🕯️Saint Francis Xavier, born at the castle of Xavier in Navarre in 1506, was one of the first and most illustrious companions of Saint Ignatius of Loyola in the founding of the Society of Jesus, becoming the greatest missionary of modern times and earning the title "Apostle of the Indies." Moved by an inextinguishable zeal and a singular passion to save souls for the glory of God, he renounced nobility and an academic career to carry the Gospel to the ends of the known world, tirelessly evangelizing India, Ceylon, the Moluccas, and Japan, where he baptized hundreds of thousands of people and worked stupendous miracles that confirmed his preaching. Consumed by apostolic fatigues and privations, he surrendered his soul to God in 1552 on the island of Sancian, at the gates of China, yearning to convert that vast empire; he was declared Patron of Missions by Pope Pius X, and while his body rests incorrupt in Goa, his right arm is venerated in the Church of the Gesù in Rome.
📜Epistle (Rom 10, 10-18)
Brethren: With the heart, we believe unto justice; but, with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture saith: Whosoever believeth in Him shall not be confounded. For there is no distinction of the Jew and the Greek: for the same is Lord over all, rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? Or how shall they believe Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they be sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, of them that bring glad tidings of good things! But all do not obey the gospel. For Isaias saith: Lord, who hath believed our report? Faith then cometh by hearing; and hearing by the word of Christ. But I say: Have they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound hath gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the whole world.
✠Gospel (Mk 16, 15-18)
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: Go ye into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my Name they shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover.
💭Reflections
🌍Today's liturgy presents the essence of the missionary vocation through the gigantic figure of Saint Francis Xavier, perfectly illustrating the doctrine expounded by Saint Paul in the Epistle to the Romans. The Apostle asks: "How shall they believe him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?" Here lies the theological foundation of the mission "ad gentes": the Catholic faith is not a subjective invention, but a divine revelation that must be transmitted externally through the ears to reach the heart. Saint Thomas Aquinas teaches that, although God can illuminate the mind interiorly, the ordinary order of Providence established that faith comes by hearing, through the preaching of the Church, for supernatural truths transcend natural reason (Summa Theologica, II-II, q. 6, a. 1). Francis Xavier understood the dramatic urgency of this truth; he saw millions of souls in Asia who, without preaching, were deprived of the ordinary means of salvation, which kindled in him an impetuous charity capable of facing the stormiest seas to be the voice of Christ where He was yet unknown.
🔥The Gospel of Saint Mark enumerates the signs that would accompany those who believe: casting out demons, new tongues, and healings. In the life of Saint Francis Xavier, we see the literal fulfillment of these promises, not as mere spectacle, but as the divine credential of his embassy. Saint Gregory the Great explains that these miracles were necessary at the beginning of the Church to nourish the still tender faith, just as we water a newly planted plant until it takes root; once rooted, the plant draws nourishment from the earth and no longer needs constant surface water (Homily on the Gospels, 29). Xavier, operating in lands where the Gospel was a new seed, renewed the prodigies of the primitive Church: he possessed the gift of tongues to make himself understood by diverse peoples and the gift of healing to demonstrate the goodness of the God he announced. These external signs served to bend the intellect of the pagans to the obedience of faith, showing that the message brought by that poor and worn-out man was not human, but divine.
⛵The life of this holy confessor challenges us to examine the authenticity of our own faith and zeal. The Magisterium of the Church reminds us that the Church is, by her nature, missionary, and that the mandate to "Go and teach" is not optional, but the core of Catholic identity (Second Vatican Council, Ad Gentes, 2). Xavier wept thinking of the universities of Europe, full of wise men wasting time on vanities while so many souls were lost for lack of doctrine. Saint Teresa of Avila, though cloistered, burned with the same desire as Xavier and taught that prayer and sacrifice are the driving forces that sustain missionaries on the battlefield (Way of Perfection, Chap. 1). Thus, whether departing for distant lands or in the silence of domestic prayer, every Catholic must have a heart dilated by apostolic charity, for, as the example of Francis teaches us, love for God cannot remain idle when there are brethren who need to know the saving Truth.
🇺🇸See English version of the critical articles here
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