Driven by love

Reflection 

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.

Matthew 4:18-22

Today we are celebrating the feast of St. Andrew the apostle, martyr. It is said that he was crucified because the Roman Governor in the south of Greece was so mad at him for converting his wife to Christianity. To mock his being a Christian, they tilted the cross so that it would be in the form of the letter "x". Andrew has always been enthusiastic in sharing the Good News. John painted a beautiful picture of Andrew's generosity (John 1:35-42). A disciple of John the Baptist, he was one of those who heard how John referred to Jesus as the chosen one, the Lamb of God, and immediately they left John to follow Jesus, and as we would read in John's recounting of the Gospel, "The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, 'We have found the Messiah' (John 1:41).

Such generosity in sharing the Good News marks Andrew's love for God, his desire to genuinely live God's will and to follow God wherever he goes, even in his martyrdom.

In our first reading we heard how Paul encouraged the Romans to share their love for Christ and the love of God that they have received through Christ by sharing this love with others, in proclaiming God's love for all, both Jews and Greeks, for in confessing our love for God we will be saved, you will be saved. Let us remember that Andrew's faith and love is that which allowed him to become generous.

In our Gospel reading (Matthew 4:18-22), we heard the second account of Andrew's calling, this time together with his brother Peter as they were casting their net into the sea. And when they heard Jesus' call, they immediately left what they were doing and followed Christ. The same with the sons of Zebedee, James and John.

God's call for us is a call of love, a call to love, and having experienced God's love by answering His call, we are driven to share this love with others by proclaiming his love - not just for us, but for all. For all. And for us to experience this love and the fruits of God's love we must first believe, have faith in the love through Christ. To recognize Jesus as the Lamb of God. 

This is a proclamation, not just through words, but through our actions, through our feelings towards others, they say, through our eyes, on how we see others, as brothers and sisters, as God's children whom God loved endlessly.

***

Today is my late grandmother Lilia's birthday, please send prayers for the eternal repose of her soul. Today is also the birthday of my tito Lando Blanco, my college friend Presto Suyat and Mary Andrea Ugaddan, my high school math teacher Gina Anqui, IP rights advocate Sr. Theodora Bilocura, Jomar Rosas, Jandie Sagayno, Jill Baesa, Aldrin Albarda, and Cornell Paul Manatad. Prayers for them and for all those who are celebrating their special day today.

Today is also the birthday of one of the Philippine's late revolutionaries, Andres Bonifacio, who was driven by his love for his country to live out his opposition to the abuses of the Spanish colonizers. He founded the Katipunan and was later on killed on the order of Emilio Aguinaldo who saw Andres as a threat to his ambition of becoming the country's first president. 

Photo by Yb Lyu on Unsplash