St.Andrew-The Silent Evangelizer
There is a custom in American Catholic dioceses of celebrating
St. Andrew's Day when the parish priests introduce candidates who have shown
interest in becoming priests to the bishop of their dioceses. This is a time
for the candidates and their families to get acquainted with the bishop and the
ministry to which they are open. It all comes from the work of St. Andrew the
Apostle who in the Scriptures has brought many to Jesus. He was a silent
evangelizer. Not through shout or preaching but through his friendship and
social skills he brought people to Jesus.
St.Andrew(in Gk: manly . valorous) is known as the” First
Called”, and “the Protoclete” in the Orthodox Church. He was the one who
identified the boy with five loaves in the great miracle of Jesus feeding the
five thousand. He was the one who brought Philip to Jesus as well as the Greeks
to Him just before his passion. Silently and steadily, he worked behind the
scenes to bring people to Jesus, offering them to experience the life and the
person of Jesus.
Robert Frost has a beautiful poem, "The Road Not Taken " about the choice one makes in life. The poet is confronted with a choice to
take the trodden path or the untrodden one covered with grass and broken branches
of trees. He took the untrodden path and that has made a difference in his
life. So too one who accepts the vocation to ministries is treading the
untrodden path. St. Andrew becomes the guide and mentor of people who choose
untrodden paths.
It is very opportune to reflect on the following words
of Abp. Sheen when we celebrate the martyrdom of St.Andrew: “The barbarism of
the new era will not be like that of the Huns of old; it will be technical, scientific, secular and
propagandized. It will come not from without, but from within, for barbarism is
not outside of us; it is underneath us. Older civilizations were destroyed by
imported barbarism; modern civilization breeds its own.” Abp.Sheen tellls us through these words how necessary it is for us to live a life according to our faith. If we are unfaithful to Jesus ,Our Lord, it will be a reason for others to avoid meeting the comforting message of Jesus.
We are too much engrossed in administration and in the exercise of authority and power. We often forget our mission as Christians. We forget to convey the love and compassion of Jesus. Jesus came to forgive our sins and offer His love. He wants us to know that God is love and he never tires of offering forgiveness. The sinners and derelicts find a place in his banquet. But looking at the way we live and the way we exercise authority, one doesn't find Christ in our midst. That is why Pope Francis reminds us that the Church is a healing place, a field hospital. The rules and rituals we create and the obedience we demand from the people keep Jesus away from them.
The martyrdom of Andrew took place during the reign of Nero on the 30th Nov, AD 60. Both the Latin and the Greek Churches observe Nov.30 as his Feast.
In 1460 his head was given to the Pope. On 24th Sept.1964, his head was returned to Greece. He was martyred in Greece on a cross shaped like an X.
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