Memory of the apostles

Feast of the Apostle Andrew

Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

If we die with him, we shall live with him,
if with him we endure, with him we shall reign.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Matthew 4,18-22

As he was walking by the Lake of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast into the lake with their net, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, 'Come after me and I will make you fishers of people.' And at once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there he saw another pair of brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they were in their boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. And at once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

If we die with him, we shall live with him,
if with him we endure, with him we shall reign.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Today the Church remembers the apostle Andrew, the first of those who were called. Andrew, the son of Jonah and brother of Simon Peter, was from Bethsaida and worked as a fisherman. While the two brothers were mending their nets, Jesus, passing by the shore of the lake of Galilee, turned to them and said: "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." The evangelist notes that "Immediately they left their nets and followed him." The Teacher explained God's future in the only way that those fishermen could understand, perhaps in the only way that can excite them, "you will still be fishermen, but you will fish for people." Certainly, for this type of fishing they had to and we have to leave our old boats and begin travelling, not on the water anymore, but on the land of men and women that is perhaps even more fluid and uncertain than the waters of the lake. It is no longer the watery sea, but the sea of men and women, the crowd of people that like sea will absorb and overwhelm them. Together with Simon, Andrew accepts Jesus' invitation. You are not the one who chooses; there is another who looks at you, loves you, and calls you. We could say that Jesus is the first "fisher for people." On the shore of the sea he calls these poor fishermen. They follow him. It is not for us to decide whether we are worthy or not, or if anyone else is. These kinds of judgments are tied to worldly logic. From the Gospel's perspective, all we have to do is listen to the invitation, accept it, and respond, just as Andrew, Simon and the other two brothers did. This is the entire secret of faith and of the Church herself.