Reflection
Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle
Rom 10:9-18
19:8, 9, 10, 11
Mt 4:18-22
“Come after me, and I will make you Fishers of Men.”
What was it about Jesus’ demeanor and words that were so compelling that two fishermen dropped the tools of their trade and followed him, no questions asked? In the Gospel today, we can picture Jesus, walking along by the Sea of Galilee, he sees two brothers engaged in their everyday business, then he throws out an invitation, calls two hardworking tradesmen, to follow him, and become fishers of men. And they follow him. At once. Leaving their nets.
Jesus calls them with authority, they could have ignored the call. He calls them into mission, they could have rejected the ask. But they didn’t. Thankfully. Even though they may not have had any idea what being ‘fishers of men’ would entail, they trusted that Jesus would provide the means.
As we are occupied with many responsibilities and distractions, Jesus walks alongside us, too, in our daily lives, and he calls us to engage with his mission, trusting that he will provide all that we need. We are most likely not being called to the radical response of Andrew and Simon Peter, that is, leaving our careers and families – although some are – but we are still invited to enter the mission.
At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Andrew, and Peter, along with the other Apostles, are commissioned to go out to all the world and make Disciples. They are sent to testify to the truth; the truth that is Jesus Christ. The Apostles are sent to be fishers of men who will believe because of their witness.
In the first reading, we hear the question that St. Paul poses to the Romans: ‘And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach?’ And Paul goes on to tell us that: ‘...faith comes from what is heard.’
We have heard and believed because of Simon Peter, Andrew, the Apostles, the saints and multitudes of others that have gone before us. Who will hear and believe because of us?
How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the Good News.