Message of Abbot Paul - Wednesday 30th November 2022

Today we celebrate the feast of St Andrew, patron saint not only of Scotland but of many countries, cities, parishes and Christians. He is, undoubtedly, one of the most popular of all the saints. Interestingly, there are two accounts of the call of Andrew in the Gospels. In the Synoptic tradition, and today at Mass we read Matthew’s version, (Mt 4: 18-22), he was a fisherman on the sea of Galilee and was with his brother Simon Peter and their friends, the brothers James and John, when he was called by Jesus, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” All four responded immediately the call of Jesus and downed their nets, left their work and their families and followed Jesus. However, after the resurrection of Jesus, we find them once more fishing on the Sea of Galilee, so that the initial leaving all things to follow Jesus might not have been quite as radical as at first it appeared to be.

 

​In John, (Jn 1: 35-42), we find a very different account of the calling of the first disciples of Jesus. Here it is.

 

“The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon, son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).”

 

​It appears, then, that the disciples were originally followers of John the Baptist and that they shifted their allegiance to Jesus at the instigation of John. We also discover that Andrew was the first to follow after Jesus. So convinced was he that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ, that he rushed to introduce Peter his brother to him. This is why Andrew has always been known as the “First Called” or in Greek

Πρωτόκλητος. His name was Greek and not Hebrew or Aramaic, but it was quite common at the time for Jewish children to be given foreign names. Ἀνδρέᾱς means manly or brave. The life of St Andrew and his subsequent popularity gave rise to many customs and devotions. Let us simply ask his intercession to be faithful disciples in the world in which we live today