ST. ANDREW
(Saturday, November 30)
“The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples; and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, ‘What do you seek?’ And they said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 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 means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, ‘So you are Simon the son of Jona? You shall be called Cephas” (which means Rock).” (Jn 1: 35-42)
According to this Gospel, it took a couple of days for St. Andrew, celebrated today on the NC, to become an Apostle of Jesus Christ: On the previous day, his initial teacher John the Baptist had already referred to Christ as “the Lamb of God,” and “the Son of God” (Jn 1: 29, 34). But it was only on the next day, when John again called Christ “the Lamb of God,” that two of his disciples, one of whom was Andrew, decided to follow Him around. But they were still seeking to know more about Him, specifically, “where He was staying.” After they came and saw the Lord’s place, Andrew was ready to testify to others, and first to his brother, “We have found the Messiah.”
Through the journey of the Nativity Fast, I am also being prepared to “come and see” His “place,” in a manger in Bethlehem. But first I am hearing the witness of others, like John, in the Scripture-readings offered to us throughout this season. I have gone through this process before, in previous Nativity Fasts, but I need to be re-focused every year, and allow myself to be led, like a lamb of the Lamb, to “come and see” Him born in a manger. Let me let myself be led a bit closer today, to the vision and encounter opening up for me in the upcoming feast of Christ’s Nativity. Holy Apostles, pray to God for us, so we can hear your good news and pass it on to others: “We have found the Messiah.”
