Teacher, Where Do You Live?

 Reflection on Today's Readings of the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, Tuesday 30th November, 2021
Texts: Romans 10:9-18; Ps. 19:2—5; Matthew 4: 18-22
Today is the feast day of St. Andrew the Apostle. He was a fisherman who hailed from Bethsaida (John 1:4) and was a brother of Simon Peter (John 6:8). He was among the first disciples of Jesus Christ (John 1: 35- 40).  Today's gospel reading records his call by Jesus. It is said, "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" (Mtt.  4:18-20). In his life, St. Andrew teaches us the cost of following Jesus: it is everything. We have to leave everything to follow Jesus; nothing should be preferred to Him. Being true to the meaning of his name, 'manly', he was manly enough to follow Jesus Christ. One must be manly enough to follow Jesus, for leaving everything takes a lot of courage.
We may ask: What does Andrew want from Jesus? He just simply wanted to be with Jesus. This was made known when he first followed Jesus. It is said, "Jesus turned round and saw them following and said, 'What do you want?' They answered, 'Rabbi' - which means teacher- 'where do you live? He replied, 'Come and see'; so they went and saw where he lived, and stay with him that day. It was about the tenth hour. One of the two who became the followers of Jesus after hearing what John had said was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter" (John 1:38-39). He left everything to stay with Jesus. In another word, he left everything to gain Jesus. He was also a man who was eagerly waiting for the Messiah. This is evident in his following Jesus Christ at the introduction of John the baptist. Andrew’s attitude is that of one waiting for the Messiah to come from heaven, full of joy that he has come, and hurrying to meet Him and know Him (Today's Office of the reading, p. 6*). We learn from him how to respond to Christ's coming. He also shows us that the goal of our lives is to live with Him when He comes.
The desire of every Christian should be to gain Jesus. St. Paul teaches the same as he says, "Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ" (Phil. 3:7-8). If we ask Him now, where do you live? The answer is this: "As God, Jesus Christ is everywhere. As God made man, he is in heaven, and in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar" (Penny Catechism, no. 46). As man, our brother, He is in heaven, so our hearts should always be raised to heaven, for there our treasure, Jesus Christ, is. St. Paul says, "So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory" (3:1-4).
St. Andrew was also fond of introducing others to Jesus. When he found Jesus, he introduced his brother, Peter, to Jesus (John 1:41-42). He also introduced the boy with five barley loaves and two fish to Jesus (John  6:8-9). Together with Philip, he introduced Greeks to Jesus. He brought both Jews and Gentiles to Jesus. We could see in him a man who did not discriminate; he was open to all; he was favourably disposed to both Jews and Gentiles. We learn from him not to discriminate and to be favourably disposed to all. We are also to imitate him in sharing his faith with others.


Lord Jesus, help us to wait for You patiently that when You come we may hasten to meet You and live with You forever. Amen
St. Andrew, pray for us.

Fr. Andrew Olowomuke