Andrew’s Example

Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Andrew. Today in Matthew’s gospel we hear about the calling of Andrew and his brother, Peter. Jesus calls out to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19) At once they left their nets and followed Christ. There was no hesitation, they left everything behind. In John’s gospel account of the first disciples, we hear about how Andrew was with John the Baptist and heard him cry out, “Behold the Lamb of God,” and Andrew followed Jesus. Andrew and another disciple spent the day with Jesus. Afterward, Andrew went straight to find his brother, Simon Peter, and tell him, “We have found the Messiah.” Andrew then took Peter to meet Jesus.

There is something about Christ that draws us to him that words cannot express. Oftentimes when someone speaks about their desire to become Catholic they can’t put it into words. My candidate for RCIA this year was raised in a Christian home that was very anti-Catholic so you can imagine the disdain she has been experiencing from family and friends since deciding to come into the Church. She speaks about being drawn to the Catholic Church and longing to be a part of it. Even those of us who are Catholic, at some point in our lives, we are called to a deeper relationship with Christ. For me it was 8 years ago when I went through Christ Renews His Parish (CRHP). I knew nothing about it but felt called to sign up for it. I can’t explain it but I know it was the Holy Spirit. During Jesus’ ministry he called many people to come follow him. He preached about how we are to live our lives as Christians. Yet many rejected Him. Jesus continues to call each of us to “follow me” but it is a personal decision that we each have to make. And we have to make this decision each and every day because there are so many things that try to pull us away from him. If we don’t recommit ourselves to him daily, and take time for him every day then we will begin to fall away from him.

I’m sure if someone were to ask Andrew why he dropped everything and followed Christ at that moment he wouldn’t be able to put it into words and certainly not in a way that would make sense to someone whose heart is not open to God. We often want explanations for things. Faith can’t be explained. It is a gift from God and allows us to trust in Him, to drop everything and believe that He will provide.  When we feel God tugging at our hearts to follow him, let us follow in Andrew’s footsteps and put down what we are doing, step out in faith and follow Him.