A Daily Gospel Reflection
by Deacon Kevin Heim
Monday, November 30, 2020
Feast of Saint Andrew
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.
Excerpt from a talk by Deacon Greg Kandra: “This Gospel says, ‘Break a sweat!’ Put down your nets, walk away from what you know, risk. As Scripture tells us again and again, wonders await those who make that choice – graces beyond measure.
We can become too busy mending nets – and miss the ultimate net gain of a life following Christ.”
Andrew is chronicled to have traveled and preached in Scythia and surrounding territories. Thus, he is the patron saint of Romania, Ukraine, and Russia – and Scotland. Legend has it that St. Regulus was advised in a dream to take some of the relics to the “ends of the earth.” He sailed west and shipwrecked on those ends on the isle of Fife, Scotland.
Legend also has it that one of the kings of Scotland, upon entering a battle in which he was badly outnumbered, promised to name St. Andrew as patron saint of Scotland if he were victorious. A sign appeared in the sky in the form of St. Andrew’s X-shaped cross. Today this is represented as the official flag of Scotland:
