THEY LEFT THEIR NETS

PRAYER MOMENT

Saturday 30 November 2013

THEY LEFT THEIR NETS

Pause.  Be still and recall you are in God’s presence.

Reading. “Peter and Andrew left their nets at once and followed him.” (Matt 4:18-22)

Reflection. The twelve apostles, whose feasts are dotted through the year, remind us that the people of God, the Church, is founded on a group of individuals who responded to the call of Jesus. His proclamation of the reign of God as not totally ignored. There were some, a few, - and that’s the way it still is today – who “left their nets.” They followed him. Today we remember Andrew and it is a moment to remember too the ancient churches of the East where he is especially venerated. In a great act of reconciliation on the feast of the Epiphany in 1964 on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, Patriarch Athenagoras gave Pope Paul VI an icon of Peter and Andrew embracing, and the two leaders of the churches of East and West themselves embraced.

Prayer. Lord, teach us to “leave our nets” and follow you wherever you will lead us. We pray for our churches that we may follow the road to reconciliation and unity. Amen.