FROM MAINTENANCE TO MISSION

FROM MAINTENANCE TO MISSION

Fr Luke Veronis

And immediately they leave their nets and follow Him.

Jesus walks along the Sea of Galilee and sees two brothers, Peter and Andrew, casting their nets into the sea. Then He sees James and John mending their nets with their father. To these ordinary fishermen, Jesus offers an extraordinary invitation: FOLLOW ME and BECOME FISHERS OF MEN!

This isn’t simply a story about four fishermen two thousand years ago but it’s a calling for each one of us. This is a story about what happens when ordinary people encounter our extraordinary God and discover that we have a purpose greater than ourselves.

Let me ask a simple question: Why does the Church exist? Is the Church merely here to preserve our heritage and traditions? To maintain our beautiful building? To keep programs running?

Or is the Church here to make disciples and followers of Jesus Christ, to proclaim the Good News of His Resurrection, to transform lives, and bring people into communion with our loving God?

Christianity was never meant to be a spectator religion. Jesus didn’t invite people to follow Him so that they could sit on the shoreline and watch. He invited us to experience His Transformation and then to participate in His mission.

One of the dangers facing churches today is that we can slowly drift from mission to maintenance. We focus all our energy on surviving rather than thriving. We worry about budgets, about our buildings, about holding on to what we inherited. Of course, this all matter. We should care for the gifts God has entrusted to us. We should honor the sacrifices of those who came before us. Yet, preserving an institution is not the primary purpose of the Church. The Church exists to lead people into a living and life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.

If all we do is keep the doors open but fail to make disciples, then we’ve forgotten our calling. We’ve forgotten our divine mission. Every thriving, vibrant parish begins with one thing - an encounter with the Living God. Before the apostles preached. Before they established churches. Before they traveled throughout the Roman Empire. They first met the Risen Jesus Christ and everything changed!

We are not simply members of a religious organization but are baptized vessels of God, filled with His Holy Spirit! Our worship, our prayers, our fasting, our sacraments, all of our church ministries should flow from this living relationship with Jesus Christ.

Many people in today’s world are searching for meaning and purpose in life. We live in a culture that offers endless entertainment but little depth. Material prosperity and comfort often lead to spiritual emptiness and deception. Endless information doesn’t necessarily lead to wisdom.

Many who come to our churches aren’t looking for a social club to join. They’re looking for the Transcendent. They want to experience something beyond this mundane existence. They want an experience with the sacred. They want to know that Christ is real. And the greatest gift we can offer the world is not another program or event but this encounter with the Living God.

Now, notice something important in today's Gospel. Jesus doesn’t call professional religious experts to become His followers. He calls fishermen. Ordinary men with strengths and weaknesses, as well as men with gifts and limitations. And through these ordinary men and women, He changes the world.

This reminds us that every member of our Church has a role to play. Too often we fall into the mindset that ministry belongs only to the priest. The priest teaches. The priest visits. The priest organizes. The priest leads. The priest does everything. Yet, this isn’t the vision in the New Testament.

Saint Paul teaches that the Church is the Body of Christ, and every member has gifts given by the Holy Spirit. Some teach. Some serve. Some encourage. Some organize. Some lead. Some offer hospitality to strangers. And all show mercy and give generously.

No one possesses every gift yet everyone possesses some gift. Remember, a vibrant and health church is one not where the priest does everything but where every parishioner discovers that they are needed and called by God.

When everyone recognizes that we all are co-workers in God's Kingdom, then everyone will move from being consumers of religion to participants in Christ's mission.

One of the most beautiful ministries that everyone can participate in is welcoming people into the family of God. The Church grew because people encountered genuine Christian love in the church community. The ancient Christians became famous for caring for strangers, widows, orphans, and the poor. They practiced philoxenia, which means love of the stranger.

This remains essential today. Many visitors come into our churches feeling uncertain, nervous, or alone. Some are searching. Some are wounded. Some have lost hope. Some are simply curious. How we receive them matters. Will they experience the love of God through us? Or will they feel welcome into our Family or will they feel like outsiders? Will they see people who are merely attending services, or people whose lives have been transformed by Christ?

Every visitor who walks through our doors is sent by God. And every one of us shares responsibility for welcoming them.

An important lesson from today's Gospel is that Christ immediately sends His disciples outward. He does not gather them into a closed circle but sends them into the world. The Church dies when it becomes focused only on itself. As Archbishop Anastasios said, “The opposite of love is not hatred. It is the ego.” It is self-centeredness. This is true for individuals as well as for church communities.

A parish that thinks only about itself will lose its spiritual vitality. A church that focuses on how we can serve one another will flourish.

So, who are we helping? Who are we feeding? Who are we encouraging? Who are we inviting? Who are we welcoming into our parish family?

When we serve others, we discover that ministry transforms not only those we help but also ourselves. This is the meaning of living the Liturgy after the Liturgy. When we are united to Christ through the Eucharist, we are filled with His Spirit so that we can go back into the world bringing His light. After receiving Christ, we become His hands and feet. We carry His love into our neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and communities.

So, let’s learn from today’s Gospel. Jesus stands on the shore and calls ordinary people to extraordinary lives. He invited Peter and Andrew to “Follow Me” and then He offers the same invitation to each one of us.

Leave behind complacency. Leave behind any mentality of merely maintaining what exists. Let’s become fishers of men, co-workers in the Heavenly  Kingdom, instruments of God’s love.

We don’t want a Church that survives. We want one that thrives in fulfilling God’s mission. May our Church always be a place where people encounter Christ, and then use your gifts to serve one another, to welcome strangers, and to proclaim the Good News of salvation.

Spirit-filled people transform their own lives and the communities in which they live. Let’s follow Christ and become fishers of men, fulfilling our ordinary existence with extraordinary things for the glory of God.