Reading 1
Rom 10:9-18
Brothers and sisters:
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.
For one believes with the heart and so is justified,
and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
The Scripture says,
No one who believes in him will be put to shame.
There is no distinction between Jew and Greek;
the same Lord is Lord of all,
enriching all who call upon him.
For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
And how can they hear without someone to preach?
And how can people preach unless they are sent?
As it is written,
How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!
But not everyone has heeded the good news;
for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what was heard from us?
Thus faith comes from what is heard,
and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.
But I ask, did they not hear?
Certainly they did; for
Their voice has gone forth to all the earth,
and their words to the ends of the world.
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.
Meditation: Matthew 4:18-22
They left their nets and followed him. (Matthew 4:20)
Have you ever been so excited about someone that you wanted to tell everyone you knew about him or her? That’s the way Andrew was about Jesus. John tells us that the first thing Andrew did after meeting Jesus was to introduce his brother Peter to him. “We have found the Messiah,” Andrew announced excitedly (John 1:41).
Whenever we hear about Andrew, we see his faith in action. He is either talking intimately with Jesus or taking someone to meet him. When Jesus fed a large crowd with five loaves and two fishes, it was Andrew who brought the young boy who had the food to Jesus (John 6:8-9). Later, when a group of Greeks asked to see Jesus, it was Andrew who took the message—and the people—to him.
It seems that Andrew was always eager to see what God would do in people’s hearts, always looking out to see how they would respond and be transformed by their time with Jesus. And that’s something worth considering as we begin the Advent season. Advent is, after all, a time of anticipation. Children wait excitedly for Christmas, and we adults wait to see how the holidays will unfold. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could be just as excited about the coming of the Lord—both his coming at the end of time and his coming into the hearts of those who don’t yet know him all that well? Maybe this year we can try to follow Andrew’s example and find ways to tell people about Jesus. Maybe we can even find the courage to offer to pray with them and invite them to welcome Jesus into their hearts!
This doesn’t have to be a difficult task, either. All we have to do is find our own way of saying: “I have met someone so amazing that I simply have to tell you about him.” This Advent, think of someone—perhaps a family member, a friend, or a neighbor—and ask the Spirit to show you how you can invite them to see what it’s like to know Jesus. Follow Andrew’s example, and watch what happens!
“Lord Jesus, give me the excitement and courage of Andrew so that I can witness to you. Let my enthusiasm be like a magnet to draw others to you.”
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