Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle
As Christians, we are all called like Andrew – amidst our ordinary lives – to be witnesses to the Gospel. No matter our occupation, circumstances, or state of life, Jesus comes to us and calls us to follow him and spread the Good News. If you think about it, Jesus could have called a whole host of people to be his apostles – those sent out to preach the Kingdom of God. He could have called many more influential people by the world’s standards. He could have gotten the best biblical scholars, governors, kings, or generals. They certainly would get the job done because whatever they say would be followed without much resistance. Those folks wouldn’t need to do much convincing to get others to accept their testimony. However, he calls fishermen. He calls people doing ordinary work in ordinary places like most of us.
In our day, too, we might put too much faith in the fact that the more important one is, the more effective their ministry might be. We can think that faithful Instagram influencers, Christian politicians, or Catholic celebrities would be better than us at preaching the word of God to many more people. Instead, I think Jesus is more interested in you following him and preaching the Kingdom. Jesus sees the witness of everyday people as necessary for the Kingdom. Jesus calls you specifically to do something meaningful. As Paul says in the first reading, “And how can people preach unless they are sent?” Today, we celebrate the call of St. Andrew, an ordinary guy whose witness changed the world. And that’s what we are called to do: to be sent and preach the Good News in our corner of the world. How can your preaching, whether with your words or your life, make our world more loving and just?