Memorial of the Apostle Andrew Read more
Memorial of the Apostle Andrew
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If we die with him, we shall live with him,
if with him we endure, with him we shall reign.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 4,18-22
As he was walking by the Lake of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast into the lake with their net, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, 'Come after me and I will make you fishers of people.' And at once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there he saw another pair of brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they were in their boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. And at once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If we die with him, we shall live with him,
if with him we endure, with him we shall reign.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This liturgical year, which in the early days has welcomed Andrew's memory, closes still remembering this apostle, who was the first among those called. The evangelist Matthew narrates his call at the beginning of the Gospel, when Jesus meets the first four disciples. They were the first to follow him, having left their nets and their normal life. This reminds us that the Christian is first and foremost a disciple, that is, a follower of Jesus. The apostle Andrew reminded us of this at the beginning of this liturgical year and he reminds us of it as the year is about to end. Every day, every year, the entire life of the disciple is to listen to Jesus and follow him. This is why the story of Andrew, the first called - according to the narrative of John - continues to be exemplary. According to tradition, Andrew announced the Gospel in Syria, Asia Minor and Greece and died in Patras, crucified like his Teacher. Orthodoxy venerates him as the first bishop of the Church of Constantinople. This is why in recent decades the Church has established the excellent tradition of a mutual visit of the Church of Peter (the pope) and the Church of Andrew (the Ecumenical Patriarch). Today the representatives of the Pope are on a visit to Constantinople to attend the Divine Liturgy. It is a sign of the common path which the Churches must take again, as happened at the beginning of the Christian story. The evangelist Matthew narrates the common response of the first four disciples, who together followed Jesus. The call is also repeated to us today: "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of people." Like those first disciples we too must continue to walk with Jesus. This call encloses our future, our very lives. Jesus addressed to those first disciples words they could understand in a direct and understandable way: "You will be still fishing, but fishing people." For this kind of fishing we need to leave behind the usual nets, and take others, those of brotherhood. And the waters are no longer those of the lake but the crowds of this world who are tossed by the waves of violence. Andrew lies before us with his ready reception to Jesus' invitation. We are not the ones who choose, it is another one who looks at us, loves us and calls us. Truly Jesus is the true "fisher of people." He called those first disciples and continues to call even today men and women who allow themselves to be carried away by his love and his dream for the world, the dream of uniting all in the net of a universal brotherhood.
Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!
For the sick, in memory of the dead, for peace
