☦️The Little Fisherman☦️
By Priest Aleksandar, RTOC Diocese of Western Europe
In a small town, by a peaceful river, lived a boy. War had devastated everything around him, leaving only hunger and uncertainty.
His family had no income, and hunger was a constant companion.
Although he was not a fisherman by trade, out of necessity he went to the river every morning with an old net, seeking salvation in the waters for his mother, father, and little brother.
One cold morning, as he cast his net into the river, he felt something strange.
The wind stopped blowing, and the river became completely calm, as if nature itself had paused.
The boy felt something was coming, but did not know what. Then he heard a voice from the shore, quiet, but filled with strength:
“Why do you fish, boy?”
The boy looked towards the shore and saw a Man, whose face was serene but carried a depth he could not understand.
In His eyes was something more than a mere look, something that penetrated the very core of the heart. The boy did not know who stood before him, but he felt that he was in the presence of something holier than everyday life.
“I fish to feed my mother, father, and little brother,” he simply replied, feeling the weight of hunger and war.
The Man nodded gently. “Would you like to feed more than the body? Would you like to be a fisher of souls?”
The boy remained silent, not fully understanding the question, but he knew it carried more than a simple call. “How can I be a fisher of souls? I only know how to catch fish.”
“Souls are like fish in the depths,” the Man continued. “You don’t see them, but you know they are there.
Just as you cast your net into the water, so too with prayer and love you can catch souls for the Lord.
You do not know the way, but He knows. Just as you strive to feed your family with physical food, so you can feed souls with spiritual food, love, prayer, and faith.”
These words quietly fell into the boy’s heart, not clarifying all mysteries, but bringing peace. He did not understand everything, but he felt called to a path that was not entirely clear, yet necessary.
Without further words, the Man disappeared, and the boy continued to fish, as if nothing had changed.
But something deep in his heart began to grow, something he could not name. There were no words, no explanations, just a quiet realization that he was called to something more, something not seen with a net, but felt in the depths of the soul.
Years passed, and the boy became a man.
His path led him through many uncertainties, but that call, quiet and mystical, never faded.
Although no one understood, nor could words describe, the mysteries revealed to him remained as a light guiding him in all life’s trials.
That call to be a fisher of souls now led his life, far from the eyes of the world.
This mysterious call to be a fisher of souls, though deeply woven into his being, was not a reason for elevation, nor for pride.
As the river is quiet yet powerful, so his path remained hidden, unobtrusive, far from the praises and recognition of people.
He never felt special, but quietly walked the path the Lord had opened for him, knowing that everything he did, he did by God’s finding, not his own strength.
In the end, it is not the amount of catch that matters, but the depth of our faith and the mystery of godly devotion with which we cast our net into spiritual waters.
For every movement, every prayer, is not just human effort, but an echo of eternity, a reflection of our union with the Divine will.
The catch is not in the visible, but in how purely our hearts are immersed in the depth of God’s providence, following the path walked by the holy Fathers.
Surrendering everything to God’s finding, we do not fish for earthly fruits, but for the salvation of the soul, in communion with the eternal Kingdom.
Each step we take, every net we cast in the Lord’s name, becomes an action of the power of the Holy Spirit, which illuminates the path and brings forth fruit a hundredfold in God’s mystery.
With love to the fishers,
☦️Priest Alexander
