Feast of St. Andrew

Thursday,
November 30, 2017
St. Andrew, Apostle1 st Reading: Rom 10:9–18Gospel: 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.

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)

Have you led anyone closer to God? Andrew did. He was casting his net into the lake with his brother Simon when the Lord called them both to high-level fishing. We read this from the Gospel according to Matthew. But John’s Gospel account offers another version. It says that Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. It was then that Jesus changed his name from Simon to Peter, the Rock (John 1: 42). In other words, Simon came to know about Jesus only through Andrew. Simon was Andrew’s first catch in his new identity as fisher of men. It was a real big catch, for Peter was to become the head of Christ’s Church on earth.

Through his convincing testimony of his encounter with Jesus Andrew was able to bring Simon to Jesus the following day. Andrew’s responsibility ended there; Jesus did the rest. In the life experience of Andrew we learn that one need not do more than bring other people to God.  We only need to work on our relationship with Jesus so that our testimony before others may be so convincing as to raise their level of curiosity about Jesus. If we are to be fishers of men as Andrew was, we must cultivate an intimate relationship with God so that our encounter with Him may empower our testimonies with the kind of credibility that attracts people to God. This requires an undivided heart. A single encounter with the Lord is enough for a person with undivided heart to give his whole heart, soul, and being to the Lord. His testimony will be empowered to bring people close to God. In contrast, the commitment of a person whose heart is divided will be compromised with some deeds of darkness. The resulting lukewarm relationship with God scandalizes others and drives them away from God.

Have you led anyone close to God so far? There are two possible reasons for a negative answer. Either you haven’t had any encounter with the Lord, or your heart is divided and your relationship with God is lukewarm. May St. Andrew help us cleanse our hearts to make a total self-dedication to the Lord! -(Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.

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