Andrew was an unusual name for a first-century Jewish man. That’s because it’s not a Hebrew name but one that comes from the Greek word andros, meaning man. But St. Andrew lived in the region of Galilee, a place where the Greek language and culture was influential. Perhaps it was due to this that his parents took a liking to it. Andrew was a seeker, a man living in hope for the coming of the Messiah, and he became a disciple of St. John the Baptist. One day, Andrew witnessed the Baptist point to Jesus and say, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” With this, Andrew and another of John’s disciples began following Our Lord. Noticing them, Jesus asked: “What are you looking for?” When Andrew and the other disciple responded, “Master, where are you staying?”, Christ said, “Come, and see.” Seizing the opportunity, Andrew spent the whole day with Our Lord. We don’t know what they talked about, but it was enough to convince Andrew that Jesus was the Messiah, and he immediately began to invite others to meet Jesus. He started with his own brother, Simon, who Our Lord would rename Peter, which comes from the Greek word petra, meaning rock (cf: John 1:35-42).
Andrew would spend his life introducing people to Jesus. He is the one who brought the young boy with the five loaves and two fish to Jesus, who then used that small offering of food to feed the multitudes. Later, after the events of Palm Sunday, Andrew was approached by two Greeks who wished to meet Our Lord. Recounting this passage, Archbishop Fulton Sheen notes that because these men were Greek and not Jewish, Our Lord used imagery from the natural world to explain His mission rather than refer to the ancient prophesies that spoke of the Messiah’s sacrifice. “Amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit” (John 12:24-25). In this way, Our Lord told them that He did not come into the world merely to teach. He came into the world to die, and by His sacrifice bring forth new life.
The image of the grain of wheat also reveals Our Lord’s plan of extending the possibility of salvation to include all nations, Hebrew and Greek alike. Pope Benedict XVI writes that, buried in the ground, the grain of wheat “attracts to itself the forces of heaven and earth and becomes bread.” Planted in the soil, the grain draws water and nutrients from the earth into itself, light and warmth from the sky. Thus, Our Lord draws all of creation to Himself, springing forth from the tomb to provide us with the Bread of Life.
Because of this episode in the Gospel, we might say that St. Andrew was the first of the Apostles to evangelize the Greek world. Like his brother Peter, Andrew would also die by crucifixion. The two brothers considered themselves unworthy to die in the same way as their Master, so Peter requested that he be crucified upside-down. Andrew would be martyred on an x-shaped cross. We celebrate his feast day this Thursday, November 30.
posted 11/25/23
The Parish of St. Cecilia-St. Gabriel 