Nov 30 – Feast of St. Andrew, apostle
St. Andrew was the first Apostle of Jesus Christ. He was a fisherman by trade, and the brother of Simon Peter. He was a follower of John the Baptist. Andrew went through life leading people to Jesus, both before and after the Crucifixion. He was a missionary in Asia Minor and Greece, and possibly areas in modern Russia and Poland. He was martyred on a saltire (x-shaped) cross, and is said to have preached for two days from it.
- Patron Saint Index
Rm 10:9-18
Mt 4:18-22
“Follow me…”
Brothers and sisters, today is my feast day!
Up till the age of 28, I did not know I had this special day. Then in 1994, I got married at the age of 29. On this day thirty years ago, while we were in Rome for a holiday, my wife wished me a happy feastday. She suggested we go to evening mass. It was then that I knew about today’s saint. After mass, I remember we had a nice dinner in Trastevere.
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus was walking by the sea of Galilee when he saw Simon — who was called Peter — and his brother Andrew, casting their nets towards the sea. Jesus said to them, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men”. Both left everything and followed him. At that time, it appeared that Jesus already knew them both. But when was their first encounter with the Messiah?
The answer is likely found in John’s gospel (1:35-42). Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. He met Jesus in the desert and spent a day with him. After that, he went to Simon Peter and told him, “We have found the Messiah”. Andrew then brought Peter to meet Jesus. Indeed, the gospel records two other stories where Andrew was the ‘go to’ person to bring people to meet Jesus. Andrew is the disciple who brought the boy with the five loaves and two fishes and later on, helped Philip to bring some Greeks to meet Jesus.
Unlike his brother Simon Peter, Andrew was not part of Jesus’ inner circle, even though he was the first apostle that Jesus called. In fact, Andrew disappears from the scriptures after Pentecost. Nevertheless, many early Christian writings (not part of the bible) record numerous journeys made by Andrew to spread the faith. I believe that many of these records are historical, as St Andrew became the Patron Saint of Ukraine, the Greek Orthodox Church, Malta, Cyprus and even Scotland (a relic of St Andrew was sent to Scotland to help in their battle).
St Andrew’s life clearly teaches me that being part of any church organisation is to perform the ‘go to’ role — to bring people to the Catholic faith. I am blessed to be a part of the 7am choir in St Francis Xavier. We start warm-ups and rehearsal at 6.20am every Sunday. I own a car, so have volunteered to bring as many choir members to church. I guess in my small way, I am the ‘go to’ 7am choir person!
(Today’s OXYGEN by Andrew Sia)
Prayer: Lord, help me not to sin again, but to love you with all my heart.
Thanksgiving: Thank you Lord, for the gift of St Andrew the Protokletos, or ‘first to be called’.
OXYGEN 
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