St. Andrew

"Almighty God, who gave such grace to your apostle Andrew that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ, and brought his brother with him: Give unto us, who are called by your Word, grace to follow him without delay, and to bring those near to us into his gracious presence; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever."--Collect for St. Andrew, apostle and patron saint of Scotland

It happened again at the noon day service at St. John's. Words from the service caught me by surprise, and left me thinking about them hours later. The above collect was just one example. "Give unto us, who are called by your Word, grace to follow him without delay, and to bring those near to us into his gracious presence."

Our homilist emphasized the idea of "call" and what God may be "calling" us to do. She noted that Andrew, like Peter and the others, immediately dropped their fishing nets to follow after Christ. Maybe we are all called to drop something, whatever might be the routine or what we think is the expected role we are to fill, and follow a path to Christ?

I also heard the part of our Post Communion Prayer, again, that I have talked about before on this blog: "Send us now into the world in peace, and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you." I thought back on my late good friend, Fr. Lee, and what he did in his lifetime. I thought about what it means to have the strength and courage to love God... and serve as a witness to that Love of God which is enormous and unlike any other. That love that holds you up as you stare injustice, inequality, and stubborn resistance to change in the face.

Is this my call?