Saint Andrew

We pause in our days of Advent to celebrate the Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle. To begin, Andrew was an apostle of John the Baptist before he became a follower of Christ. He also brought his brother, Simon Peter, to be a follower (Magnificat, 431). We listen to their story in the gospel, Matthew 4:18-22. Simon Peter and Andrew were fisherman and they were at their trade when the Lord called them to be fishers of men. They left everything and followed Jesus. The same happened to James and John as they were fishing with their father, Zebedee. Jesus called them and they to left everything to follow the Lord. When these early apostles were called there seemed to be no hesitation at all. In fact, when Jesus called James and John the passage reads, "He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him." If they had no prior knowledge of Jesus and this man walks up to them and says "Come, follow me," that takes great faith and trust. I will get back to those two gifts in a moment, but Andrew went on to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ and he was put to death by crucifixion. Like his brother, Peter, Andrew probably felt that unworthiness to be crucified like our Lord, so he was crucified on a cross in the shape of an "X." Saint Andrew is an Advent saint. During these days of Advent, we are preparing ourselves for the coming of Christ, not just at Christmas, but ultimately at the end of time. We are working to strengthen the gifts of faith and trust that have been given to us. Let us ask Saint Andrew to intercede for us as we continue our journey of Advent and be renewed in the gifts of faith and trust that God has given to us! Have a blessed day!!!