instruction on st. andrew

8/3/2019 Instruction on St. Andrew

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An excerpt from

EXPLANATIONOF THE

EPISTLES AND

GOSPELSFOR THESUNDAYS, HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS

THROUGHOUT

THE ECCLESIASTICAL YEARBY

REV. LEONARD GOFFINE,

PRIEST OF THE ORDER OF PREMONSTRATENSIANS,

EDITED AND ENLARGED BY REV. GEORGE OTT, DEAN

AND PASTOR,

WITH THE APPROBATION OF THE RIGHT REV.BISHOP OF RATISBON.

TRANSLATED FROM THE NEWEST GERMAN EDITION

BY

REV. GERARD M. PILZ, O.S.B.


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Instruction for the Feast

of St. Andrew

[November ]

ndrew, the brother of Simon Peter, a fish-

erman, born in Bethsaida by the sea Gene-sareth and living at Capharnaum, was at first

a disciple of John the Baptist who, one day,

on the banks of the Jordan when our Saviour

was passing by, pointed Him out to Andrew,

saying: Behold the Lamb of God! Hearing

these words, Andrew went at once to Christ,

bringing with him his brother Peter. For some time both brothers

went regularly to hear Christ without leaving their business as fish-ermen, until Jesus said to them: Follow me henceforth, and I will

make you fishers of men, when they left their trade and remained

constantly with Him. After St. Andrew with the other apostles, had

been filled with the Holy Ghost, at Pentecost, he travelled through

Syria, Epirus, and Greece, everywhere announcing the glad tid-

ings of salvation, and at last suffered a martyrs death at Patras, in

Achaia, where he had established his episcopal seat. While he waspreaching Christ at Patras, he was urged by the governor Aegeas

with violent threatings to offer sacrifice to the idols; but he bravely

replied: I daily offer sacrifice to the Almighty God, not the flesh of

oxen, nor the blood of rams, but an unspotted Lamb; and although

all the faithful may have partaken of his flesh, yet the Lamb remains

as before he was offered, alive and undivided. The unchangeable

hero of the faith was then thrown into prison by command of the en-

raged governor, who, since he could not force him to deny Christ,

condemned him to be cruelly scourged and then crucified. When


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he was brought out to be crucified, and saw his cross, he cried out:

Hail, precious cross, consecrated by the body of Christ, adornedas with priceless jewels by the limbs of Christ! Well do the faith-

ful know what joyousness lies in thee, and to what glorious reward

thou dost lead! O good cross, I have ardently loved thee, long de-

sired and sought thee, and now thou art found by me! thou art made

ready for my yearning soul, receive me into thy arms, take me away

from men, carry me to thy divine Master, that He who on thee did

redeem me, on thee may receive me. Having arrived at the cross,

the enraptured apostle disrobed himself, permitted himself to be

bound to the cross, where he remained hanging two days, continu-

ally preaching faith in Christ, until his soul was raised to Him whom

he so ardently desired in the manner of his death to resemble.If

thou wouldst have part in St. Andrews glory, thou must follow him

in his love of the cross.

According to the general opinion, this holy apostles instrument

of torture consisted in two logs slanting across each other, thereforemaking a slanting cross for the arms.

In the Introit of this days Mass, the Church says of the apostles:

To me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honorable; their

principality is exceedingly strengthened. Lord, thou hast proved me

and known me; thou hast known my sitting down and my rising up.

(Ps. cxxxviii.) Glory, &c.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. We humbly beseech Thy divineMajesty, O Lord, that as the blessed Apostle Andrew was a teacher

and pastor of Thy Church, so he may be with Thee our perpetual

intercessor. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, &c.

EPISTLE. (Rom. x. .) B: With the heart we be-

lieve unto justice: but, with the mouth, confession is made unto sal-

vation. For the scripture saith: Whosoever believeth in him, shall

not be confounded. For there is no distinction of the Jew and theGreek: for the same is Lord over all, rich unto all that call upon

him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be

saved. How then shall they call on him, in whom they have not

believed? Or how shall they believe him, of whom they have not

heard? And how shall they hear, without a preacher? And how

shall they preach, unless they be sent? as it is written: How beauti-

ful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, of them that

bring glad tidings of good things? But all do not obey the gospel.

For Isaias saith: Lord, who hath believed our report? Faith then


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cometh by hearing: and hearing by the word of Christ. But I say:

have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound hath gone forth into allthe earth, and their words unto the ends of the whole world.

EXPLANATION. The apostle here tells us, that it is not suffi-

cient unto salvation that we should believe with the heart, but that

we must also openly confess Christ, that is, in words and in deeds,

and then only have we the true and living faith in Jesus when we

are never ashamed thus to own it. He teaches besides, that God

makes no difference between Jew and Greek (that is, gentile), but

that every one can be saved who believes in Christ and openly con-

fesses his faith in words and works. But all can believe, since faith

comes from hearing, and the word of God through its preachers is

everywhere announced. For this reason the Jews are not excusable

for their unbelief, nor the infidels among us, for the Church sends

forth, at all times into all countries her apostles and preachers of

whom it is written: How beautiful are the feet of them that preach

the gospel of peace, of them that bring glad tidings of good things:In our days, how much is preached and how little faith is seen!

Can such Christians excuse their ignorance, if one day the Lord

shall demand an account of their faith?

GOSPEL. (Matt. iv. .) A : Jesus walking by

the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon who is called Peter, and

Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishers).

And he saith to them: Come ye after me, and I will make you to befishers of men. And they immediately leaving their nets, followed

him. And going on from thence, he saw two other brethren, James

the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee

their father, mending their nets: and he called them. And they forth-

with left their nets and father, and followed him.

EXPLANATION. Christ chose His apostles to show us that not

any one, not called, can assume the place of teacher, but that, asHe Himself says, he must be chosen and sent. (John xx. .) He

called His apostles at the very commencement of His teaching, that

by continual intercourse with Him, by daily hearing His doctrines,

and by the sight of His most holy way of life, they might prepare

themselves for their great calling.

Christ chose simple fishermen for His apostles, so that, as St.

Ambrose says, the world might know, that the introduction of Chris-

tianity was the work of God, and no one can say, that Christ won

the world to receive the faith by deceit, force, riches, or science.


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I will make you fishers of men, that is, I will give you grace to

convert souls and bring them to God.People in the world can andshould in their own way be fishers of men. Such they are when they

incite their associates, or those under them, to listen attentively to

the word of God, give them pious books to read, keep them from

bad company, gently reprove their faults, &c. St. Augustine says,

that in this way fathers of families exercise the office of bishops.

They immediately followed Christ. We learn from this, that we

should at once obey the word of God, when it urges us to do good, or

to be converted, and that knowing the truth of the divine call, should

put aside all human gains and considerations in order to follow this

voice, like the apostles who laid by all temporal profits and followed

Jesus, when He called them; for He says: He that loveth father and

mother more than me, is not worthy of me. (Matt. x. .)

PRAYER. Most benign Jesus! who hast elevated simple fisher-

men to the exalted dignity of apostles, thus putting the wisdom and

power of this world to shame, grant, we beseech Thee, that they andtheir successors may observe Thy teachings, and in faith, hope, and

charity remain ever Thine.

instruction on st. andrew

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