Wednesday, December 3, 2025

Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, priest

(Isaiah 25:6-10a; Matthew 15:29-37)

In today’s first reading Isaiah envisions an international banquet at the end of time.  Typically, the prophet sees it taking place on the holy mountain where Jerusalem sits.  Those who have learned the ways of God are honored with foods worthy of the tables of kings.  Partakers of this feast have no reason to be sad because God has destroyed death.

Jesus fulfills Isaiah’s vision in today’s gospel.  He calls all kinds of people for a gathering on a mountain in Galilee.  There he teaches them God’s ways.  The diverse learners are not from all the nations of the world but from all sectors of Israeli society.  They include “the blind, deformed and the mute.”  At the end of his lessons Jesus hosts a feast.  Participants have all the bread and fish that they want.  It is a foretaste of the supper in which Jesus will share with his disciples the bread of eternal life.

St. Francis Xavier worked as hard as anyone to realize Isaiah’s vision and to make available Jesus’ supper. As a Jesuit, a companion of Jesus, he traveled to the nations of the East making disciples.  He modeled for us the willingness to leave our comfort zones to extend Christ’s love to diverse peoples. 

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, priest

(Isaiah 11:1-10; Luke 10:21-24)

Isaiah’s incomparable vision of universal reconciliation is matched today with the gospel showing Jesus, Son of God Almighty, inviting the humble of the world to rest in him.  As lambs are said to lie with wolves, so the weakest can, since Jesus, rest with the Lord of hosts.

With desire to impart Isaiah’s vision and its fulfilment in Jesus, Francis Xavier left home and friends for the Orient.  He tirelessly preached the gospel of salvation to reconcile East and West for the glory of God.

We may not feel called to join missionaries in far-away places.  Nevertheless, as Jesus’ followers, we are summoned to reconcile different kinds of people.  Be they members of different races or people of different temperaments, Christians in Jesus’ name should promote understanding to secure peace among all.

Friday, December 3, 2021

 Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, priest

(Isaiah 29:17-24; Matthew 9:21-37)

Francis Xavier was one of the founders of the Jesuit Order.  He was a friend of St. Ignatius at the University of Paris.  The two, with a handful of others pledged, to live in communion with Jesus for the good of the Church.  Francis took up the challenge of going to the Far East to bring Christ to the people there.

We should see Francis not so much concerned with numbers of converts but with the good of the people.  In a letter he wrote to Ignatius from India, he says people were waiting to be baptized.  Baptism, of course, is more than a ritual.  It is the end of a process of learning the wisdom of Christian living.  Francis no doubt saw himself like Jesus in today’s gospel.  As Jesus literally opened the eyes of the two blindmen, so Francis opened the eyes of the Indian people to the goodness of God.

Recent popes have emphasized how the missions are no longer mostly overseas.  They are increasingly in our neighborhoods and even families.  We must tell others about Christ.  We also want to show the wonder of living the faith to those who do not know it.  Praying and following Christ’s ways brings peace to our souls.  Trials are not as intense for us because Christ is here to support us.

Thursday, December 3, 2020

Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest

(Isaiah 26: 1-26; Matthew 7:21.24-27)

Advent is called the season of hope.  During these four weeks we long to find salvation.  But hope is more than longing. It has a plan or, at least, a good reason to believe that salvation is near.  Today’s reading from Isaiah names “the Lord” as its reason for hope.  Some say the Lord is an ethereal reality because He is spiritual.  But the spiritual can be the most substantial of realities.  The reading calls the Lord “an eternal Rock.” He is a firm and stable basis from which we can achieve our hope of salvation.

Today’s gospel ends Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  The Lord has just laid out his road map of salvation.  He has told us to trim our desires and to love the bad and the good alike.  He gives no pretense that we can achieve salvation on our own.  We must wait for God’s grace.  Then, like a house built on rock, we will not fall but will realize our hope.

Today we honor one of the Church’s most remarkable saints.  Francis Xavier, like Jesus, was born in nobility but gave it up to work among lowly humans.  As a missionary, Francis went to the India, the Malay peninsula, parts of Indonesia, and Japan.  He converted hundreds of thousands of people.  Francis’ foundation was the Lord, Jesus Christ.  With this strong base, he even reached heaven. 

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

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.

Monday, December 3, 2018

Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, priest

(Isaiah 2:1-5; Matthew 8:5-11)

Can only a Christian be saved?  Evidently St. Francis Xavier thought so. In a letter from India he wrote that many natives wanted to become Christians but there was no one to baptize them.  He said that he wished to go to the universities of Europe yelling to the students that their keenness on studies has resulted in many people being consigned to hell.  But is Baptism necessary for salvation?

The gospel passage indicates otherwise.  Jesus is amazed at the centurion’s faith in God.  He implies that there will be many like him coming from faraway places to take a seat at the heavenly table.  Although he does not say explicitly that these people are not his followers, he does leave this impression.  The centurion shows himself worthy a member of the Kingdom of God as much by his concern for a servant as by his deference to Jesus.

During Advent we express our hope for Jesus’ return as much by acts of mercy as by praying about the Advent wreath.  Our efforts on behalf of others imply faith in Jesus’ teaching that what we do to the least of humans, we do to him.  At the same time we show a relationship of care to the needy which suggests a common Father in God.  Francis Xavier had a point about the need for missionaries to teach about God’s love and Jesus’ sacrifice.  However, the Holy Spirit works in many ways. 

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Memorial of St. Francis Xavier, priest

(Isaiah 26:1-6; Matthew 5:21.24-27)

St. Francis Xavier baptized tens of thousands in India.  But he realized that it should only be the beginning.  He wrote back to Europe decrying that there were not more vocations to convert all India. 

Today we wonder if Francis’ vision was not naïve.  India has an ancient culture with its own wisdom.  Besides, whether baptized with water or not, the people there have access to the Holy Spirit to gain salvation. “Is it necessary that they convert to Christianity?” we may ask.

Today’s gospel indicates that it is.  The gospel is like a rock that grounds its adherents in ways of love.  It unites people so that they may help one another grow in virtue.  Even with it some people fail to recognize God as their source and destiny.  Without it they would be like rudderless boats floating on a sea of possibilities.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, priest

(Isaiah 26:6-10a; Matthew 15:29-37)

Today’s first reading portrays the Advent hope of the human family living in harmony.  It pictures all peoples at God’s mountain sharing a meal.  The vision is not being realized by globalization, which ignores the cultural attributes of smaller nations.  Missionary activity like that of St. Francis Xavier more deeply bonds people together as its motive is love manifested in personal sacrifice.

Francis was a university student when he met St. Ignatius Loyola in Paris.  He can be imagined as desiring a career and becoming wealthy.  Hearing the vision of the former soldier, his dream was completely transformed.  No more would he desire to accumulate wealth, but from then on he would work to bring Christ to other lands.  He was preeminently successful in the endeavor having converted, it is said, hundreds of thousands.

We share the hope of peaceful coexistence in the world although at times have difficulty getting along with our neighbors.  Like Francis Xavier we turn to Jesus in our need.  Imitating his compassion and composure we too can befriend all.  The world then will grow a bit closer to universal peace.