Saint Francis Xavier 3rd December
“And Jesus said to them, ’Go out into the whole world; proclaim the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and baptises will be saved, whoever does not believe will be condemned. ’The Lord Jesus, after having spoken, was taken up to Heaven and took his place at the right hand of the Father.”
Jesus proclaimed the Good News by his whole life, by His word and by the miracles that accompanied him, with the assurance that whoever welcome in faith of this good news would be made free. His Word allowed evil to be chased away and this came about in such a way that sickness and death had less of a hold over believers.The disciples responded to the call of the mission and saw the Promise of Jesus’ support in their lives. It is by faith in Jesus ,that became faith of Heavenly Jesus sharing the throne of God, that they act in times or ordeals and uncertainties that they had to confront. We too cross ordeals in serenity and in hope.
We are serene, because we are not alone and shall never be so, as long as our only concern is to accomplish the Will of the Father. It is in a Spirit of thanksgiving that Jesus sends us out on mission to reach the ends of the earth.
In the heart of Francis Xavier, with Jesus, there was all the Joy of the Father.Tradition will declare that he died of fever, alone with Jesus. Was not this ’fever’ also the sign of the greater ardour that animated him, this thanksgiving, this thanksgiving to God who sends us out on mission, to go out into the world as Jesus did, joining the Heart of the Father.
We contemplate Jesus giving his Holy Spirit to us , too, sending us out like missionaries where we are, in our community. We recognise everywhere the action of the Holy Spirit who is always at work. This spirit of thanksgiving never leaves our life.
“These are the signs that will be associated with believers ; in my name they will cast out devils ; they will have the gift of tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover.”
“And so the Lord Jesus, after having spoken, was taken up into Heaven , there at the right hand of God he took his place., while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it.”
,What God has done for us guarantees what he will do for his People. Our Father gave up his Son for us, he gives us his favour now and looks at us with tenderness! God has sealed with us a Covenant, an eternal covenant which is a new one each day. If Jesus is with us, ware assured of our fidelity, for it is in his in His own , contained within his own Fidelity.If God has decided to make of us his friends and messengers, and we want to correspond to his work, who could put himself as an obstacles on our path? Christ next to God speaks to us of hope. First of all because He promises us a victory that is as complete, strange , paradoxical as his own. The world of refusal may well have shaken us, made us anguished, persecuted us, tell us that everything is lost in advance, ’ in all this we don’t have any trouble trumpeting because the One who loves us still loves us and is at the right hand of the Father. We live in this world with the joy of knowing Jesus. His eyes are filled with love as He looks on us : ’ Blessed are the eyes that’s e what you have seen.’ God acts in the world, in his brothers and in our lives. The holy spirit took possession of our heart and he dwells within us. Like in a relationship of Love, we never s top being in relationship with Him, an this is how the announce of the Gospel makes progress.
“And so the Lord Jesus, after having spoken, was taken up into Heaven , there at the right hand of God he took his place., while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it.”
We too are witnesses of the victory the same way as are the apostles : ’we are going to preach everywhere’, where God has placed us and will place us so that we may bear fruit. And the Risen Lord Jesus ’seated’ acts with us ; he confirms the word of the witness we give. Hope, the Promise of the Father, that God raises up in our hearts, will never disappoint us, for the Spirit lives in us to strengthen it every day. Since we have been ’clothed by the Powers from on High’ since we hold out in the Spirit the beginning of Eternal Life, nothing can separate us from the Father and the Son, provided we remain peaceful in their Glory. Neither worries, nor criticisms, nor the passing of the present, personal, family or community, nor what in the present, nor future threats not
even our falls and own miseries, nothing can separate us from the Love of God who manifested itself in us giving Christ to love and to serve. The holy Spirit, relationship of Love, makes each person grow in the heart of another announcing the spiritual combat which is certainly going to get under way.
Saint Francis Xavier, patron saint of missions, went through these combats. But the Holy Spirit dwelt within Him and his Love for Jesus was so strong that all the opposite forces were themselves burned by the fire of his Love.