Feast of St. Andrew. Bible Study: Romans 10:9-18, Psalm 19:8-11 and Matthew 4:18-22
“He said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed him.” (Matthew 4:19-20)
In our Gospel passage, I cannot but wonder how it so happened that some grown-up men would abandon their Father, their entire fishing career and what brings them money to go after a total stranger simple because he said: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”?
How many of us would leave everything behind to follow Jesus like Andrew, Simon and the two sons of Zebedee? How many of us are willing to sacrifice our time, our intelligence, our money, our resources, our connections, etc. for the sake of God’s kingdom?
In this world of social media, to follow a person is much more than walking behind that person. If I follow you on twitter, facebook, whatsapp and so on, it means that I get an alert on my phone whenever you post anything. We don’t just follow anybody, we follow those we respect, those we admire, those we want to emulate and those we believe can make us better persons.
Today, just as Jesus said to Andrew and the other disciples, Jesus is saying to us: “Follow me.” Am I going to respond to this tweet from Jesus? Am I going to un-follow others and dedicate myself solely to Jesus? Would I even be willing to block and unfriend those who drag me away from Jesus? Would I henceforth long to hear from Jesus daily by reading the Bible?
Our Gospel passage comes from Matthew. In John’s account, we are told that Andrew was the first person to be called by Jesus and he was the one who went to tell his brother Peter about Jesus. Andrew introduced Peter to Jesus but not much is heard about Andrew other than that he introduced the boy who had five loaves and two fish to Jesus. (Cf. John 6:8-9)
Andrew was fond of introducing people to Jesus. This characteristic of Andrew is what I call basic evangelisation. Bring people to Jesus and let Him take over from there. Just as Andrew introduced Peter to Jesus, the Feast of St. Andrew introduces the Church to the season of Advent. If you notice, advent is always the closest Sunday to the feast of St. Andrew.
St. Paul in our first reading says: “How beautiful are the feet of one who brings Good News.” Indeed, how beautiful were the feet of Andrew when he ran immediately to tell Simon Peter: “We have found the Messiah.” How beautiful are the feet of St. Andrew today as he announces to the Church: “Advent is here! Prepare your hearts for Jesus!” Indeed, how beautiful are your feet, hands, lips etc. when you talk to people about Jesus!
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, use me like Andrew to bring people to you. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you.