152/365 Andrew

Martyrs. Peter gets the keys to the kingdom, Matthew gets money bags, and James the Greater a traveling bag and staff, but most of the apostles are remembered for the way they died. Andrew is known for the X-shaped cross, which is supposedly how he was martyred, crucifixion, but a different twist. Of course, Andrew was more than how he died. He's also the patron saint of women who wish to become mothers, which, trust me, is a large group who need a good patron. He also covers sore throats, Greece, Scotland, and fishermen.

And Andrew was one of the disciples in John 1:35-39 who saw Jesus pointed out to him by John the Baptist as the Lamb of God. This is a peculiar passage that was our reflection at the beginning of our RCIA year. When this is pointed out to them, they follow Jesus. He asks him what they are looking for. In what must have been an awkward moment, one of them replies, "Teacher, where are you staying?" Instead of giving them a direct answer (with my cousin; at the inn; by the lake) he says, "Come and see."

We are all seeking, yearning for answers, connections, but we don't even know the questions we should be asking. Where are you staying. Not something profound. Like something Maeve would ask--"what her name?"--as she points to a girl walking up the sidewalk. Or like the first question I asked Sr. Jean Frances--does anyone come from further away than Kansas City?--Instead of asking something like I am searching for a way to grow my faith and have a relationship with God again because it's been a long frustrating time and do you think this might help me? Even that is a befuddled question, like a stammered "Where are you staying?" but Jesus sees it for more than that. It is the beginning of search.

Andrew found the beginning of answer there, too. For he goes to his brother Simon Peter and tells him, bluntly, "We have found the Messiah."