t.
Francis Xavier was born in Spain on April 7, 1505, from the noble family of the
Xaviers. During his studies in
Paris he came to know another Spaniard, Ignatius of Loyola, and was converted at
the age of 27.Ignatius overcame
Francis’ initial resistance by repeating to him a phrase from the Gospel:
“What does it profit a man to gain the whole world while he loses his own
soul?” (Luke 9:25)
After being ordained a priest, Francis was chosen as a missionary for the Portuguese colonies of the East Indies, which he reached after a sea voyage of thirteen months. During the next ten years he immersed himself into the ministry of evangelization and replaced a Christianity imposed by the stick and the sword with one based on love and charity. Through many trials, he learned to recognize the kindly face of Our Lord in every circumstance and vicissitude. Without any reservations, he gave himself to all who approached him, and longed to bring Christ to as many people as possible, and so he took every opportunity offered to go to the farthest lands to reach the most distant peoples.
In his letters he would often speak of those conditions and of his desires: “There is no one here to celebrate the sacred functions, no one to teach them the Creed, the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the commandments of the divine law. Since I arrived here I did not stop an instant; I go to the villages diligently. I baptize the children… They don’t leave me time to pray, to eat or to rest until I teach them some prayer. I understand now that the reign of God is of such as these…They are very intelligent and I have no doubt that if there were here someone to teach them, they would become very good Christians.
In these places, very many do not now become Christians because there aren’t here those who would instruct them. Very often I have the urge to go to the Universities of Europe… and yell as a madman to those who have more knowledge than love: ‘Oh! How great is the number of those who, because of your neglect, are excluded from the reign of God!’ Oh! If those who fuss about gaining knowledge would think also of this, that they will have to render to God an account of all that knowledge and of all the talents they have received!”
Francis Xavier conquered events and obstacles without the force of arms, except that of his zeal and love; when he suffered sea sicknesses on the most rickety boats, when among the wretched pearl divers of Paravor, of Ceylon, or the Malaccas; when he struggled with pirates and more so with the many tropical diseases, with hunger and thirst, with the Portuguese authorities, with the unscrupulous slave merchants. He baptized children and adults by the thousands. He stabilized his missions by setting up schools and colleges, by organizing hospitals, by learning dozens of local languages. He crisscrossed the seas of the Far East, going as far as Java, Borneo, the Moors Islands and then Formosa (Taiwan), reaching even a tribe of head hunters. Three times he was shipwrecked, and escaped several attempts to his life. He made friends with merchants and peoples of all kinds in order to make Christ known. To his friends he wrote: “To live without God would not be living, but a continuous dying.”
After a succession of hardships he was able to reach Japan. There, by his charity, he gained a group of converts so small that it urged him to proceed to China itself. And so, Francis Xavier once again sailed determined to enter that land of mystery forbidden to foreigners under the death penalty. But, barely a few miles from Canton, on the small off-shore island of Sanchan, he took sick. As December 3rd of 1552 was dawning, only 46 years old, cared for by a young Chinese who should have been his interpreter in China, Francis Xavier died.
Hung on a string around his neck a little container was found, where there were a relic of St. Thomas the Apostle, the form of his religious profession as a Jesuit, and the signatures of his friends, cut out of their letters. He had carried them always with him… over his heart.
What
would Francis Xavier tell you were he to address you today?
What account would you give of your God-given talents?
(From Xaverian Mission Newsletter)