St. Andrew

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

“As he was walking along by the Lake of Galilee, he saw Simon and Simon's brother Andrew casting a net in the lake, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Come after me and I will make you into fishers of men.’ And at once they left their nets and followed him” (Matt. 4:18-20).

Our Lord could have been admiring the view as He walked along by the Lake of Galilee. He could have been admiring the lake. He could have been looking at the beauty of creation. But we're told that He saw Simon and Simon's brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.

He saw them. He saw them because He was looking for them. The apostolic heart of Christ was expressing itself in this particular moment. Our Lord wants us to have an apostolic heart like He had.

Today is the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, and He formed all of the apostles to have that type of apostolic heart, to see souls, to see people, and to realize that those souls are the most important persons or items in the whole world.

St. Josemaría liked to say that Our Lord called the apostles in the middle of their ordinary work. He used to say that as ordinary Christians in the middle of the world, we are called to transmit that great apostolic sense to the ordinary place where God has placed us.

A young doctor told me once how he was in the medical residence one day after lunch. There were fifteen or twenty young doctors taking coffee and a senior registrar came in and began to talk about all the sterilization operations he had performed.

Now this friend of mine would listen to meditations like this one, and he felt uncomfortable because he knew this wasn't right. He felt he had to do something. He didn't really know what to do or what to say, but he invoked the Holy Spirit, and very politely but very clearly, he said to this senior person:

“Well, I'd just like to say that I don't agree with what you're saying.”

As soon as he said it, one lady leaned over towards him and said, “I couldn't agree with you more.”

And on the other side somebody leaned over and said, “Terrible idiot!”

He realized that half the room was with him. All that was needed was one voice to say something right, to say something true, to give a little bit of light, a little bit of doctrine.

We have to try and have that apostolic heart of Christ that knows how to beat in those ordinary moments that may come along, moments for us to sow those grains of mustard seed (cf. Matt. 13:31-32), which may yield an abundant harvest over time.

We could ask Our Lord today that we might see all of the apostolic opportunities that our professional work gives rise to, so that we don't miss them.

Every day in the I Confess we say ‘my thoughts, words, actions, and omissions.’ It's possible that our greatest failures and weaknesses and sins in the whole of our life may be our omissions—the things we could have done but didn't do for lack of having that more apostolic heart of Christ.

Jesus said to them, “Come after me and I will make you into fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19).

He didn't say that “you'll make yourselves into fishers of men.”

“I will make you...”

Andrew and Simon could have said, “Fishers of men, but you don't fish men, you fish fish!” But they listened to Him. His words rang deep in their heart, and so they left their nets and they followed Him, never to leave Him.

Andrew was a native of Bethsaida, a fisherman like his brother Simon, whom he introduced to the Lord. He was a disciple of John the Baptist, and he was one of the first to become a follower of Jesus. He pointed out to Jesus the boy who had the few loaves and fishes, so that Our Lord was able to work the miracle of their multiplication.

Often we have to be the person who points out to Jesus the place where the miracle is needed, where a new light is needed, where a new influx of grace is needed.

St. Andrew went on to preach the Gospel in Greece, and he died a martyr on an inverted cross.

We're told in St. John, “They came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour” (John 1:39).

The Gospel informs us that Andrew and John are among the first apostles to follow Jesus. Soon after, Our Lord began His public ministry. He meets John the Baptist and two of his disciples. Seeing the Lord as He passes by, the Precursor says, “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:29).

Then Christ calls the ones who were the first to be closely associated with His person and with His mission. They respond immediately.

“Jesus turns around, and seeing the two following him, says to them, ‘What is it you seek?’ They say, ‘Rabbi, where do you live?’ And he says to them, ‘Come and see’” (John 1:38-39).

All during Our Lord's life, He was repeating those words, “Come and see” (John 1:39). “Come, follow me, and I will make you into fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19). “Come to me all you who labor and are heavily burdened and I will give you rest (Matt. 11:28).

It's only at the end of His life that He says, Go: “Go ye therefore, teach all nations” (Matt. 28:19).

We have to come before we can go. We cannot give what we do not have. We have to grow in our friendship with Jesus from spending time with Him, from talking to Him, from lowering the drawbridge of our heart and sharing our intimate life with Him, so that He can enter into our heart, mind, and soul.

Our Lord's invitation to them is very friendly: “No longer do I call you servants, but I have called you friends” (John 15:15).

We are told, “Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John the Baptist and followed him” (John 1:40).

That day, Our Lord spoke to them with divine wisdom and human charm. They remain committed to Our Lord for good.

After many years have passed, St. John remembers the exact time of their encounter in the Gospel. “It was about the tenth hour”—about four o'clock in the afternoon. He never forgets the moment when Jesus said to Him, “What do you seek?” (John 1:38-39).

There are certain moments in our life when Our Lord speaks to us in a powerful way, when the Holy Spirit moves our soul and our heart, moments that we never forget, when God reveals to us the purpose of our vocation, or aspects of our Christian mission, or our purpose in the world, or possibly new apostolic horizons that we hadn't even seen or dreamt of before.

Andrew will also remember that decisive day. Neither of them ever forgets that crucial encounter with Jesus.

To accept Our Lord's call and live as one of His intimate friends is the greatest grace that a person can receive in this life. Our Lord invites us to respond to that call on a daily basis, on an hourly basis.

The joyful day when we accept the clear invitation to follow the Master is an occasion we can always treasure in our heart. The grace of vocation is always an unmerited gift. The more divinely inspired it is, the more highly we should esteem it, for our calling illuminates the whole panorama of the future for us and gives meaning to our life.

When Our Lord gives us that calling, that vocation, He lights a candle in our heart. It may be that the whole world may be trying to blow out that candle. We have to take care of that flame; not let any harsh wind blow on it; help it to become strong through the grace of God, through the sacraments, through formation.

The call of vocation is often a gradual realization we come to understand in the peace and calm of our prayer. Our Lord calls to us in that intimate conversation, where we spend time with Him each day.

Sometimes, said one spiritual writer, His invitation, as in the case of St. Paul, is manifested in a fashion as clear as a flash of lightning which tears open the darkness that clouds our perspective.

The Master may also simply put His hand on one's shoulder and say, “You are mine! Follow me!” The person in question is then filled with joy, and “goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” where his treasure lies (Matt. 13:44). Like a collector of fine pearls, the soul concerned discovers “the pearl of great price” (Matt. 13:46), a great price among the many gifts of life.

Our Lord encourages the first disciples, “Come and see.”

“In their personal dealings with Our Lord,” said St. Thomas, “Andrew and John learn what is not immediately apparent to them through his words alone” (Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on St. John).

Through our frequent prayer, we too can grow to perceive the many invitations He addresses to us. We will then have a greater intimacy with Jesus, and be able to follow Him more closely, and respond to His gentle nudges.

In our prayer today, we could ask ourselves if we're really striving to be attentive to the promptings of His voice. As we prepare for the great period of Advent—prepare to accompany the Holy Family to Bethlehem, a time of great spiritual bonanza which each year has new graces for us to penetrate a little deeper into these mysteries—do we respond fully to what Christ is asking of us? Maybe these days, a little more commitment, a bit more generosity or detachment, or order, or focus on our family or on our marriage, or on our friends.

Our Lord has wanted to depend on our support. Just as Our Lord was present twenty centuries ago in the world, He's also always present in the world today. “I am with you all days, even until the end of the world” (Matt. 28:20).

Now more than ever, Our Lord is seeking men and women to collaborate in this divine venture for the salvation of souls. There's no greater enterprise. Responding positively to His invitation to become a fisher of men is immensely worthwhile, because it entails cooperating in the enterprise of eternal significance.

“Andrew…said to his brother Simon, ‘We have found the Messiah’” (John 1:41). The first thing Andrew does is he thinks of his brother, people around him. He's missionary from the very start. We're told, “And he led him to Jesus” (John 1:42).

God has placed souls around us, specific people, relatives, friends, maybe strangers, and He wants us to do with them what Andrew did with Simon: He led them to Jesus.

The meeting with Jesus left Andrew overjoyed. His newfound happiness is a tremendous grace that he yearns to share with others immediately. Likewise, the great spiritual moments of our life are somehow called to share with others, an intimate conversation with them.

The first one that Andrew meets after this definitive encounter with Jesus is his brother Simon. St. John Chrysostom says, “After Andrew spends the entire day with Jesus, he does not keep the treasure for his personal benefit, but hastens to share it with his brothers” (John Chrysostom, Homilies on St. John’s Gospel).

Andrew's enthusiasm over this discovery when he speaks to Peter must have been remarkable: “We have found the Messiah!” (John 1:41).

We can ask Our Lord to give us that apostolic enthusiasm whereby we want to share with others the good things that God has given to us. Imitating Andrew, we too can lead our relatives, friends, acquaintances to Bethlehem, to Our Lord, to Our Lady, to St. Joseph, by speaking to them of Our Lord with a confident conviction.

This personal testimony is appropriate for the man or woman who is “filled with joy over the great things that Jesus offers us. So wonderful is the news that the individual in question hastens to spread it to others. It’s a proof of a sincere fraternal charity” (ibid.). Anyone who truly finds Christ in a manner encounters Him for all his closest relatives, friends, and colleagues.

Perhaps at a particular juncture in our life, Christ revealed Himself to us, and we've been dealing with Him intimately for many years since then. “Like Andrew, we too, through the grace of God, have had an encounter with the Savior, and so understand more clearly the meaning of the hope we are called to share with others” (John Paul II, Address, November 30, 1982).

Often Our Lord makes use of the bonds of blood and friendship to call others to His service. Family and social ties can often be the occasion for the hearts of our relatives and friends to go out more fully to Jesus.

This is one of the reasons why we have to meet people, be social, have many friends, meet up with people, move around the place. We're not meant to be huddled up in a corner like a rabbit. We have to open up like a fan.

Sometimes Our Lord is prevented from entering other people's lives because of prejudice, or fear, or ignorance, or laziness, or mental reserve. But when friendship is authentic, no great effort is needed to speak of Christ, because sincere confidence follows naturally in its wake.

Friends interchange points of view and insights with ease. It would be unnatural then for us to refrain from speaking about Christ, since He's the greatest discovery we have made in our life, and is the motivating force behind all our actions.

We've discovered the benefit of monthly recollections, or yearly retreats, or weekly sacramental confession, or daily spiritual reading. The most logical thing in the world is that we share it with other people.

Through the grace of God, ordinary friendship can be a divine channel for a profound personal apostolate. Backing up our cheerful words of hope for those we deal with every day, many will be able to discover the very same Jesus who is ever at our side.

St. Peter, as perhaps we ourselves have done, found Him through being reflected in a person with whom he had regular contact.

St. Josemaría in Christ Is Passing By said, “One day perhaps an ordinary Christian, just like you, opened your eyes to horizons both deep and new, yet as old as the Gospel. He suggested to you the prospect of following Christ earnestly, seriously, of becoming an apostle of apostles. Perhaps you lost your balance then and didn't recover it.

“Your complacency wasn't quite replaced by true peace until you freely said ‘yes’ to God, because you wanted to, which is the most supernatural of reasons. And in its wake came a strong, constant joy, which disappears only when you abandon him” (Josemaría Escrivá, Christ is Passing By, Point 1).

We have all found that joy in following in the footsteps of the Master. Because of it, we desire to share with many others this happiness that we have found.

A little while later, there's the call of vocation. “He was walking by the Sea of Galilee. He sees two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew. … He says, ‘Come and follow me.’ And at once they responded” (Matt. 4:18-20).

This call is the culmination of their first encounter with the Master. Like the other apostles, Andrew responds at once. Each of them practices heroic detachment from their material possessions so that they can follow in the footsteps of the Master.

St. Gregory the Great comments on the definitive call of these fishermen. He says the Kingdom of heaven is “all the more valuable the greater the extent of the earthly riches we forego for the sake of the kingdom of heaven” (Gregory the Great, Sermons of the Gospels).

Our surrender to Jesus, like that of the apostles, must be total. Peter and Andrew leave a great deal behind them. They “both lose their desire for their possessions” (ibid.). The Lord wants to depend on men and women who are pure of heart, people with big hearts not tied to earthly goods.

Each Christian is called to live the spirit of dedication in accordance with his or her personal vocation. There's no room in our life for anything that doesn't serve completely for giving God glory—a total commitment.

As we are about to follow Our Lady and St. Joseph along their journey to Bethlehem, we see before our eyes the message of total commitment, leaving everything. When we turn to Our Lord who is so close to us every day, what could we possibly hold back for ourselves alone?

Christ enters into our lives too. That virtue of detachment helps us to stay at the side of Our Lord as He goes forward on His mission at a fast and steady pace.

No matter what stage of our life we're at, we're living out our mission, our apostolic vibration, through our prayer, through our mortification, through our moving souls. It's not possible for us to keep up with Him if we have too much baggage. We can't be left behind on account of a few material possessions that are not worth our excessive concern for them.

Sometimes, Our Lord issues a personal call at an early age. At other times, one's vocation becomes clear in the course of one's mature years, when we only have a short distance to go before we arrive in His presence.

There is such variety in the time the Lord chooses to call each of us. It's shown in the parable concerning the laborers who go out to work at different times of the day (Matt. 20:1-16).

Whichever our own case may be, we are called to respond with joy—with the joy the Evangelists express when they recall the circumstances of their own definitive vocation. Our Lord is the same now as then. He's the one who invites us to accompany Him on our way.

Tradition recalls how St. Andrew died praising the cross of his crucifixion, since it was the means for at last drawing him finally close to the Master.

We're told that on the cross he said, “Hail, O Cross! Receive the disciple of him who hung from thee—my Master Christ! O good Cross, so long desired and now awaiting my thirsty heart, in tranquil joy and exultant security I come to you! You host received the beauty and loveliness of the members of the Lord; do you now receive me and take me from men and join me again to my Master, so that he who by you redeemed me, may by you also receive me” (The Passion Prayer of St. Andrew).

We also learn from St. Andrew that whatever is most difficult for us to offer Our Lord will be easy if we join our own sacrifice to the loving offerings of Christ.

Pope St. John Paul at the start of the new millennium said, “The missionary mandate accompanies us into the Third Millennium and urges us to share the enthusiasm of the very first Christians: we can count on the power of the same Spirit. It was poured out at Pentecost and it compels us still today to start out anew, sustained by the hope ‘which does not disappoint’ (Rom. 5:5)” (John Paul II, Encyclical, Novo millenio ineunte, Point 42).

In those early formation days of the apostles, and also later on, Our Lady was to perform a very special role: keeping them united, helping them to solidify their formation.

We can ask Our Mother, the Queen of the Apostles, that she might help us to follow in the footsteps of all the apostles today, like St. Andrew; to have the heart and mind of St. Andrew, and to launch out into the deep in all the ways that God is asking us to.

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

GD