Who is On the Altar? Saint Andrew

Happy Feast of Saint Andrew! 

It is the feast of Saint Andrew. His Feast signifies the end of Ordinary Time in the church and the start of Advent. We have placed his icon on our school altar, and are serving Swedish Fish as a treat for students taking hot lunch, because he is known as a fisherman. He is also known for being one of the first disciples called to follow Jesus as described in today's Gospel from Matthew:

"As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, 'Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.' At once they left their nets and followed him. He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him."

During my prayer this morning, I tried to imagine myself being approached by Jesus and being asked to leave my profession in Education. This is essentially what Jesus did to Andrew, as he was a professional fisherman and not just out on the sea of Galilee fishing for enjoyment. In a lot of ways it is hard to imagine doing such a thing. Our professions are our livelihoods and how we provide for our families. Many of us are not called to give up our professions. Instead, Jesus has much smaller things he asks of us to give up. It could be spending more time with Him in prayer, setting aside Sundays specifically for God, spending less time on our phones, watching tv etc... The point is, we are all called to draw closer to Jesus in some way if we are listening to him.  

The best way to hear God is in silence. We are heading into the season of Advent, which calls us to quiet our lives and listen to God. This flies heavily counter to what we see in society today. Advent is a loud time, with everybody celebrating Christmas from pre-Thanksgiving to Christmas, but that is not what Advent is supposed to be like for a Christian.   

As we enter the sacred season of Advent, how can you plan to celebrate the season and hear God and what he is calling of you?  

At school we have our Altar set up and ready to be a visual display of the season. We are also doing Mary on the Mantel, which is a Catholic spin-off of the elf on a shelf. The older students will be diving into the works of C.S. Lewis as they prepare for the coming of the Lord. And we'll continue the tradition started last year to dim the lights for our Monday morning assemblies, as a reminder of us trying to be quiet and listening to God.  

Happy Feast of Saint Andrew. I hope you all have an amazing Advent!