FEAST OF ST. ANDREW, APOSTLE - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Follow me, says the Lord,
and I will make you into fishers of men. MT 4:19

ROMANS 10:9-18

My Soul's Beloved,

In the day and age we live in all have heard Your Name, 'Jesus', all have heard the Good News of salvation, but not hearing not all believe. Why Lord? It is because those of us who are called by Your Name have not lived the Gospel faithfully. Cafeteria Christians are anathema to You. We cannot cherry-pick doctrine. Sin remains sin even if the whole world declares it is not. 

The fullness of truth is deposited in one place and one place only - the Catholic Church. In her alone are all the treasures of the faith that all her members must accept, believe, and obey. We thank You, Lord for the Church for her preachers, her teachers, her missionaries, her deacons, her religious, and especially members of the laity who have studied Your Word, pondered its mysteries and its treasures, and shared in freely. We thank You for the sacrifices they make and we ask You to bless them and their families abundantly. 

In these last days, Lord, we ask for this very special grace, that all who hear the Gospel will be moved by the Holy Spirit and come to believe, be baptized and saved. Grant also O Lord that the fulfillment of Your prayer for unity which Your Father has already heard and answered will come to pass in this generation. Hasten the coming of Your Kingdom O Lord

The footsteps of those who bring good news are a welcome sound. Not everyone, of course, listens to the Good News. As Isaiah says: Lord, how many believed what we proclaimed? So faith comes from what is preached, and what is preached comes from the word of Christ. Let me put the question: is it possible that they did not hear? Indeed they did; in the words of the psalm, their voice has gone out through all the earth, and their message to the ends of the world.

PSALM 18(19):2-5

Their word goes forth through all the earth.

The heavens proclaim the glory of God,
and the firmament shows forth the work of his hands.
Day unto day takes up the story
and night unto night makes known the message.

No speech, no word, no voice is heard
yet their span extends through all the earth,
their words to the utmost bounds of the world.

Their word goes forth through all the earth.

MATTHEW 4:18-22

My Soul's Beloved,

Your Church is founded on the Twelve Apostles just as the twelve tribes of Israel were founded on the sons of Jacob. Nothing in Scripture is random every event is part of the whole fabric of salvation. It all fits in perfectly with the plan of God. The plan of salvation. 

You called the Apostles by name, You extended to him a personal invitation, 'Follow Me!' and he left everything without a backward glance. Andrew, a disciple of John the Baptist believed when he pointed to You and exclaimed that You were the Lamb of God. He believed that You were the Messiah whose coming Israel had long, hoped, and waited for eagerly and he shared his belief with his brother Peter. This is our mission as well to witness to our faith in season and out of season.

Andrew like most of the Apostles, died a martyr and now wears an imperishable crown of glory. May we be prepared to give all if faith so demands unafraid to make the ultimate sacrifice of our lives. 

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast in the lake with their net, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.’ And they left their nets at once 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. At once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him.