The Byzantine Church honors the Apostle Saint Andrew with the
title: Protokletos, which means, “the
first called” because he was the first of the Apostles to be called and to
follow Jesus.
At least six of the Twelve Apostles were fishermen, Andrew
was one of them, along with his brother Saint Peter.
Though he was Jewish, his name Andrew, comes not from a
Hebrew word, but a Greek word: andreios,
meaning “brave” or the virtue of the warrior. The Apostle Andrew like a Warrior bravely followed
Christ, bravely worked for the spread Christ’s Gospel, and bravely witnessed to
Christ in martyrdom.
Tradition says that Andrew preached the gospel in Greece and
in the year 60 was crucified on an X shaped cross. He hung on the cross for two days before he
died, and it is said that he continued to preach the Gospel while hanging from
the cross.
Through his preaching, Andrew truly became a fisher of men,
and by his preaching Andrew converted hearts, and instilled in souls knowledge,
understanding, and conviction of the faith, and inspired others to follow
Christ.
The Lord calls each of us to bravely follow him, and to
courageously live His Word: by living virtuously, striving to be free from sin
and selfishness, and spreading His truth.
It might just take a pamphlet on confession and a word of encouragement
to help someone return to the faith, it might take bravely undergoing their
verbal attacks while patiently explaining the truth over a period of weeks or
months. It might take bravely saying yes
to one of the many service opportunities we will offer this advent, through
which God will work miracles.
Saint John Chyrsostom once said that if every Christian
acted as a Christian, prayed, and did his part in the Church militant in the
world, that the whole world would become Christian.
Through the help and prayers of the Apostle Saint Andrew may
the Gospel of Christ be spread to every corner of the world and into every
heart for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
No comments:
Post a Comment