Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint 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.
He walked along from there and saw two other brothers,
James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets.
He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father
and followed him.
Saint Andrew
1. By the sea. It’s important to move out of your comfort zone. Learn to look at life from different perspectives. It’s also good that you listen to those around you and that they may tell you how they see your life – not because that’s the absolute truth, but because it might help you build your life story. Give yourself the possibility of walking along the shore of your life, the shore of knowing that you don’t know and haven’t achieved everything, that there are things that you don’t see but that do happen, that not everything revolves around you. Jesus goes forth, you and I must do likewise: I can’t go on being around only those people who say, “Father how nice everything you do is!” I must also reach out to those who ask, “Who are you?” Today move out of your closed circle and reach out to those who don’t even know who you are.
2. They cast the nets. Work dignifies you. God doesn’t call you because He thinks you’re idle, but because He wants you to work for Him now. You don’t need to be a priest or a nun, although blessed be God if you become one. The proposal is that you be his disciple in your daily life, that whatever you do, you do with love and for love of him. Remembering St Thérèse of Lisieux’s “Little Way”, it’s clear the more you feel loved, the simpler you become. And the simpler you are, the more you surrender to God’s will.
3. They followed Him. Being a Christian and being his disciple implies letting go. It is necessary to learn to let go of the ties that bind you in order to embark on the adventure of life. That’s why if there is no real encounter with Christ it’s difficult to let go of things for him. We must continuously learn to let go of some things to announce the Kingdom of God. We are wayfarers who are constantly changing our backpacks because we must let go of something to go out on new missions. May St. Andrew help you today to live the missionary surrender by being a simple person, a simple disciple.
Always remember that something good is on the way!
God bless you, be with you and protect you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
