First Tuesday of Advent – Feast of St Andrew
– You can ponder on the picture. For a method of praying with pictures click button below.
– For today’s Scripture it is often good to allow God to speak to us through our imagination.
We place ourselves in the Gospel story.
You can read how to do this in ‘Imaginative Prayer’ – click Methods of Prayer button below.
– You can follow the suggestions in the daily ‘Reflection’.
– You can listen to the music
Today’s Scripture
John 1:35-42 (HSCB)
The next day, John the Baptist was standing with two of his disciples.
When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look! The Lamb of God!”
The two disciples heard him say this and followed Jesus.
When Jesus turned and noticed them following Him, He asked them, “What are you looking for?”
They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are You staying?”
“Come and you’ll see,” He replied.
So they went and saw where He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day. It was about ten in the morning.
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed Him.
He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which means “Anointed One”), and he brought Simon to Jesus.
Reflection
Each Christian country has its patron saint, usually chosen as someone who is seen to embody the virtues of the country or somehow linked to the people.
Legend has it that Andrew, the brother of Saint Peter, a Galilean fisherman and Disciple of Jesus, was martyred on a diagonal cross. Hence the flag of Scotland, the Saltire, a diagonal cross on a blue background.
St. Andrew, whose name in Greek means manly or strong, has been associated with Scotland for more than 1,000 years.
In the 8th Century a group of monks arrived at what is now St Andrews on the east coast of Scotland with what were believed to be relics of Saint Andrew. A century later King Angus of the Pics fighting the Saxons saw a diagonal cross in the sky and fought and won under the banner of Saint Andrew.
Our picture today shows Andrew the fisherman being called by Jesus the carpenter.
What a dramatic change of life came to Andrew when he followed Jesus.
Looking at your life, have you ever had the urge to do something completely different?
Could God be asking you to change the focus in your life?
Today’s Music
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