Mtr Mary Trainor

Dear friend,

It was the introduction of a lifetime. Perhaps of all time. Simon Peter meeting Jesus. All because Andrew went to fetch Peter, not wanting his brother to miss an encounter with the Lamb of God.

At least this is how it happens in the Gospel of John (1:35-42), among the Office readings for today. Today is also the Feast Day of St. Andrew the Apostle, for which the Gospel is Matthew’s account (4:18-22)  of the call of two sets of brothers, including Andrew and Peter.

It is John’s Gospel that intrigues me today.

Andrew and an unnamed other are with John the Baptist when Jesus walks by. There he is, John, says, the Lamb Of God, the one we have expected. Andrew and the other man begin to follow, there’s an encounter, and an invitation from Jesus to “Come and see.” Somewhere in this sequence Andrew leaves to bring back his brother, Peter, so he does not miss this major moment.

Sibling relationships often provide early-life opportunity for learning how to navigate our world. If the relationships are good, siblings provide our first friendships. We learn love and loyalty. We learn trust and what it means to know your back is covered. We share secrets and, if we encounter something fabulous, that brother or sister is often the first person we want to tell.

My brother and I—a school-grade apart in age—were like that. So, when I was six and he whispered to me, “Go look in the closet,” I believed that would be a worthwhile thing to do. Since I knew the content of our shared closet, I imagined he was talking about our parents’ closet, and rushed in to take a peek. 

Let’s just say it was mind-boggling. Inside their closet were all of our Christmas presents, unwrapped and in plain view. It was beyond my wildest imagination. I ran shrieking to thank Jim for the head’s up. The shrieking brought my mother into the room. She then did a bit of shrieking of her own. We were in some seriously bad trouble, only not the kind where we got punished. That would have been preferred, Rather we were in the kind of trouble when you know you have hurt somebody and nothing you can do will change it. We, I, had ruined Christmas.

None of which would have happened except for the power of my brother’s suggestion. If he said to go look in the closet, it was a 100 percent certainty I would go look, he was that trustworthy.

I think it was something similar for Andrew and Peter. Andrew, not wanting Peter to miss an opportunity of a lifetime. Peter, going simply on the strength of Andrew’s invitation. And all of us beneficiaries of their sibling trust.

Peter is the Apostle we remember best, the rock, the one on whom Christ’s church is built. But without Andrew’s invitation, who knows?

Mtr. Mary