Tuesday 3 December 2024
St Francis Xavier
Isaiah 11:1-10. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever – Psalm 71(72):1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17. Luke 10:21-24.
Let God in
I must be showing my age. Whenever I think about St Francis Xavier, I feel tired. His energy was phenomenal. I remember reading that he walked from one side of the Indonesian island of Flores to the other in just four days. Not only that, but he engaged large numbers of people along the way. Flores has remained one of the few Christian parts of Indonesia to this day. His personality must have been charismatic and unstoppable. His life makes mine seem tame. But there are messages I can take on board, even as a cautious and often anxious person. When they were students in Paris, St Ignatius pestered Xavier – who was a young man with an agenda of his own – with the words ‘What does it matter if you win the whole world but lose your soul?’ Xavier eventually understood and moved himself away from the centre of his own life, allowing God to take that place. I need to hear those words as well and let them move me out of my comfort zone.
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