FEAST OF SAINT ANDREW - APOSTLE - Gospel (Mt 4:18-22) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mt 4:19)

FIRST READING - Rom 10:9-18

A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans

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 OF THE DAY - Mt 4:18-22

From the Gospel according to Matthew

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.

FEAST OF SAINT ANDREW - APOSTLE - Gospel (Mt 4:18-22)

THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

Dear People of God,

Today the Church celebrates the feast of Saint Andrew, the apostle. Today's Word of God recounts Jesus' call to His disciples to follow Him. When the Word of God touches the hearts and souls of those chosen by God, with just one call from Him, that person will be ready to give up everything to follow Him.

Through today's Word of God, God shows the strength and power of God when He gives it to humanity. Specifically, when He gives the Word to personally call someone, that person must obey because they can not escape Him. Whoever God has chosen and called to follow Him is the happiness and love that God gives. And He wants to place in that person a mission or a certain responsibility for His work.

Through the Gospel, the image of the four apostles who were chosen by God, and who dared to give up everything in this world to follow the Holy Master Jesus, shows the strength and power of God. They were moved by God, given faith by God to be ready to give up fishing, give up all their familiar daily lives to follow Him to do the work of "fishers of men more than fishing for fish"; that is, collaborating with God to save souls, a very important and meaningful work, and God will also share His strength and power when people courageously follow God.

Today, God wants to invite humanity to put the most important and priority work first, which is collaborating with God to save souls. God calls all those who dare to follow the Holy Master Jesus, following the example of the Apostles, to make this most precious and necessary choice. And this is also the important and primary work that the Son of God came down to earth as a human to help, to free human souls from the captivity of Satan. Therefore, when following Jesus Christ, the disciples must also follow the example of the Holy Master Jesus, carrying the cross up to Calvary to suffer and die with Him. Through that, God the Father wants to invite everyone:

Be aware of your status when being chosen by God and called into His work; fulfill the duty that God the Father has given, which is to save souls.

Each person should be aware of and fulfill well the responsibilities that God the Father has given them, which is to become faithful, loyal and wise managers of God.

Today's Word of God calls upon His disciples: to be vigilant in every word and deed as they walk in God's work of salvation; to always examine themselves, repent, recognize their sins, and atone for their sins by prioritizing God's work above all else, which is to help souls escape from the captivity of Satan, as God has mercifully freed them from Satan.

Thanks be to God. Amen.