The Church is celebrating, as today we celebrate the life of a chosen one from the Sir to belong to the number of the Twelve Apostles: Saint Andrew.
Andrew was born in Bethsaida, in the time of Jesusand at first he was a disciple of John the Baptist until he approached the Lamb of God; and, with Saint John, he began to follow Him, therefore, Andrew is recognized by the Liturgy as the “Protoclete”, that is, the first to be called: “First to hear the appeal, to the Master, Peter leads; may we reach heaven, guided by your lights!”
The Liturgy says that when Jesus presented himself for the second time in the region of the Jordan, where John the Baptist was baptizing, he exclaimed: “Behold the Lamb of God”. “The next day, John was there again with two of his disciples. And when he saw Jesus passing by, he said, ‘Behold the Lamb of God’” (John 1:35-36). Andrew and John, hearing these words, decided to leave everything to follow Christ.
Saint Andrew is expressed in the Gospel as “the Savior’s bridge”, because he is the one who stands between his brother Simon and Jesus. “He then went looking for his brother and said to him: “We have found the Messiah (which means the Christ).” (John 1:41).
According to the narrative of Saint John, this was the first meeting of Andrew with Jesus. However, André and Pedro did not definitively stay with the Lord, returning to their occupations as fishermen. Days later, Jesus was passing through Lake Tiberias and, seeing his brothers, asked them to follow Him. “Walking along the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers: Simon (called Peter) and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men’” (Matthew 4,18-19). These words gave rise to the official call to Andrew as an apostle together with his brother Peter.
Few mentions were recorded in the Gospel about Saint Andrew. The first of these is the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. Jesus asks Philip about the possibility of feeding a large crowd, and Andrew intervenes saying: “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish… but what is this for so many people?” (John 6:9).
Tradition has it that, after the Baptism in the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Saint Andrew he would have gone to preach the Gospel in the region of the Caspian and Black Seas, in order to preach the Gospel throughout the world.
Apostle of courage and joy, Saint Andrew He was the founder of the churches in Achaia, where he witnessed Jesus with his own blood, as he was martyred on an X-shaped cross around the year 60, for which he received this praise from the saint: “Hail Santa Cruz, so desired, so loved. Take me away from men and hand me over to my Master and Lord, so that I may receive from you what saved me through you!”
Saint Andrew Apostle, pray for us!
Source: Book ‘Daily Saints’ – Organized by José Leite. SJ / Book ‘The Saint of the day’ – Dom Servilio Conti, IMC / santo.cancaonova.com