Monday,
November 30, 2015
1st Week of Advent
St. Andrew, Apostle1st Reading: Rom 10:9–18Gospel: Mt 4:18–22
As Jesus walked by the lake of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simoncalled Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake, forthey were fishermen. He said to them, “Come, follow me, and I willmake 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 sonof 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)
Do you want to lead anyone back to God, or at least bring him closer to Him? Consider how St. Andrew did it. The Gospel according to Matthew tells us that he was casting his net into the lake with his brother Simon when the Lord called both of them to a different mode of fishing. They were to become “fishers of men”.
We read the same episode in the Gospel according to John, except that in John’s version Simon came to know about Jesus only through Andrew. In this version Andrew brought Simon to Jesus one morning. Jesus then got the chance to rename Simon as Peter (the Rock) (John 1: 42). Simon was Andrew’s first catch in his newly discovered identity as “fisher of man”. It was such a big catch, for Simon Peter was to become the head of Christ’s Church on earth.
We learn from Andrew’s experience that one does not need to do more than to bring someone to God. Andrew’s part was to offer convincing testimony to Simon about his personal encounter with Jesus. His responsibility ended there. Jesus did the rest. Taking our cue from what Andrew did, we see the importance of maintaining intimate relationship with God so that the same may empower our testimonies with credibility that attracts people to God.Cultivating this intimate relationship takes our whole heart, mind and soul. We cannot be half-baked in our self-dedication to God because God vomits us if we are lukewarm (Rev. 3:15). When one’s commitment to God is compromised with some deeds of darkness, the resulting lukewarm relationship with God results to scandal that drives others away from God. That’s how intricate the job of a witness is! But Andrew was successful because at each encounter with Jesus he was total in his dedication. After each encounter he came out a different person. No wonder his testimony had such a convincing power on Simon!
May every encounter with God turn us into better persons and make of us better witnesses to bring more people back to God. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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