Romans 10:9-18 / Matthew 4:18-22
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Do we believe that the Gospel is "the power of God leading everyone who believes in it to salvation"? Romans 1:16 "Ignorance of the Bible means ignorance of Christ." St. Jerome
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St. Andrew, the brother of St. Peter, was a native of the town of Bethsaida in Galilee. A fisherman by profession and a disciple of St. John the Baptist, he and his brother, St. Peter, joined Jesus as members of the Apostolic College. After the dispersion of the Apostles, St. Andrew preached in Greece and several other countries. He suffered martyrdom in Patras, Greece, and, according to common opinion, by crucifixion on a cross made in the form of the letter X.
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Andrew must have been a seeker of God. He first followed
John the Baptist, then, when John had pointed out Jesus he transferred to
Jesus. He brought several to Jesus: his brother Simon Peter, some Greeks
looking for Jesus; at the multiplication, he noticed the boy with the loaves and
the fish and brought him to Jesus. Tradition says that he was an apostle in the
Balkans and Southern Russia; he is the patron of the Church of Constantinople.
With Andrew, let us bring people to Jesus.
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In the gospel account, we hear of Jesus calling St. Peter
along with his brother St. Andrew. But there was something else about St.
Andrew. In the gospel according to St. John, St. Andrew was initially a
disciple of John the Baptist. And when John the Baptist pointed out Jesus as
the Lamb of God, Andrew in turn followed Him. So we can say that St. Andrew was
the first disciple of Jesus. And it was St. Andrew who brought St. Peter to see
Jesus, after telling him that he had found the Messiah. we can learn much from
St. Andrew, especially his attitude as a disciple. After staying with Jesus and coming to know
Him, St. Andrew did not keep this experience to himself, but shared it with his
brother St. Peter. So saints are not nicely sculptured statues, or just pretty
colourful pictures on the stained-glass of churches. They are common people who are opened to
Jesus when He came into their lives, and after experiencing Him, they also
shared Him with others, just like St. Andrew did. Let us pray that we will continue to
experience Jesus daily and like St. Andrew we will go forth to share Him with
others.
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What is the
mission of a disciple? Simply put, it is to bring people to Christ. Andrew
excels in this role. Wherever we find him in the gospel according to John, he
is bringing people to Christ. When John the Baptist pointed out Jesus as the
Lamb of God, Andrew left John, stayed with Jesus, and became convinced that
Jesus was the Messiah. What did he do then? “The first thing Andrew did was to
find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the
Christ). And he brought him to Jesus” (Jn 1:41-42). Later, when the
disciples were disheartened as to how they could feed the multitude, Andrew
spotted a boy with five barley loaves and two fish, and brought him to Jesus,
though he wasn’t sure how it would all add up (Jn 6:9). When the Greeks came
looking for Jesus, they went to Philip and Andrew, who in turn informed Jesus
about the desire of the Greeks (Jn 12:20).
As the
liturgical year ends today, we have an exemplary apostle who sums up the
mission of the Church: bring people to Christ, and make disciples for him.
Opening Prayer