Opening:

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Apostle Andrew, honored in the Greek Church as Andrew, the First-Called.

Today is also the patronal feast day of our Fr. Andrew, who recently celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his entrance into Gethsemani. Let us remember him and his intentions in our prayers and celebration.

The Apostle  Andrew, one of the Twelve Foundation Stones,  is important in the Greek Church.

He founded the church in the capital city of the empire, Byzantium, which is now Constantinople.

270 Patriarchs of Constantinople have succeeded St Andrew.

As a step on the road to Church Unity, Pope Francis, has sent a delegation to Constantinople to extend greetings to Patriarch Bartholomew, and pray the liturgy with him today.

Two brother bishops – Francis, the successor of Peter and Bartholomew, the successor of Andrew – praying together for the unity that existed in the church for the first thousand years.

As we begin, let us be sorry for our sins, which have offended God and offended our neighbor.

 I confess, etc.

The Gospel  Matt 4:18-22

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.

After the Gospel:

Jesus  chose  unschooled, unsophisticated men who would become agents whose message changed the history of the world!

He called Peter, Andrew, James and John, and they simply followed him

not knowing exactly what “fishers of men” meant, 

Not knowing where they were going.

Not knowing which road or how many roads they would take.

Not knowing how long the journey would be.

Not knowing they would drink the cup their Master would drink.

The way it turned out

Peter became the first bishop of Rome, and was martyred there during the reign of Nero.

According to Origen,  Peter was crucified, but believing himself unworthy of emulating his master, he requested to be crucified upside down.

James became the first bishop of Jerusalem, and according to Josephus, James was stoned to death in the year 61.

John wrote the Fourth Gospel, and outlived the rest of the Twelve. He escaped martyrdom, went into exile on the isle of Patmos, then returned to Ephesus where he presided over the local church until the end of his days.

Andrew worked in lands around the Black Sea,

He is credited with setting  up churches throughout Asia Minor, in Macedonia, Greece, Russia, and in the capital city, Byzantium, now Constantinople.

St. Andrew committed the grave crime in the eyes of the state of converting Maximilla, wife of the ruler Aigeates, to Christianity. Despite the fact that he was eighty years old, the sentence was that he be put to death by being nailed upside down to an X-shaped cross. After three days of agony, stretched out on this cruel device, St. Andrew died. The great fisherman had cast his net for Christ for the last time.