30 November. St Andrew, apostle

1st Reading: Romans 10:9-18

How will they hear the faith, unless it be preached?

If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with he heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” But not all have obeyed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.

But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have; for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”

Gospel: Matthew 4:18-22

The call of the apostles, including Andrew.

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea — for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

A truly generous spirit

Paraphrased from a homily on Saint Andrew the Apostle by St. John Chrysostom.

After Andrew had stayed with Jesus and had learned much from him, he did not keep this treasure to himself, but hastened to share it with his brother. Notice what Andrew said to him: We have found the Messiah, that is to say, the Christ. Notice how his words reveal what he has learned in so short a time. They show the power of the master who has convinced them of this truth. They reveal the zeal and concern of men preoccupied with this question from the very beginning. Andrew’s words reveal a soul waiting with the utmost longing for the coming of the Messiah, looking forward to his appearing from heaven, rejoicing when he does appear, and hastening to announce so great an event to others. To support one another in the things of the spirit is the true sign of good will between brothers, of loving kinship and sincere affection.

Notice, too, how, even from the beginning, Peter is docile and receptive in spirit. He hastens to Jesus without delay. Andrew brought him to Jesus, says the evangelist. But Peter must not be blamed for his readiness to accept Andrew’s word without much testing of it. It is probable that his brother had given him and many others a careful account of the event; the evangelists, in the interest of brevity, regularly summarise a lengthy narrative. John does not say that Peter believed immediately, but that Andrew brought him to Jesus. Andrew was to hand him over to Jesus, to learn everything for himself. There was also another disciple present, who hurried off with them for the same purpose.

When John the Baptist said “This is the Lamb who baptizes in the Spirit,” he left the deeper understanding of these things to be received from Christ h imself. Even more so would Andrew act in the same way, since he did not think himself able to give a complete explanation of the one he had met. So he brought his brother to the very source of light, and Peter was so joyful and eager that he would not delay even for a moment, to follow Jesus.

Without hesitation

We have heard the story of the call of Andrew along with his brother Simon Peter and the other two sets of brothers, James and John. There is a great simplicity about the passage. Jesus saw two brothers, Simon and Andrew, making a cast with their net, going about their daily work, and he called out to them, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of people.” Immediately the two brothers left their nets and followed Jesus. The evangelist has perhaps streamlined an experience in the lives of these two brothers that, in reality, may have been a lot more complex. You would expect some resistance to the call of Jesus, because it meant leaving what they were familiar with and good at and heading out into the unknown. Catching people is a lot more challenging than catching fish. Gathering people into the net of God’s kingdom proclaimed by Jesus is more complicated than gathering fish from the Sea of Galilee with their fishing. But if there was any hesitation in Andrew and Simon, obviously they overcame it and threw in their lot with Jesus.

These brothers became great preachers of the gospel. The way the Lord works in our own lives is perhaps not all that different to the way he worked in the lives of Andrew and Simon. He often calls us out to us in the midst of our daily tasks. He calls us beyond where we are, beyond the familiar, in the service of the coming of God’s kingdom. That call can come to us in small and subtle ways. We may find ourselves resisting it, but if we attend to it and allow it to resonate within us, and respond to it, we will often discover that the Lord works through us for good in ways that can surprise us.