Homily: St. Francis Xavier

Saint Francis Xavier, the priest and missionary whose feast we celebrate today, wrote a letter to Saint Ignatius of Loyola in the mid-sixteenth century, chronicling his experiences in India.  He writes: “Many, many people hereabouts are not becoming Christians for one reason only: there is nobody to make them Christians.”[1] Francis Xavier here gets to the heart of one of the most profound mysteries of our faith: GOD CHOOSES TO SAVE OTHERS THROUGH US.  Salvation is always mediated.  We see this again and again in the scriptures.

John the Baptist brings Andrew to Jesus (John 1:35-37), Andrew brings Peter (John 1:40-42a).  Philips brings Nathanael to Jesus (John 1:45).  The friends of the paralytic went to great lengths to bring their friend to Jesus, having to cut through a roof and lower him down on a mat (Mark 2:4)!  The Samaritan woman goes from the well into the village to tell everyone that she has found the Messiah (John 4:28-29).  And indeed, salvation is mediated to us still today, through the great sacramental economy established by Christ himself.

Now this is not to say that we disciples of Christ exercise the same kind of mediation as him, as Saint Paul reminds us, “there is but one mediator between God and man” (1 Tim 2:5), but our participation in that mediation—secondary though it is—is no less real.  And that is the mystery that Francis Xavier speaks of today.  Countless more people could be saved, and yet they are not, simply because no one is bringing them to Jesus.

Perhaps the temptation for us is to think of faith as a very private affair—that my faith is about me and God.  Maybe it extends to my moral actions, to my choices, maybe not.  But in the end, faith is about me and God.  Well what would have happened if Saint Francis Xavier felt that way?  What would have happened to the tens of thousands of people he baptized?  What would have happened if Saint Patrick felt that way?  Would the official religion of Ireland be Druidism?  What if Saints Isaac Jogues and Jean de Brebeuf and their companions felt that way?  Would the Native Americans have ever heard the gospel?  We certainly wouldn’t be venerating Kateri Tekakwitha, the Lily of the Mohawks, if the missionaries never preached the Gospel to her people.

You see, our lives of faith are meant to have influence far beyond ourselves, if only we will cooperate with God’s saving plan.  Francis Xavier goes on: “Again and again I have thought of going to the universities of Europe…and everywhere crying out like a madman…‘What a tragedy: how many souls are being shut out of heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you!’” I would imagine that our immediate reaction is to recoil at those words.  Perhaps because deep down we wish they weren’t true.  We want to acquit ourselves of responsibility; we want to take care of our personal faith with our personal God and be done with it.  But that, my friends, is far too easy.

There is no doubt we live in a world starving for the Gospel of Jesus, a world which could be transformed in the knowledge that God is EMMANUEL, that God-is-forever-with-us in the person of Jesus Christ, that HOPE is real, that THERE IS MEANING AND VALUE in this life.  But we simply do not have enough people to share this message.  So I ask you: Who have you brought to Christ? When was the last time you really had a sincere conversation about your faith with a friend?  When was the last time you invited, cajoled, begged someone to go Mass who doesn’t go anymore?  When was the last time you allowed your faith to transform your behavior such that your evangelizing was done not with words but with deeds?  When was the last time you went out a limb to defend Jesus and his Church when they are so constantly mocked and derided?  When was the last time you considered that maybe, just maybe, even though it’s not a part of YOUR plans, maybe you should sacrifice your gifts, your talents, your very life, to the full-time service of the Church as a priest or a religious?

Francis Xavier goes on: “I wish they [the would-be missionaries] would…settle their account with God for their learning and the talents entrusted to them.  This thought would certainly stir most of them to…listen actively to what God is saying to them.  They would forget their own desires, their human affairs, and give themselves over entirely to God’s will and his choice.  They would cry out with all their heart: Lord, I am here!  What do you want me to do?  Send me anywhere you like—even to India!”

As Jesus warns in tonight’s gospel, “Not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord’ will be saved.  Only those who hear my words and ACT ON THEM will be saved” (see Matt 7:21, 24-27).  Take a risk; respond to the challenge of Advent, the challenge of our ever-arriving God.  Has Jesus really made a difference in your life?  Has your Catholic faith really made a difference in your life?  Then show it…