The 7 Calls Of Saint Andrew — The first call that shaped Saint Andrew’s life was the very timing and place of his birth. The second call came through John the Baptist. Andrew must have been an alert young man longing for the coming of the Messiah when he first heard the preaching of John.
Andrew’s third call came from Jesus himself. The fourth call was to follow Jesus, to be his disciple in daily contact, walking and talking, listening and learning from the Master as from a rabbi.
The fifth call was his selection by Jesus as one of the 12 apostles, to give witness and to bring others to Christ.
His sixth call came through pious Greeks at the Passover in Jerusalem. They wanted to see Jesus, to be introduced to Him. The boy from Bethsaida began using his language skills and his understanding fo Greek and Roman culture to bring Gentiles to Jesus.
Saint Jerome and Saint Paulinus tell us that after Pentecost, Andrew became an apostle to Greece, its bordering lands, and, as tradition tell us, ultimately to Byzantium.
The final call in Andrew’s life was to martyrdom by crucifixion on an X shaped cross at Patras in Achaia.
Saint Andrew’s vocation, and ours as well, wasn’t given all at once. Seven calls from the Lord built one upon the othe. Andrew’s response to each gave new shape to his life and prepared him for the next gift of God.
This courageous young man by purity of heart and docile obedience to God’s will became in Saint Bede’s words, “The Introducer to Christ.”
