DAILY HOMILIES #Andrew

By citing examples of Thaddeus and Judas the Galilean, Gamaliel compared Jesus to rabble-rousers who had previously claimed to be Messiahs. For Gamaliel and the council members, it would be a miracle if the church survived a few years. Two thousand years later, this miracle is still ongoing. Similarly, when Andrew told Jesus about the lad with five loaves and two fish, he didn’t see how it would be enough to feed the multitude.

The saying goes, ‘When the student is ready, the master appears.’ We must be ready for God with hearts positively disposed to listen like Samuel, who said: “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” He didn’t say: “Please, stop disturbing me. Can’t you see I am trying to sleep?”

Andrew was the first person to be called by Jesus to be His disciple. In John’s Gospel, Andrew was one of the two disciples of John the Baptist who left him to follow Jesus. This was after John the Baptist announced: “Behold, the Lamb of God!” Lesson One: Andrew did not doubt John the Baptist; he had not seen Jesus before or witnessed any miracle but believed. Andrew is a Man of Faith

ust as Andrew introduced Peter to Jesus, the Feast of St. Andrew stands at such a strategic point in the Church’s calendar as he continues to be the one introducing the Church as a whole to the Advent Season; his feast is like the Calendar Marker that reminds us of the need to start preparing for the Baby Jesus.

Just as Andrew introduced Peter to Jesus, the Feast of St. Andrew introduces the Church to the season of Advent. St. Paul in today’s first reading says: “How beautiful are the feet of one who brings Good News.”

Never assume you are too small or that you can’t do much. Help one person today. Break a little from your little and watch what happens.