Word to the Wise
Friday, November 30, 2007 - St. Andrew, Apostle
[Romans 10:9-18 and Matthew 4:18-22]As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.
After Jesus' death, Andrew must have fished far and wide since both Scotland and Greece claim him as their patron! At least in Scotland there is a golf course named after him! Matthew and John give different stories about how Jesus and Andrew met. The story from Matthew is given above. The story from John has Andrew as one of John the Baptist's disciples who listened to the prophet's identification of Jesus and followed Jesus. No matter which way it happened, Andrew was one of the Twelve. The feast of an apostle is a reminder to us of the foundation of our faith - the faith preached by the apostles and their successors. They were not special people before Jesus chose them. But Jesus' personality and message were powerfully attractive to them. They didn't understand a lot of it at first. In fact, it took the event of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit for them to "get it." But the reason why we have it is because they "got it!" We can be thankful for their courage and the courage of faith of those who came after them. Today is the opportunity to thank St. Andrew! AMEN
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