Part 2 - Mission
| Part 1 Vocation |
Part 2 Mission |
Part 3 Japan |
Part 4 The Dream |
ne day Ignatius calls his secretary and friend and tells him, “Francis, you know that the Pope wants to send two of us to India. We have chosen Rodrigues and Bobadilla, but this one is now sick. So, this is your task!” On that moment’s notice Francis replied “Here I am, Father; I’m ready.”
The next day, with two pairs of trousers and a cassock in his bag, his breviary, a couple of books and paper to write with, having received the blessing of the Pope, he saws
good-bye to his companions and leaves for Lisbon for the necessary protocols at the court of the king of Portugal, and to await for the ship that will take him to India.
On April 7 1541, his 35th birthday, armed also with a papal decree naming him apostolic nuncio to Asia, he embarked for the perilous journey to Portuguese Goa. It was the beginning of one of the greatest of all missionary journeys, lasting eleven years, and one from which he will never return. In his parting letter to Ignatius, he wrote, “For what is left of this life, I am sure, it will be by letter only that we shall be together – in the other we shall embrace face to face…”
In fact, they will never see each other again in this life. The companionship that freed Francis to travel to the Indies in obedience could not be ended by their separation from one another. The letters of all the companions attest to that. And he would carry the autographs of them all on his missionary journeys in a little sac which he hang over his heart, as if they were a relic.
The first letter that Francis received from Ignatius and the other companions took two years to reach him. They tell him of the election of Ignatius as Superior General of the Company of Jesus and of the solemn vows which the first companions had made. He too, will pronounce them in the presence of the bishop of Goa. He sends to Rome a copy of the formula of his solemn vows, and keeps another in that same little sac hang over his heart.
Goa was a beautiful city on the west coast of India, and Francis got there after a grueling thirteen-month voyage. Christianity of a sort had already been established there by the Portuguese, but the church was in deplorable conditions. He immersed himself in the local languages and used this port as a base for his travels. His vast mission territory goes from the Cape of Good Hope off the tip of South Africa to China itself. For 10 years he labored and traveled to bring the faith in Jesus Christ to such widely scattered peoples as the Hindus, the Malayans and the Japanese.
“For what is left of this life, I am sure, it will be by letter only that we shall be together – in the other we shall embrace face to face…”
Saint Francis Xavier
Wherever he went, he lived with the poorest people, sharing their food and rough accommodations. He spent countless hours ministering to the sick and the poor, particularly the lepers, but, as we know from his letters, he was always filled with joy.
On January 15 1544, Francis Xavier wrote to his companions in Rome a letter in which he echoes the lament of Jesus that “the harvest is great, but the laborers are few.” He writes: “Many a time I have the urge to go to the University of Paris and cry out how so many people do not come to know salvation because of the neglect of those who have more education than the will to put it at the service of others. Because many think, ‘First I want to get a degree so as to arrange a good job and, then, with such a position and prestige, to serve God.’ These do not seek first the will of God, but their own desires. It would be better to say, ‘Lord, here I am. What do you want me to do? Send me wherever you wish, and if it be convenient, to the poorest and the most abandoned’.”
This letter, read in churches, universities and the courts of Europe, had positive effect.
The apostolic zeal of that missionary made many a comfortable Christian uncomfortable. The personal witness of Francis aroused among professors and students many vocations for the Company of Jesus. Several of them will eventually join Francis in the missions to Southern Asia.
(From Xaverian Mission Newsletter)