GOSPEL POWER - NOVEMBER 30, 2020 - SAINT ANDREW, APOSTLE

Gospel: Mt 4:18-22 

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 fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

REFLECTION

The Gospel readings in the last week in Ordinary Time sound off the call to be awake and watchful. The Gospel for the feast of St. Andrew is not an intrusion and does not interrupt that call. Rather, it portrays the Galilean fishermen as models of wakefulness and vigilance. Such dispositions entail being in touch with what is going on, in order to recognize opportunities and threats and be able to act fittingly and promptly. Jesus enters the fishermen’s lives while they are engaged in their trade. He summons them to a new adventure—fishing people for God’s Kingdom. Twice the evangelist records the quickness and immediacy of their response. Without “ifs” and “buts,” they abandon everything to become Jesus’ disciples. They see the opportunity and jump at it before it vanishes, never to return again. That is wakefulness—the kind of focused attention on the present moment, which our distracted generation needs badly today

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, help us to temper our fascination with technology, which often diverts our attention from the sacredness of the present moment. Amen.