34th Week in Ordinary Time
30th November 2023 (Thursday) Readings and Reflection
Psalter: Week 2
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Romans 10:9-18
Brethren: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”
Psalm 19:2-3, 4-5 (R. 5a)
R/. Their sound goes forth through all the earth.
Alleluia
V/. Alleluia R/. Alleluia
V/. Follow me, says the Lord, and I will make you fishers of men.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel : Matthew 4:18-22
At that time: While walking by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Daily Gospel Reflection
The Reflection by Fr. Thumma Mariadas Reddy MSFS{alertWarning}
Highlight: Called to follow!
Guidlines: Whom God calls, how and when, and where He calls may be different. But why He calls is very clear. It is to follow Him and win souls for God{alertSuccess}
1. Today we feast on St Andrew, one of the Twelve Apostles. He was a fisherman and the brother of Simon Peter. Jesus called him while he was fishing, saying, “Follow me, I will make you fishers of souls”. There is both the purpose and the end effect of his call.
2. The purpose is to follow the Lord intimately in his footsteps. He would live with the Lord, share the same space, table, and mission, and spend time together. He would listen to his master, learn from him and grow through his teaching and guidance.
3. Then, there is also the consequence of this purpose. It is fishing souls for God. It is bringing people closer to God. It is making people be touched and transformed by God. It is doing the work of God Himself who is the supreme fisherman of human souls, the greatest attracter and inducer of humans to merge with the divine.
4. It is because they share the same life that He gifts to them. Sin has alienated them from God’s paradise of eternal communion. Sin has thrown them into an immense sea where they feel totally entrapped and immersed; where they find no way out.
5. It is in such a sinful situation of lack of relation and direction toward God and others, the Lord chooses Andrew to reset the lost bond and restore the lost grace. Thus, following the Lord and fishing the souls is not merely becoming disciples and doing some evangelisation. It is an intimate and radical sharing in God’s own eternal duty and commitment.
6. Andrew along with the others called, promptly responds to this divine plan. Perhaps for sure, he might have not understood the full implications of that call. But what is appreciable is his promptness to accept the call. Thereupon he renounces all that belongs to him and clings to Jesus. It was not for a few days or a few years. It was a life-long following and mission.
7. This life-long apostleship is sealed by a personal relationship. And this relationship is marked by depth, constancy, intimacy, loyalty, and commitment. All these are soaked into a passionate love for the master, which goes to the extent of dying for him.
Practice: Every celebration of a saint and all the more that of an Apostle like Andrew must remind us that ultimately our call is a relationship with God that is deep and intimate and a commitment to His mission that is committed and self-offering.{alertSuccess}