Entrance Antiphon
Andrew, and he said to them: Come after me and I will make you fishers of men.
Collect
We humbly implore your majesty, O Lord, that just as the blessed Apostle Andrew was for your Church a preacher and pastor, so he may be for us a constant intercessor before you. Through our Lord…
FIRST READING
Faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ.
A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans(Romans 10:9-18)
Brethren: If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved. The Scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who call upon him. For, “every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” But how are men to call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how can men preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news!” But they have not all heeded the gospel; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ. But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have; for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 19:2—3, 4—5 (R.5a)
R/. Their sound goes forth through all the earth.
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands.
Day unto day conveys the message,
and night unto night imparts the knowledge. R.
No speech, no word, whose voice goes unheeded;
their sound goes forth through all the earth,
their message to the utmost bounds of the world. R.
ALLELUIA Matthew 4:19
Alleluia. Follow me, says the Lord, and I will make you fishers of men. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Matthew 4: 18-22)
At that time: 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 fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Today’s Reflection
Faith in Jesus and belief in his resurrection bring salvation. No one encounters Jesus and remains the same. Through St Andrew’s encounter with Jesus, his life was transformed. He gave up everything, his means of livelihood, his family, practically all his life to follow Jesus. Andrew was transformed from being a fisherman to being a passionately committed disciple of Jesus. We are challenged today to such radical discipleship. We are called daily to abandon the things that hinder us from responding to the call of Christ. Are we ready?