Saint Andrew, Apostle
H. Enmanuel Toro, L.C.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Christ, our King, Thy Kingdom come!
Preparatory prayer (to put me in the presence of God)
Lord Jesus, help me to listen to your voice, to have you present in my life. May the experience of my ordinary life not distract me or distract me from your call to follow you. Give me the strength to open my heart to You so that You may transform my life and thus follow You more fully. May it be so.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew 4:18-22
As Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, later called Peter, and Andrew, who were casting their nets into the sea, for they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.“. They immediately left the nets and followed him.
As he passed on, he saw two other brothers, James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were with their father in the boat mending the nets, and he called them also. And they immediately left the boat and their father and followed him.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
Today's Gospel is about the call of the first four disciples. «Come with me and I will make you fishers of people,» he says and they leave everything and go after him. This call is unexpected, surprising and radical.
The disciples left everything and followed Him. Jesus knocks when he wants and the way he wants. What is the only thing that would prevent the knock?... My freedom. God can knock again and again at the door of my heart, but it is I who must open it. He does not force, He waits. And this call, this voice, is also given in specific things in my life. Do I give space to listen to God's call to follow His will? Or am I distracted and immersed in my «things» leaving aside everything related to the Master?
God surprises those who let him in. In the call of the apostles there was no explanation of what this call would be, they trusted and gave themselves body and soul to the Lord's mission. God calls me to follow Him in the little things of every day, to be a good person, to be with Him, to learn from Him and to express to the world this encounter that transforms my life.
«To whom did Jesus begin to speak? The Gospel says that “walking by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers [...] casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. He said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men”“. The first recipients of the call were fishermen; not people carefully selected on the basis of their abilities, not pious men who were in the temple praying, but ordinary working people. We see what Jesus told them: I will make you fishers of men. He speaks to the fishermen and uses language understandable to them. He draws them from his own life. He calls them where they are and as they are, to involve them in his own mission. ”Immediately they left their nets and followed him.» Why immediately? Simply because they were attracted. They were not quick and willing because they had received a command, but because they had been drawn by love. Good commitments are not enough to follow Jesus, but it is necessary to listen to his call every day. Only He, who knows us and loves us to the end, makes us go out into the sea of life. As He did with those disciples who listened to Him."
(Homily of H.H. Francis, January 26, 2020).
Dialogue with Christ
This is the most important part of your prayer, prepare yourself to talk with much love with the One who loves you.
Purpose
Propose a personal one. The one that involves the most love in response to the Beloved... or, if you believe that this is what God is asking of you, live what is suggested below.
I will do a 10-minute examination of conscience at the end of the day to reflect on how I have listened to God's voice.
Farewell
We thank You, Lord, for all Your benefits, You who live and reign forever and ever.
Amen.
Christ, our King!
Thy Kingdom come!
Most prudent Virgin, Mary, Mother of the Church.
Pray for us.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
