FIRST READING
A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans(Romans 10:9-18)
Faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ.
Brethren: If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved. The Scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who call upon him. For, “every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” But how are men to call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how can men preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news!” But they have not all heeded the gospel; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ. But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have; for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 19:2—3, 4—5 (R.5a)
R/. Their sound goes forth through all the earth.
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands.
Day unto day conveys the message,
and night unto night imparts the knowledge. R.
No speech, no word, whose voice goes unheeded;
their sound goes forth through all the earth,
their message to the utmost bounds of the world. R.
ALLELUIA Matthew 4:19
Alleluia. Follow me, says the Lord, and I will make you fishers of men. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Matthew 4: 18-22)
Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
At that time: As Jesus 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.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Today’s Reflection
Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Andrew. Like his brother Simon who later became St. Peter, Andrew was a simple, hardworking fisherman who left the life he knew in order to follow the Lord in the ministry of the kingdom and eventually gave up his life as a martyr. In today’s gospel we have the call narrative of the first disciples. Jesus walks by the sea of Galilee, and sees Simon and Andrew his brother and ahead James and john and he calls them to a greater purpose: to become fishers of men. The leave everything and follow the Lord. Andrew left everything to become a fisher of men and an ambassador of the Gospel. And he did so well because he loved the Lord and was not afraid to die for him. He was willing to lose his life so as to save it. We are also invited to be to be available for the Lord’s work.