November 30, 2007
Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle
St. Andrew Academy School Mass
Today we celebrate the feast day of the patron saint of our great school! What an exciting day! All of us gathered here today, students, faculty, parents and parishioners are witness to a miracle. Our school is the result of a vision. We had a number of small schools who were struggling to keep going so we combined our energies and created St. Andrew Academy, a regional school with 438 students! That's amazing! Just look around at this overflowing crowd! We have come from form three small schools to this large, strong, and faith filled school! We are a part of the miracle of education here on our side of Louisville. Thank God! All of us gathered here today are living witnesses to God's command to proclaim the Good News of Jesus.
We look to our patron saint today, St. Andrew for strength and guidance. Who was St. Andrew? Well, we know that he is St. Peter's brother. We also know that he was a fisherman just like his brother and father. St. Andrew wasn't a man of power. He worked everyday at a very tough job. He was a hard worker. Being a fisherman is hard work. St. Andrew and his family would have put in long hours on the water and then come back to shore and do the hard, messy work of getting their fish to market. These guys weren't just standing with a fishing pole pulling in an occasional fish. These guys were doing back breaking, messy, smelly work. And it was to this man that Jesus came to and asked him to do something amazing, follow him.
Jesus asked Andrew and his brother Peter to come with him and proclaim his message of love and salvation. They accepted Jesus' invitation. Andrew and his brother Peter were not powerful men. They were not rich men. Andrew and Peter were simple men. They were just like you and me. And that is important to remember. Jesus did not chose the rich and powerful. Jesus chose the people who were willing to listen to him and follow him. Jesus made a simple request and gave them a simple job. But simple doesn't mean easy. The task that Jesus set for Andrew was not complex but it wasn't easy. Even a simple job can be hard work. And look at the work Andrew did! We are here today because of what St. Andrew did. St. Andrew said yes to Jesus and followed him. St. Andrew transformed the lives of countless people in his earthly ministry and now his example and work continues to transform lives!
This simple fisherman has changed the world. Each of you gathered here today has a very important task to do. Jesus is calling each of you to work hard, learn and grow in faith and then be a source of Jesus' love to others. You don't have to be powerful or rich. You don't have to be a celebrity or a famous athlete. All you have to be is yourself. Say yes to Jesus' request to follow him and be faithful to hom and you will do great things for him. Just like St. Andrew, we all have something that we can do for Jesus. All we simply have to do is say yes to Jesus.
