Saint Andrew, the one who brings others to Jesus
Matthew 4:18-22. November 30, 2021 and 2022 - Wednesday , The Feast of Saint Andrew
Today, the Gospel of Matthew tells us about the call of the first disciples. Till that moment, Jesus was alone; from now on, he will always be in the company of his disciples. With their call, Jesus begins to establish a new Israel that will bring the light of the Gospel to the whole world. They are called to be the fishers of people, namely recruiting others for God's kingdom. Although four ordinary fishermen do not look like a force able to transform the world, their calling explains the meaning of the parable of the mustard seed (Matt 13:31-32), namely that insignificant beginnings of God's kingdom lead to the renewal of the entire world.
But today, the universal Church celebrates the feast of Saint Andrew, one of those being called by Jesus and so let us focus our attention on him. In John’s Gospel, Andrew is the disciple of John the Baptist and upon hearing the testimony of the Baptist about Jesus, “this is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”, he follows Christ. Together with John the Evangelist, they spent the whole day with Christ and the first thing Andrew did after that was to find his brother, Peter, and announced to him the Good news: "We have found the Messiah". The one about whom the entire Old Testament was speaking and the entire world was waiting for finally appeared on the earth. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
But Andrew did not only tell Peter, the Good News, he also brought Peter to Jesus. Each time Andrew is mentioned in John’s Gospel, he is bringing someone to Christ: the boy who had five loaves of bread and two fish, and the Greeks who wanted to see Jesus (6:8-9; 12:22). That is a beautiful testimony about him. No one can foresee, when he brings a man or woman to Jesus, what Jesus will make of that person. Peter became the leader among the apostles, the little offering of the boy led to an incredible miracle of the multiplication of bread, and by mentioning to Jesus the desire of the Greeks to see the Lord, he prepares us for the mission of the Church to the Gentiles after Christ’s resurrection.
Let us pray that like Saint Andrew we will firmly believe in the testimony of the Gospel that Jesus is the Lord and Savior, proclaim that Good News to others and always lead others to Jesus.