Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
November 30, 2019
As Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
Reflection
Jesus calls out to these fishermen to follow him. And as quickly as possible (“at once,” “immediately”) these men stop what they’re doing and follow. I wonder if Peter, Andrew, James, and John simply jumped out of their boats and swam over to Jesus at the shore. These fishermen left their livelihoods and their families to go and follow Christ. This account makes me ponder one very important question in my own life.
When I am called to follow Christ, do I answer? I believe, without a doubt, that we are all called by Christ to follow him. The first problem we face is actually listening to the call. These fishermen could not follow Jesus if they were so preoccupied with their work that they didn’t hear Jesus call out to them. How often do we miss the call to follow Jesus? How often do we forget that everyone around us is Christ calling out to us?
The second problem is our struggle to answer the call. How can we say no to our Savior? Yet, we all do. We are all sinners. There are times when we say ‘no’ because we say ‘yes’ to our wants and desires. There are other times when we say ‘no’ to Christ because it inconveniences us. There are times when we hear the call and simply ignore it.
Finally, the last issue is this: if we decide to answer the call, do we do so immediately? The gospel says that these fishermen leave all that they’re doing a go to follow Jesus immediately. Are we always ready to follow the call of Jesus to love one another? Do we ever put everything aside to help another, or do we just help out when it’s convenient for us? Let us listen, answer, and not hesitate.
Prayer
O, Christ, we have heard your voice. We have felt your eyes upon us. And we have turned and dropped our nets. We follow you, with one shaky foot after the other. What will you have us do now? We follow you not because we know where you lead us, but because we know it is you, O Christ, who leads. Our hands often itch for the sureness of the nets we knew before. But now we hold our hands open in faith. Lead on, Master, to deeper and wilder waters. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Andrew stands out from the other disciples because he was the first to respond to the invitation to follow Christ. He is known in the Greek Church as the Protoclete—"first called."
Like his brother, Simon Peter, Andrew was born in Galilee, traditionally thought to be Bethsaida, and grew up near the lake of Genesareth to become a fisherman. He became a follower of John the Baptist until, one day, John pointed to Jesus and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:35-51).
In a homily on this passage in the Gospel of John, St. John Chrysostom writes:
"Andrew's words reveal a soul waiting with the utmost longing for the coming of the Messiah, looking forward to his appearing from heaven, rejoicing when he does appear, and hastening to announce so great an event to others. To support one another in the things of the spirit is the true sign of good will between brothers, of loving kinship and sincere affection."
Andrew not only saw the Light of the World when John the Baptist pointed him out but carried that light clearly and brightly to his brother, Peter.
Andrew and Simon remained fishermen for a time until Jesus called them away and promised to make them fishers of people. Tradition holds that Andrew traveled to Greece to spread the good news after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.
It is claimed that he was martyred by being tied (not nailed) to a cross in the shape of an “X," and that he lived for two days on the cross and continued to preach to those gathered around him, but this is unlikely as the X-shaped cross was not known before the 14th century. Nevertheless, Andrew is most often depicted holding a cross of this shape.
St. Andrew is the patron saint of Greece and Russia, where it is claimed he traveled to preach. He is also a patron of Scotland, though he did not visit there—that designation comes from another saint who protected his relics.
St. Regulus, a native of Greece, was designated to protect St. Andrew's relics in the fourth century. It is told that he was warned in a dream by an angel to take part of those relics and start to journey northwest, "towards the end of the earth." He received a sign to stop at the place now known as St. Andrews, Scotland, where Regulus built a church to hold them. Regulus was named bishop and taught the faith to the Scots for 30 years.
Relics of St. Andrew also rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. He is depicted in several places on campus, including in a statue above the door to Morrissey Manor (shown above). The chapel in the residence of Holy Cross priests on campus, Corby Hall, is named after St. Andrew.
St. Andrew, who was first to follow Jesus and to lead others to Christ—pray for us!