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| “St. Andrew” taken from an antique French Holy Card, Artist and Date UNKNOWN. |
Reading 1: Romans
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.
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Commentary on Rom 10:9-18
As part of his
dialogue regarding why the Jews had failed in their mission, St. Paul calls upon the Roman Christians to
profess their belief that Jesus is the Son of God, divine in his own
person. The Jewish converts could not say the name of God but referred
instead to Yahweh as “Lord.” By asking the Christians to “…confess with
your mouth that Jesus is Lord“, they professed their belief in his divinity and what flowed
from that profession was justification (to be made just as if one had not
sinned). In justification is salvation since the physical act of
confessing with the lips must come from an interior faith from the heart.
The Evangelist
continues his call to faith explaining that this path to salvation is open to
all peoples (“There is no distinction between Jew and Greek”). This invitation does not have
any prerequisites (i.e. one does not have to have come to belief through
Judaism) to be unified in Christ, paraphrasing Isaiah
28:16.
In the next section (v. 14-21) St. Paul poses questions as to why the Jewish
people forfeited their status as favorites in the eyes of God. Perhaps
there were reasons which he rhetorically proposes and then rejects: did they
not hear; did they not understand? To the question, have they not
heard? St. Paul responds quoting Psalm 19:5, which concludes this
passage.
CCC: Rom
10:9 343, 186, 449; Rom 10:12-13 2739; Rom 10:13 2666; Rom 10:14-15 875; Rom 10:17 875
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm
19:8, 9, 10, 11
R. (10) The judgments of the Lord are true, and all
of them are just.
or:
R. (John 6:63) Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
The law of the LORD is
perfect,
refreshing the soul;
The decree of the LORD is
trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.
R. The judgments of the
Lord are true, and all of them are just.
or:
R. Your words, Lord, are
Spirit and life.
The precepts of the LORD are
right,
rejoicing the heart;
The command of the LORD is
clear,
enlightening the eye.
R. The judgments of the
Lord are true, and all of them are just.
or:
R. Your words, Lord, are
Spirit and life.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
The ordinances of the LORD
are true,
all of them just.
R. The judgments of the
Lord are true, and all of them are just.
or:
R. Your words, Lord, are
Spirit and life.
They are more precious than
gold,
than a heap of purest gold;
Sweeter also than syrup
or honey from the comb.
R. The judgments of the
Lord are true, and all of them are just.
or:
R. Your words, Lord, are
Spirit and life.
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Commentary on Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 11
Psalm 19 is a
hymn of praise. In this passage, we give praise to God’s gift of the Law which
guides us in our daily lives. The hymn also extols the virtue of obedience and
steadfastness to the Law and its precepts. The passage also reflects the idea
that following God’s statutes leads to peace and prosperity.
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Gospel: Matthew
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.
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Commentary on Mt 4:18-22
This passage is
the account in St. Matthew’s Gospel of the call of the first disciples. The important principle provided in this
episode is the fact that the four disciples called by Jesus, the first four,
followed the Lord immediately. It is
recorded that they left their entire livelihood and all their possessions
behind and followed Jesus. (A similar abruptness is found also in the call of
Levi, Matthew 9:9.)
Ironically the
notes on this section point out that three of the four called, Peter, James,
and John, are distinguished by a particular closeness to Jesus. The reason that Matthew’s account indicates
the disciples left work and family immediately, without any explanation, may be
due in part to Andrew’s earlier encounter with Jesus as a disciple of John the
Baptist (John 1:40).
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Reflection:
What would the
world be like if St. Andrew had not become a disciple of St. John the
Baptist? We don’t know what called him to follow the Voice, to become a
member of that close circle of devout followers. But we do know that if
the Apostle had not, he would never have been sent, as tradition holds, with
his companion to ask Jesus if he was the one to come or if they should expect
someone else.
And what if he
had not gone to the Lord and heard those words: “Go and tell
John what you have seen and heard: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good
news proclaimed to them”
(Luke 7:22)?
Those words had meaning beyond the obvious. While indeed the blind, the
lame, and deaf were healed, those events were a direct reference to the
prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 61:1).
And what did St.
Andrew do? He returned to the Baptist and then, perhaps taking St. John’s
own mission to the next level went immediately to his brother (John
1:37-40). The words
he spoke to him echo through the thousands of years that have passed.
They are graven in the heart of every Christian who has ever come to faith, "We have
found the Messiah."
From that point
forward the profession of faith made by and to the brother of the one who would
be given the Keys to the Kingdom would shape the whole world. From St.
Peter and those first four disciples would be added eight more, including the
one who betrayed him. From them, the Gospel of the Lord would travel to
every part of the world. It began with a simple statement of faith -
"We have found the Messiah."
Today as we
celebrate the feast day of St. Andrew, we thank God for the gift of faith, the
faith he gave St. Andrew and all the Apostles and the faith he gives us.
We ask on this day that St. Andrew will intercede for us and the one he found
will bless us with an abundance of faith so that we in our turn may announce it
to the world - "We have found the Messiah."
Pax
In other years: Wednesday of the First Week of Advent
[1]
The picture is “St. Andrew” taken from an antique French Holy Card, Artist and
Date UNKNOWN.
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This
re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
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