“And He Stayed With Him That Day”

Tucked away at the end of November and the beginning of Advent, is the Feast of St. Andrew, an Apostle, a martyr, a great evangelizer, and a great friend of the Lord. I never paid much attention to St. Andrew before, but in that weird year of 2020, he quietly slipped into my life as a great witness and intercessor. Here are highlights (and lowlights) of St. Andrew’s life which I think we can all learn from:

1. St. Andrew is sometimes referred to as the “Protoklete” meaning the “first called.” Originally a disciple of St. John the Baptist, Andrew was present when St. John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and proclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1: 36). Andrew and John (John the Beloved, not the Baptist) then began following after Jesus. Jesus addressed them, “What are you looking for?” Jesus still addresses this question to each of us: what are you looking for? Andrew and John reply with a question: “Rabbi, where are you staying?” Which Jesus answered with a simple, yet life changing invitation: “Come and see.” The Gospel tells us: “and they stayed with Him that day”. Andrew didn’t sign up for a lifetime of following Jesus right away, he didn’t know all the suffering this might bring, he didn’t know the great joy Jesus might bring. He just stayed with Him that day. And the next day. And the next day. Everyday for three years, and ultimately, for the rest of his life. Andrew made the decision to accept the Lord’s invitation in one moment, and he renewed that yes everyday. 

2. Andrew constantly brings others to Jesus. The same day that Andrew met Jesus for the first time, he ran to tell his own brother, Peter: “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41). Andrew brought Peter to Jesus. Peter became the first pope, the leader of the Apostles and the early Church. Yet Andrew trusted his own relationship with the Lord, he trusted that the Lord loved him and wanted him on His mission just as much as He wanted Peter there. Peter was the first person Andrew humbly and joyfully led to Christ, but he was certainly not the last. Andrew was the one who found the young boy with the loaves and fishes in the crowd of thousands and trusted that Jesus could do something great with very little (John 6: 8). Later in the Gospel, when some Greeks want to meet Jesus, they first ask Philip’s help, and Philip takes them to Andrew who in turn goes and tells Jesus (John 12: 20-22) . Andrew was not selfish in his friendship with the Lord, He wanted everyone else to share this friendship too, starting with those closest to him.

3. Andrew ran from the cross once. He was one of eleven disciples not present for Jesus’ Passion and death on the cross. For whatever reason, maybe fear, disappointment, sadness, or shame, Andrew was not at Calvary as Jesus died for him and for each of us. Andrew’s story of following the Lord began with “and he stayed with Him that day.” Yet on this most important day, Andrew was nowhere to be found. We have records of Peter’s reconciliation with the Lord after Peter’s denials. I wonder if Andrew had a similar moment of reconciliation with Jesus after abandoning Him in His Passion? I wonder if Andrew struggled with regret from not being there. Whatever the case, we do know that Andrew returned to the Lord, and returned to sharing Him with others. I wonder how grateful Andrew must have been to celebrate the Mass, knowing that although he once chose not to stay at the foot of the cross, he now stood at the foot of the cross at every Mass. Andrew preached the Gospel after Pentecost, traveling far and wide like the other Apostles. He is most known for preaching in Greece where he was eventually arrested and sentenced to death, death on a cross. Legends say Andrew went singing to his cross and literally embraced it. He who once ran from the Lord’s suffering, now rejoiced to have a share in that suffering. Though Andrew was not present at Jesus’ cross, Jesus was certainly present at Andrew’s cross, and Andrew knew it, and rejoiced in it.

St. Andrew, close friend of Jesus, humble in following, constant in evangelizing, joyful in suffering, pray for us.

Questions for Reflection or Discussion:

• How can you follow St. John the Baptist’s instruction to Andrew: “Behold the Lamb of God” more fully this week? 

• If Jesus looked at you and asked: “what are you looking for?” What would your honest answer be?

• Who in your family or closest circle of friends needs to hear that the Messiah has come? How can you share that news with them? 

• What cross or suffering are you running from? Might the Lord be inviting you to share in His suffering? 

An Invitation

Several years ago, when I was still in college, a local missionary asked to meet me for coffee. It was the week before the fall semester, I had time on my hands, and someone else paying for my raspberry white chocolate mocha sounded good to me. I was so intrigued by this woman just a few years older than me who was a missionary full time, that would take a lot of trust in God and a lot of letting go of other career goals, at least for a while. 

I was already a reasonably committed Catholic. I went to Mass often, I tried to pray, I had even spent  just a summer as a missionary.

She sat across from me and asked about how cross country camp was going, what classes I was looking forward to, and what my hopes for the year were. She asked about my summer travels and listened and laughed with me as I recounted my whirlwind month in Germany and Rome. 

Finally, she asked about my relationship with Jesus. I was a little confused. I had already told her I go to Mass often, that I prayed pretty often, that I didn’t drink as much as my friends did. Then, she put so simply, what I knew I had been often missing or over complicating.

“Kate, you were made for a relationship with God. He formed you and He looked at you with so much love and called you His daughter before you even knew Him. That relationship is broken by sin. But Jesus came to earth, to live like us in all things but sin, to heal that relationship with humanity. To heal that relationship with you. He’d do it all again if you were the only person alive. In every moment of your day, He’s asking for your yes to being in relationship with Him. To living in His love and from His love. He offers you the Sacraments in the Church to strengthen that relationship.”

I’d never heard it put that simply. “You were made for a relationship with God. Sin breaks that relationship. Jesus came to forgive you and restore your relationship with Him. He asks for your yes to Him each day. He gives you grace in the Church to live in His love.”

I had been Catholic all my life, I was prayerful, but there was something about this simple truth that kept ringing in my memory. In the coming months, in moments I was tempted to gossip, drink a little more than I should, criticize someone, or skip out on prayer time the simplicity of that missionary’s gospel proclamation stirred in my memory. “You were made for a relationship. This sin would damage that relationship. Jesus is offering you the grace to say yes and remain in His love.”

That’s true for each of us, Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection is His grand invitation back to relationship with God. Let Him look at you today and remind you that you were created for an everlasting relationship with Him and it starts in this moment. Say yes to Him.

Do you believe that God really wants a personal relationship with you? How can you let Him remind you of that today?

When’s the last time you turned from sin and said yes to Jesus by going to reconciliation?

Is there someone in your life who needs to hear this simple message of the Gospel? What’s holding you back from sharing it with them?