Monday, November 30, 2026 — Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle
Fishers of men
Matthew 4:18-22
Readings of the day: Romans 10:9-18; Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 11; Matthew 4:18-22.
The Gospel
As Jesus walks by the Sea of Galilee, he sees two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. “Come after me,” he says, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they leave their nets and follow him. Going on, he calls two more brothers, James and John, who are mending their nets with their father Zebedee; at once they leave the boat and their father and follow him.
Reflection
Andrew and Peter had seen no miracle and heard no promise of reward; at a single word they left their nets and followed. “He leaves much who keeps nothing for himself,” says St. Gregory, “he parts with much, who with his possessions renounces his lusts.” The Lord does not weigh the sacrifice by how much is offered, but out of how much it is offered. And whom does he call? Not kings or philosophers, says St. Augustine, but “common, poor, and untaught fishermen.” Andrew, the first-called, who brought his brother to Jesus, shows us that the call comes in the middle of ordinary work, and that the only fitting answer is to leave the nets and follow at once.
From the Fathers
“Peter and Andrew had seen Christ work no miracle, had heard from him no word of the promise of the eternal reward, yet at this single bidding of the Lord they forgot all that they had seemed to possess, and straightway left their nets, and followed Him.”
— St. Gregory the Great, Homily 5 on the Gospels, in the Catena Aurea on Matthew 4:18–22
“He chose not kings, senators, philosophers, or orators, but he chose common, poor, and untaught fishermen.”
— St. Augustine, Sermon 197, in the Catena Aurea on Matthew 4:18–22
Saint of the day
Saint Andrew, Apostle. A fisherman of Bethsaida in Galilee and a former disciple of John the Baptist, Andrew was the first to follow Jesus and brought his brother Peter to him, saying, “We have found the Messiah.” After Pentecost he preached the Gospel far and wide, and according to tradition he was martyred at Patras in Greece on a cross shaped like the letter X, ever since known as St. Andrew’s cross. He is patron of Scotland, Russia, Romania and fishermen.
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Sources: the day’s readings follow the feast lectionary (USCCB, Lectionary 684). The Gospel text is not reproduced here; read it at the link above. Patristic quotes: Catena Aurea on Matthew 4:18–22, compiled by St. Thomas Aquinas, translated by John Henry Newman (1841, public domain).