The Catholic Calendar for Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Saint Andrew, Apostle

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Romans 10:9-18
Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 11
Matthew 4:18-22

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men. At once they left their nets and followed him.” (Matthew 4:19-20)

Picture yourself busy at your daily work. You may be an accountant at a desk, a carpenter on a job, a mother caring for her children, a teacher at a blackboard. Then, Jesus comes up to you right at your work place and says, “Come, follow me.” Would you? Would you drop what you are doing as Peter and Andrew did that day? Or would you hesitate, since you know the outcome of the story?

When Jesus called Peter and Andrew, and then James and John shortly thereafter, these four men had no idea what was in store for them. They did not know that their lives would never be the same and that they would all die martyrs. But they dropped what they were doing without a thought and followed Jesus.

Would we be willing to do the same? The fact is we are called to do the same. Some are called to be preachers as Peter was, while others are called to serve in other ways. But we are all called and that means we must be willing to drop what we are doing to do the Lord’s work. Today on the feast of St. Andrew the apostle, let us renew our promise to follow Him and call for the Lord to give us strength to do us bidding.

- Don Claunch, SFO
(dlclaunch at bresnan dot net)