Today we celebrate the Feast day of Saint Andrew the Apostle. As ordinarily happens on days such as feast days or memorials of saints, we try to learn something about such a saint and find out how the life of that saint can inspire us in our journey of discipleship. Not much has been highlighted about Andrew in today’s Gospel, but there is a lot written about Andrew throughout the Gospels that we can reflect on. Andrew did not write any letters or deliver any sermons, but we have a few words he said and gestures he performed that are loaded with a lot of meaning for our benefit.
Andrew started as a follower of Saint John the Baptist who baptized people at the Jordan River. When Jesus showed up to be baptized and John the Baptist called him the “Lamb of God that takes away all the sins of the world” – Andrew abandoned John the Baptist and took a keen interest in Jesus Christ. In the Gospel of John, after Andrew had learned so much about Jesus, it is Andrew who reached out to his brother Simon Peter and told him that “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41-42) and he led Simon to Jesus.
Encountering Christ
Just like Andrew we too through our baptism have encountered Jesus. We have found the Messiah, and just like Andrew, we are invited not to keep Jesus to ourselves, but to share Jesus with our brothers and sisters. There are a lot of people out there who have not encountered the Lord. Saint Paul’s words in today’s letter to the Romans are relevant to this responsibility we have of sharing Christ when he writes:
But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching?
Through our baptism, we have received Christ, and through our baptism, Christ sends us out like Andrew to go share him with others. That kind of sharing comes from a heart driven by generosity. May we too imitate the generosity of Andrew, especially in matters of faith and the gospel.
Attitude of the Heart
Elsewhere in the Gospels, we also see Andrew as having been present at the feeding of the multitude, the 5,000 people in the desert not counting women and children. Jesus had been preaching to a crowd for a whole day and it was getting dark, and the people had no food. It was Andrew who found a boy with five loaves and two fish and presented the boy to Jesus. The Lord took those meager gifts, prayed over them, and miraculously multiplied them in a way that no one could ever imagine. All ate to their fill. We too can learn the lesson from Andrew that if we can bring others to Jesus, and if we can get them to entrust Jesus with their meager gifts, he can do tremendous things with what they put in his hands. It all starts with someone leading others to Christ and helping them to open their hearts to the Lord, and the unusual starts happening in our friends’ lives.
Lastly, there is an attitude of heart of Andrew and his brothers that is important for us in our life as disciples of Christ. In the Gospel, when the Lord approached the three fishermen, Andrew and his brothers, who were going about their regular fishing business and asked them to follow him, they put aside all they were doing and right away started following the Lord. Fishing people is a lot more challenging than catching fish.
No Excuses
You would have expected them to give all sorts of excuses, and rationalize in all sorts of ways, but they dropped everything and responded to the Lord. They overcame their hesitation, stretched themselves beyond their skill set, and embraced the unfamiliar. May each one of us too be that open when the Lord comes knocking on our hearts – overcome our fears and embrace the unfamiliar.
May the Lord give each one of us the grace we need to say “yes” to him like Andrew when the Lord asks each one of us — “Come follow me.” Amen.
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