Today our ship arrived at the Amalfi Coast of Italy. What spectacular beauty we took in as we sailed in a small boat from Amalfi to Positano and back to Amalfi. In Amalfi we toured the church of St. Andrew, the Apostle. St. Andrew was the first to be called by Jesus to be an apostle. (See the end of the first chapter of the Gospel according to John.) St. Andrew was the first one to bring others to Christ, the first one being his brother, St. Peter. St. Andrew, therefore, is a patron saint for those who wish to bring other people to Jesus.
Tradition has it that he died as a martyr in Greece, crucified to a cross set up in an "X" form. When Constantinople was made the capital of the Roman Empire in the 300's St. Andrew's bones were taken there to be enshrined as the relics of the martyr of the Church that eventually came to be called the Orthodox Church. During the Crusades, these relics were taken to Amalfi and enshrined in the church there.
So, in the crypt of the church where St. Andew's relics are I prayed for this intention for me and my parishioners: that the Lord, through the intercession of St. Andrew, would give us the grace of wisdom, prudence and skill in evangelizing Boulder. That's my greatest dsire at this point in my pastorate of Sacred Heart of Jesus in Boulder, Colorado.
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