Memorial of Saint
Francis Xavier, priest
(Isaiah 11:1-10; Luke 10:21-24)
Of the four great killers of humankind – war, disease,
famine, and natural disaster – war is the hardest to bear. Disease and natural disaster have an
inevitable quality. They may take the
greatest number of victims, but there is no one to blame except, for some,
God. Today famine is mostly a by-product
of war. Armies burn up fields to starve their
enemy. Human malice brings about war and
intensifies in its duration. Once
engaged in battle soldiers often perpetuate grave crimes for the sake of
victory. For this reason the prophet in
today’s first reading envisions the bitterest of enemies reconciled.
The peace does not just happen. A leader endowed with the divine Spirit comes
to rule the world with justice. He does
not take advantage of the poor but gives all people their due. He makes the arrogant cower while he comforts
the weak. Christians have seen this hope
fulfilled in Jesus. He lifted up the
lowly without ignoring the better off. His
compassion acted on behalf of the poor, the sick, and the crazed. As he tells his disciples in the gospel
reading, “’Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.’”
Today the Church celebrates St. Francis Xavier. As much as anyone, St. Francis worked for
reconciliation among peoples. He
traveled to faraway places to embed himself among the poorest of the
earth. He sought Jesus in others and
found Jesus to no small extent in himself.
