Feast of St. Andrew, apostle
(Romans 10:9-18; Matthew 4:18-22)
Very little can be said with certainly about St. Andrew. Today’s gospel relates that he was the brother
of Simon Peter and a fisherman. John’s
gospel includes a couple more nuggets of information. He was John the Baptist’s disciple until he spent
a day with Jesus. Then, convinced that
Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, he brought his brother to him.
Andrew exemplifies what recent popes have called all of
us to do. We are to get to know Jesus by
spending time with him. We should recognize
him in the poor and speak to him in prayer. We are also to bring others to him. First and perhaps foremost, these are our
family members. They also include our
friends who may have never had the pleasure of knowing him. We are not to be shy about telling even
strangers about what Jesus means to us.
We have entered Advent – the designated time of
preparation for meeting Christ. Now as
people busy themselves for the Christmas holidays we must remind them of who is
at the heart of the celebrations. Like St.
Andrew we need to tell them that he is the long-awaited joy that can fill their
heart.
