Rom. 10:9-18/Psalm 18:2-5/Matthew 4:18-22

When Christ began to preach, he began to gather disciples who should now be witnesses to his teachings and miracles. In these verses, we have an account of the first disciples that he called into fellowship with himself. In all his preaching he gave a common call to all, but in this he gave a special and particular call to those that were given him by the Father.

We have an account of the call of two pair of brothers in this gospel reading, Peter and Andrew, James and John. Among these is St. Andrew the Apostle whom we celebrate as one of the earliest preachers and teachers of the faith; a truly great man of God and a most faithful servant of our Lord and Saviour.

According to the gospel of John, it was Andrew who brought Peter to Jesus. According to the first chapter of that gospel, Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist, he and one other disciple of John the Baptist were the first to spend time in Jesus’ company. Having spent a day with Jesus, Andrew found his brother Simon Peter and declared excitedly to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’.

As highlighted in parts of the Gospels, such as the feeding of the five thousand men, St. Andrew took part closely in many of the works and ministries of the Lord. According to one tradition, after the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus into Heaven, St. Andrew travelled from place to place in proclaiming the Good News of God just like the other Apostles.

He founded the beginnings of the Church and its communities such as Russia, Turkey, Ephesus and in many of the places he had visited during his missionary travels and works. 

Beloved in Christ, the Lord has a role for each one of us and that role is vitally important, even if it seems less prominent than other people’s roles. There is something that the Lord wants each of us to do that no one else can do. Sometimes, the role he is calling us to take on is that of the enabler, as in the case of Andrew who enabled Peter to begin his faith journey, which went on to bear such rich fruit for the church. We can all enter into that task of creating a space for others to encounter the Lord. The task of opening a door of the Lord for others is a very significant one.

Beloved, as fishermen they were most likely poor and illiterate, and their profession was not exactly well-respected at that time. Nevertheless, it was to them that the Lord first reached out to, in calling out His disciples and followers. It was while they were casting or mending their nets that they heard the Lord’s call to become his followers. The Lord speaks to us all from within the heart of our daily experience. So let us take note of this, our attentiveness to the Lord’s word in the Scriptures can make us more attuned to the many ways he communicates with us in the bits and pieces of life.

St. Andrew, whose feast we celebrate today, had ears to hear the Lord’s word to him as he immersed himself in his day’s work. He inspires us to have something of the same contemplative attitude to life that allows us to be sensitive to what the Lord may be saying to us in all of life’s situations.

So, on this day, as we recall the memory of this great saint, whose life, works and actions we celebrate serve as a great inspiration for all of us Christians.

ROSARY PRAYER: LUMINOUS MYSTERIES