished, this carpenter's son who seemed to know so much but certainly didn't know much about fishing, because he told them to put their boats out and they would catch some fish. Simon, James and John had been fishing all night and caught nothing. Simon protested but pulled out into the deep and made an amazing catch of fish. Simon could do nothing else but fall to his knees and again speaking before his mind was in gear, said 'Depart from me, Lord, I'm a sinful man'. Eventually they dragged the great catch to the shore and they left everything to follow him. In the boat Simon suddenly saw two people: he saw himself, what he was and he'd seen the Son of God. Immediately it's not Rabbi he calls him, but 'Depart from me, Lord, I'm a sinful man'. Simon has become Simon Peter. That experience changes his life forever; he leaves everything and follows the Lord.

What on earth has that to do with us? They were special, they were chosen, the beginning of the church. Maybe that's the clue. We are the church. Who of us have left all and followed him? I meet them every day in the parish of St Joseph's, Ansdell. People who have left everything and followed him. Most of you here, all of you I would suggest, have left everything and followed him, as Peter, James and John have done. If you think of the old rite of marriage -it's great being older as you can remember things and I can remember as an altar server listening to the marriage vows and you have a sovereign, maybe a silver sixpence and the bride was given them by the groom. 'Gold and silver I thee give. With my body I thee worship. And there unto I plight to thee my troth'. Lovely words; I expect some of you used them when you were married and when you look at them, I plight you my troth, my truth. This is my whole life which I lay down for you. By going further, all my possessions I give to you. And she uses them too, she takes them with delight!
With my body I thee worship- the same thing that Simon did, he fell down and adored him. Most of you have left all and followed a woman or a man. It's the sacrament of marriage we celebrate, the sacrament means the presence of Christ. It was to Christ the Lord you made this pledge and it is to him you have faithfully carried out this pledge until this day. So you too have left all and followed him. It is a lifetime thing. My niece is getting married this year, she's 36 or 37 and you know who's paying for the wedding; it's my brother and sister-in-law, gold and silver I thee give, we give them to our wives and husbands and then we give them to our children and make demands on us and to our children into their thirties and forties, fifties and sixties as well. It's a whole lifetime we give. It's a Peter, James and John that we do in the sacrament of marriage.

So at this mass today, be James and John and Peter and speak to our Lord and renew your promises and ask for the fidelity and the perseverance which you need, because it's not just a wedding day, it's a whole life we give and in that encounter of Christ, we meet the same thing as Peter did, the fascination, the delight, the joy, the ecstasy of marriage. Any yet that bewilderment, the frustration and the whole inner turmoil which Peter went through and was to go through throughout his life. That following of Christ is a demanding thing and to do that, we need the power of his love and it is that which he gives us whenever we receive him in the great sacrament of Communion.

©Kitabu Web Design