Reflection for Thursday November 30, Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle: Matthew 4:18-22

Gospel: Matthew 4:18-22

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. 

He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him.

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Reflection:

Why did Jesus call Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John? Jesus wanted these four fishermen to share in His mission. There was no promise of riches, prosperity and power yet they responded. Their motivation to respond to Jesus call was very simple: they want to serve as Jesus served. No frills no publicity, as much as possible Jesus wanted it under the radar so that no one would know. 

So, these four selfless men followed Jesus they left everything even their  livelihood  so that they could respond to the call of the Lord. In these four men we get a valuable lesson on how to become true servants and followers of the Lord: Follow with full trust and confidence in the Lord! 

When you decide to follow Jesus you must be ready to leave everything for the sake of the Lord.  No looking back and full steam ahead for the Lord will take care of everything for you. Take care of everything not in the sense that you will financially and materially prosper as what many prosperity gospel preachers promote. Take care of you for He will make you rich spiritually so that you would be able to withstand the trials and rigors of your life and His mission.

You too are being called by the Lord to follow and trust Him. Follow where? Follow in His mission of evangelization; don’t worry about anything for He will take care of everything. – Marino J. Dasmarinas