Scripture Readings

• First Reading: 1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23

• Responsorial Psalm: Ps 117 (117):1bc, 2

• Alleluia Verse: Matt 28:19a+20b

• Gospel: Mark 16:15-20

Reflection on Today’s Feast

By Fr. Kenneth Boller, SJ

Francis Xavier is probably the most well known and beloved of all the Jesuit saints, in fact, he was on track for canonization before St. Ignatius Loyola.

I knew about Francis Xavier and his missionary work in the Far East long before I knew who the Jesuits were.  Francis was born in 1506, fifteen years after Ignatius, in Navarre, Spain.  His early background was remarkably similar to Ignatius.  They were both from petty noble families in the Basque region of Spain.  Both grew up in castles in the rugged mountains. Where Ignatius was interested in the affairs of the court and military honor, Francis was more studious and so travelled to Paris in 1525 at age nineteen to study philosophy and theology in the College de Sainte Barbe. There he shared a room with a French student named Peter Faber.  In 1529 they were joined by a thirty-eight-year-old former soldier named Ignatius. Over the course of the next few years, while they all pursued studies for the priesthood, Ignatius introduced them to the Spiritual Exercises, and, along with four others, they professed vows of poverty and chastity in Montmartre on August 15, 1534.

Francis was ordained with Ignatius on June 24, 1537.  The following year he went to Rome to join Ignatius and the other companions to prepare the foundation of the Society of Jesus in 1540. King John III of Portugal requested two Jesuits to evangelize the people of the East Indies. Although not one of the original two chosen for the mission, Xavier substituted for one who fell ill and, ultimately was the only one to undertake this mission.

In April, 1541, he sailed to India, a perilous voyage around the southern tip of Africa, arriving in Goa in May, 1542. In October 1542, he journeyed to the pearl fisheries on the southern coast, aiming to restore Christianity which had nearly disappeared there due to a lack of priests. He devoted almost three years to preaching to the people of Western India, converting many. He endured many hardships, including persecution at the hands of some of the kings in the country and some by Portuguese soldiers.

In the spring of 1545, Xavier traveled to Malacca in Malaysia, and in January 1546, to the Molucca Islands spending a year and a half there preaching. By July 1547, he had returned to Malacca, where he met a Japanese man and learned about Japan, inspiring him to spread Christianity there. However, the Society demanded his presence at Goa. During the six years that Xavier had been working elsewhere, other Jesuit missionaries had arrived at Goa, and in 1548, Xavier sent them across India, where he had established missions, to preserve and continue his work.

Xavier finally embarked for Japan in June 1549 with three companions. They spent a year learning the language and culture. Xavier began preaching and made some converts, but the Japanese monks had him banished from the city. He left Kagoshima in August 1550 to preach elsewhere in central and southern Japan for the next two and a half years, returning to Goa in 1552. Xavier then turned his thoughts to China and began planning an expedition there. He left Goa in April 1552, arriving in autumn at the small island of Shangchuan, off the coast of China. Before reaching the mainland, however, he became ill and died on the island on Dec. 3, 1552.

Xavier’s work to establish the Church in southern and eastern Asia earned him the title, “Apostle to the Indies.”  Beyond that, his prolific letter writing back to Ignatius was widely circulated throughout Europe inspiring many hundreds of young men to enter the Society with a view to serving in the missions.

Little did I know as a novice when I first read a biography of Xavier how much of my ministry would be under his patronage.  Three times serving at Xavier High School and now as pastor of the Church of St. Francis Xavier, I continued to be inspired by his apostolic zeal, his ability to adapt to different languages and cultures and his never-failing concern for the poor. I read his letters when the first edition came out in English.  Xavier had a clarity of purpose and a sense of self as well as a selflessness which shine through the letters 470+ years later.  The Novena of Grace, celebrated each March, continues to be my favorite devotion reminding me to look to the horizons for God’s call to greater service.

May we reflect that zeal in our lives of service!

Fr. Kenneth Boller, SJ, serves as the pastor of the Church of St. Francis Xavier in New York City.