30.11.24 Dari Nelayan Jadi Penjala Manusia: Inspirasi dari Santo Andreas

St Andrew, Apostle; Day 1 of the Novena to the Immaculate Conception "Mt 4:18-22" As he 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. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. St Andrew was a fisherman like his brother, St Peter. When St John the Baptist pointed Jesus out as the Lamb of God, Andrew (together with John, the beloved disciple) followed Jesus without a moment's hesitation. St John explains in his Gospel that they spent the day with Jesus. That same evening, Andrew went to his brother Peter and told him, "We have found the Messiah (which interpreted means Christ). And he led him to Jesus" (Jn 1:41-42). So Andrew knew Jesus before the scene of today's Gospel. Andrew had been listening to Him; he heard Him and spent time with Him... But Jesus wanted more than just that. So He went and met Andrew again in his 'workplace', where he was fishing with his brother. And there He asked Andrew to leave 'everything' and become His disciple. Then we find those wonderful, unforgettable words about Andrew, Peter, James and John: "Immediately," says the Gospel, immediately!, "they left everything and followed him." May I also be quick to respond to Your calling, Lord, whatever it is; may I never make You wait. And may I also be faithful to that calling like St Andrew. It's said that at the end of his life, St Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross - supposedly at his own request, as he deemed himself unworthy to be crucified like Jesus had been. When his ageing eyes saw the cross, he exclaimed, "O good Cross, made beautiful by the Body of the Lord: long have I desired you, ardently have I loved you, unceasingly have I sought you out; and now you are ready for my eager soul. Receive me from among men and restore me to my Master, so that He – who, by means of you, in dying redeemed me – may by you receive me." Mary, my Mother, make me quick to respond to your Son.