Reflecting on the little we know about St. Andrew, whose Feast we celebrate today, we might find the most telling description of him in the line from Mark: "Then they (Peter and his brother Andrew) abandoned their nets and followed him". (Mk 1:18). Walking away from the source of their income to follow Jesus could not have been an easy thing. Who among us would be so free? Yet, they saw something in this itinerant teacher that enabled them to take this risk. Andrew remains loyal throughout the public life of Jesus and after his ascension, brings the Gospel to several countries around the Mediterranean Sea, dying a martyr's death on the X shaped cross, known as "St. Andrew's Cross" in Achaia (Southern Greece) during the reign of the Emperor Nero. The leaving of his nets to follow Jesus, in truth, symbolizes his total dedication to Jesus, even to the point of giving his life for him.
It is a basic tenet of the spiritual life that "leaving our nets", abandoning our wills, our plans, our opinions, what we hold most "sacred", when asked by Jesus is necessary if we are to grow into our full stature, into the best version of ourselves that is possible, into the saint that God intends us to be. Because this is so hard to do, we are given opportunity after opportunity each day to leave something behind, set something aside, in order to Jesus to find a place in the space thus made available. If we look at the GAIN rather than the LOSS, we might more readily be able to follow in the footsteps on Andrew and the other saints.
Bro. Rene
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