1st Week of Advent, Wednesday, Dec 3; St. Francis Xavier, Patron of Missions and Missionaries
Isaiah 25:6-10 / Matthew 15:29-37
The Lord will feast his people; He will wipe away all tears.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Thornton Wilder wrote a novel called The Eighth Day. It's about a good and decent family whose lives are filled with pain, sorrow, and hardship caused by evil people.
Wilder ends his novel without alleviating or resolving the family's tragic situation. He shows no heroes being rewarded and no villains being punished.
There is, however, one hint of hope. Wilder likens the family's plight to a tapestry Looked at from one side, it's ugly. Looked at from the other side, it's beautiful. It just depends on your viewpoint.
“In other words,” Wilder seems to say, "from our viewpoint in this life, the family's misfortune is ugly. But from God's viewpoint in the next life, the family's misfortune is beautiful.”
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How deep is our faith in Scripture's promise that God will someday wipe away all our tears? “What soap is for the body tears are for the soul.” Jewish proverb
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For Isaiah, the sign of the messianic times is that through the Messiah God will give to his people an abundance of food and drink. People long for life, and for peace. Prisoners want to be free, the blind wants to see, the hungry wants bread. But likewise, people hunger for consolation, friendship, forgiveness, understanding, acceptance, and justice. These desires are fulfilled when Jesus, the Messiah comes. He gives food to his hungry people. And we, his disciples, have to satisfy the hunger of God’s people today. For he acts through us.
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Some hotels and restaurants offer a buffet meal or even an ala carte buffet for a fixed price. That means that we can eat all we want and eat all we can for just one price. Some may think that it is value for money and that it is worth it. But there is only so much we can eat and we can't pack any of the food home.
But even if we have eaten our fill, or maybe even over-ate, does that mean that we have been fully satisfied and that that we won't be eating for a long time more to come? Certainly not. We will be hungry again and then maybe we will head for the buffet spread again, if that is what we really desire. So in other words, there seems to be a longing that can't be fulfilled or satisfied.
The 1st reading talks about a mountain where the Lord of hosts will prepare a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine wines. But at the time the passage of the 1st reading was written, there was war and the danger of being captured or killed by the enemy. Even if there was a banquet of rich food and fine wines, there will be no appetite to eat because there was no peace and one can't even eat in peace. But the 1st reading gives a hope that one day the people will be at peace and dine at the banquet of rich food and fine wines. It was a real hope because it was the promise of God.
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And in the gospel, that promise was fulfilled in Jesus who fed the hungry crowd on the mountain top, a meal in which they ate all they wanted. That brings us back to our Advent preparation. We are preparing to celebrate a promise fulfilled and also a promise that will be fulfulled.
So, despite the woes and troubles and anxieties of the present time, we look forward with hope when we will be at the heavenly banquet of rich food and fine wines, where we will rejoice eternally because God has wiped away the tears from every cheek, and nothing more shall we want.
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Opening Prayer
God of all people, you know how people hunger and thirst for truth, love and acceptance. If we accept you and believe in you, we see our deepest desires and aspirations being fulfilled by you as we work for the coming of your kingdom. Help us to let the cup that you pour for us overflow on all your people, that all may praise you, now and forever. Amen
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1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23 / Mark 16:15-20
Today the Church celebrates the feast of St Francis Xavier, the Co-patron of India and of all missions and missionaries all over the world.
As a young man of nobility, he obtained a good education and had a successful academic career before him. But being persuaded by and drawn to St Ignatius of Loyola who continuously admonished him, “What does it profit a person if he gains the whole world but forfeits his soul,” he became one among the first group of Jesuits. Thus, Francis found the treasure of great value in Christ and his mission. As a young Jesuit, he sailed to India, and later to Malacca and Japan, and preached the good news of Christ, and reaped an abundance of spiritual harvest. He had found that the harvest was plentiful and there was a need for more laborers. In his passion for spreading the gospel, in his simple obedience, in his humble disregard for himself, he was a near-perfect imitation of Christ. St Francis Xavier ranks among the greatest missionaries in Christian history.
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St. Francis Xavier was born in Navarre, Spain, 1506. St. Francis Xavier was a student of St. Ignatius of Loyola, and he was the co-founder of the Society of Jesus and one of the first seven Jesuits who were formed in 1534. He led an extensive mission into Asia and he was influential in the spreading of the faith especially in India.
He even ventured as far as China but he was only able to reach what is now Hong Kong. In fact, he died there on the 3rd December 1552. Along the way, he also converted many people in India, especially Goa, and also in Indonesia and Japan. He is said to have converted more people than anyone else has done since St. Paul. For this reason, he is the patron saint of the missions, together with St. Therese of the Child Jesus.
And like St. Paul, St. Francis Xavier also considered preaching the Good News not just as a duty but also as a blessing. Like what St. Paul said in the 1st reading, he made himself as a slave to everyone so as to win as many for God as he could. Like St. Paul, St. Francis Xavier also made himself all things to all men in order to save some at any cost. Like St. Paul, St. Francis Xavier left behind a legacy of missionary work and spirit that formed the blueprint and foundations of the Catholic faith in the countries.
As the Lord Jesus promised, He worked with St. Francis Xavier and confirmed with His word with signs. We have seen these signs, and may we continue to see these signs so that we in turn will proclaim the Good News like St. Francis Xavier did.
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Readings:
The context: Today’s Gospel describes Jesus’ miraculous healing of two blind men who approached him with trusting Faith. Blindness was common in Palestine because of the intense glare of the eastern sun, clouds of unclean flies and people’s ignorance of cleanliness and hygiene. The two blind men followed Jesus from the street all the way to the house Jesus entered, loudly expressing their confidence in the “Son of David” and requesting mercy. Jesus found in these men what was required for receiving a miracle, namely a strong and expectant Faith, an earnest desire for vision and a sincere prayer for mercy. Although they were instructed not to tell anyone of their healing, as soon as they were healed, they immediately expressed their gratitude by bearing witness to Jesus’ healing power throughout the town.
Life messages: 1) We, too, need light and eyesight because we are often blind to the needs and expectations of those around us and even living with us. We are also often blind to the presence of Jesus living in us and in others, to the blessings God showers on us and to the protection God gives us every day. Hence, let us pray for the spiritual eyesight to realize and experience the presence of Jesus in ourselves and others, and for the goodwill to do good to and for others.
