Gospel Mt 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.
Reflection
Today is the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle. In this Gospel, it looks like Jesus called Peter first and then his brother Andrew, but if you look at the Gospel of John (John 1:40-42), it says: "Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). Then he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter). Why is it different in the Gospel of Matthew from the Gospel of John? He is also the Apostle who found the five barley loaves and the two fish at the "Multiplication of the Loaves" in John's Gospel. (John 6:8-9) "One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?”"
From my research I found that there are various lists of the Apostles through out the New Testament, and every list has Andrew numbered among the first four Apostles. I thought these facts about St. Andrew from the Bible were interesting. It seems like Andrew was out in the crowd talking with the people. He interacted with the people, how else would he have known that there was a boy with five barley loaves and two fish. He was a true missionary. St. Andrew was martyred by crucifixion on a cross that was made in the pattern of an X. He was tied up on the cross with rope so as to prolong his suffering. He died on the 30th of November in the year 60 A.D. (https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01471a.htm)
In this Gospel reading, Jesus says, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." I have always thought of this Gospel as the calling for men to the priesthood. For them to listen to the words of Jesus and drop everything to discern the calling. We need real men to step up and give up everything to follow Jesus. Who is "we"? "We" are the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, the holy Catholic Church, the people of God. We are sons and daughters of God. If "we" need priests, what are "we" doing about it? Do we have any responsibility in this at all? This is what our calling is as a PAPA Missionary. We are called to pray for our priests. Pray that they are holy, have a love of God, love for the poor, humility, obedience, chastity, poverty, wisdom, zeal, courage, truthfulness and perseverance. We have a beautiful Prayer for Priests on our website, here it the link. Consider taking time out of every day, and say this prayer. It will be time well spent. There is a beautiful video that was made by Grassroots Films, titled "Fishers of Men". It is a vocations video with testimonies from priests. I will add the trailer for the video on this page. May God bless all our priests and all the people they save for the Kingdom of God.
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