GOD’S WORD

November 30, 2016 (Wednesday) Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle

1st Reading: Rom 10:9-18

You are saved, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord, and, in your heart, you believe that God raised him from the dead. By believing from the heart, you obtain true righteousness; by confessing the faith with your lips, you are saved. For Scripture says: No one who believes in him will be ashamed. Here, there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; all have the same Lord, who is very generous with whoever calls on him. Truly, all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

But how can they call upon the name of the Lord without having believed in him? And how can they believe in him, without having first heard about him? And how will they hear about him, if no one preaches about him? And how will they preach about him, if no one sends them? As Scripture says: How beautiful are the feet of the messenger of good news. Although, not everyone obeyed the good news, as Isaiah said: Lord, who has believed in our preaching? So, faith comes from preaching, and preaching is rooted in the word of Christ.

I ask: Have the Jews not heard? But, of course, they have. Because the voice of those preaching resounded all over the earth, and their voice was heard, to the ends of the world.

Gospel: Mt 4:18-22

As Jesus walked by the lake of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come, follow me; and I will make you fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. He went on from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Jesus called them.

At once, they left the boat, and their father, and followed him.

Reflection:

We are remembering today Andrew, one of the twelve apostles, therefore a man personally chosen by Jesus to be with him all the time during his public ministry.

We know very little about Andrew, apart from the fact that he was Peter’s brother, that he was from Bethsaida, a town on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, and that, for reasons unknown, he was not chosen by Jesus to be part of his inner circle (composed of Peter and the two brothers, James and John).

Andrew is a model whom we can easily follow. Like him, we are not as flashy as Peter, James and John, but we can always introduce people to Jesus…