Saint Andrew the Apostle

30th November

Heroes

Parents
Kids
Prayer

St. Andrew, like his father Jonah and his brother Saint Peter, was a fisherman from Bethsaida. His family had a house in Capernaum, which Jesus visited from time to time.

St. Andrew was one of the twelve apostles called by Jesus himself. The special mission of the apostles was laying the foundation of the Christian Faith with the help of the Holy Spirit.

The other eleven were: Peter, James, John, Philip, Judas Thaddeus, Bartholomew, Thomas, James the Less, Matthew, Simon, and Judas Iscariot (who was replaced by Matthias).

In Greek, the name Andrew has a connotation with the word ‘courage’ and being ‘manly’. Andrew had good social skills and that he was a man of action. He and his brother Peter were the first followers of Jesus. He is referred to as the ‘First Called Apostle’, answering immediately to the call of Jesus, “Follow me”. He was also the first disciple to call Jesus “The Messiah.”

Before following Jesus, he was a disciple of John the Baptist, until John the Baptist himself pointed out Jesus as the One people should follow.

One finds instances in the Gospel where Andrew is mentioned by name:

The call of Andrew and Simon Peter (Jn. 1,35-42)
Andrew’s part in the miracle of the multiplication of the five loaves and two fish (Jn. 6, 8-9)

Andrew and Philip bring several Greeks to talk to Jesus – Consider looking up these instances from John’s Gospel or from a Children’s Bible. Andrew was a disciple who followed Jesus for the rest of his life. A disciple is someone who promises to be a learner and continues to imitate the person he follows. In the case of the Apostles, it was Jesus who chose them and they continued to follow Him!

After Jesus’ death, Andrew went to preach the Gospel in Greece and Turkey, and likely in Poland and Russia. He suffered martyrdom in Greece during the persecution under Nero. He was bound to an X-shaped cross to prolong his suffering, in fact, he died after two days.

St. Andrew is the Patron Saint of Scotland, Russia, Greece, Romania, Ukraine, and fishermen.

Discuss with the children:

Are we disciples of Jesus?
Does Jesus call us?

We cannot follow Jesus physically on the road, but we have been called to follow Him when we were baptised. (Children would love to go back to photos of their Christening. Help them to remember the date when they were baptised like they remember their birthdate).

Jesus continues to invite us to be His disciples, to follow Him, to imitate Him. Jesus still invites us to “Come and See” as He called Andrew, when He calls us to be loving, while other ‘voices’ around us call us for other things. We cannot follow Jesus unless we get to know Him.

How do we get to know Jesus?

Lead them to reach the conclusion that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, tell us a great deal about Him in their Gospels. This could be an opportunity to start regular “Meeting Jesus Moments”.

Choose a parable, a miracle, an event from the Gospels. Narrate it, read it, look it up in an illustrated Children’s Bible or from the Gospels for the older children.

Spend a moment of reflection. . .

the qualities of Jesus we see in these situation
what they would have done if they were there
what they think is the message for us as His disciples

Andrew, like all the other disciples, after being strengthened by the Holy Spirit, was full of enthusiasm to tell everyone about Jesus. That was his mission as a disciple of Jesus. And that is what he did. This is what missionaries continue to do today. They have been called for a special mission to spread the Word of God to people who have not yet heard about Jesus Christ. But God has also a mission for each one of us. We are called to be His disciples with the mission of sharing God’s love for others. This is called EVANGELISING.

But how can we do all that?

Getting close to Jesus through the Eucharist (the Mass and Holy Communion, as well as joining the Sacrifice of the Mass and Spiritual Communion on the Internet, when it is not possible to be physically present in church).
We can do it by the way we behave, wherever we may be.
Encourage the older children to be active by participating in discussions at school, in friendship groups, in parish pre-teens groups, not to keep back from putting forward ideas that promote God’s love in the Christian Faith.
Consider involving older children to search with you Christian Quotes that you can circulate on the Internet (under the adult’s name of course!)

Let us remember that as parents and guardians, we lay the foundations of discipleship and the mission of evangelising in our children’s lives so that they do not grow up “being casual Christians”.

This fisherman, brother of St. Peter, was the first Apostle that started following Jesus. In fact the name Andrew in Greek means ‘’The first called”.