Gospel (Mt 4,18-22) - As she walked along the Sea of Galilee she saw two brothers, Simon, called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." And they immediately left their nets and followed him. Going further, he saw two other brothers, James of Zebedee and John his brother, who in the boat together with Zebedee, their father, were mending the nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the boat and their father and followed him.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

The Church today remembers the apostle Andrew, the first of those called. This memory reminds us that the Christian is first and foremost a disciple, that is, a man, a woman, who listens to the Lord and follows him. Andrew, son of Jonah and brother of Simon Peter, was originally from Bethsaida and worked as a fisherman, together with his brother. He was called by Jesus while he was mending the nets; he immediately left them and followed that master. According to tradition, Andrew announced the Gospel in Syria, Asia Minor and Greece and died in Patras, crucified like his master. Orthodoxy venerates him as the first bishop of the Church of Constantinople. The Gospel of Mark unites him with the first four called. In fact, after meeting Jesus, everyone began to follow him. Here there is a simple and clear invitation from Jesus: «Come after me; I will make you fishers of men." Andrea and Simone, called Pietro, listen to this invitation, leave the nets and follow him. Why follow him? It is difficult to explain the future of God to those who, like us, are illiterate in the word and in his love for him. And that master explains the future of God in the only way that those fishermen can understand: "You will still be fishermen, but of men". For this fishing you have to leave your usual boat and start walking no longer on the water but on the land of men, perhaps even more mobile and uncertain than the waters of that lake. It is no longer the sea of water, it is the sea of men and women: Andrew, together with the other three, welcomes Jesus' invitation. It is not you who chooses, it is another who looks at you, loves you and calls you . In truth, Jesus is the first "fisher of men", and he calls those poor fishermen. It is not for us to judge whether we are or are not worthy, or whether anyone else is; these judgments are tied to a worldly logic. Following Jesus is not a choice for heroes or chosen spirits. The first four were simple fishermen: they listened to Jesus, trusted and followed him. This is all the secret of faith and of the Church itself.