3 December 2020 – Thursday of the first week of Advent – Matthew 7:21, 24-27

      When I was in Rome in 2010, I heard an interesting story about St Paul’s Basilica, one of the major churches in Rome.  Tradition had it that St Paul was buried there where the basilica was built – but over time this became a legend and no one remembered exactly where he was buried on the grounds. Tradition had it that he was buried right beneath the altar. However, when they tried to excavate there, it seemed like they hit a hard layer of rock, so they abandoned their efforts to dig there. They searched other places on the grounds of the basilica, but could not find his remains.  Finally, they went back to the place below the altar, realizing that what they thought was a layer of rock was really very hard soil.  Excavating there, they found the remains of St Paul.  His remains are on display today in the basilica. 

     We can build our lives in different ways, can't we?  There are different messages and values cry out to us in the world; we can build our lives on those things.  However, we are called to build our lives on the Gospel, on our relationship with Christ: that is the solid ground that Jesus talks about in the Gospel.  That is what we are called to examine during our journey during Advent: to look at the ground on which our lives are built and to renew the foundation that is built on Christ. 

      I also want to mention the saint we celebrate today: St Francis Xavier.  He is one of our Church’s great missionaries. He also was a founding members of the Society of Jesus – the Jesuits. Francis Xavier came out of 16th century Spain, an amazing source of Catholic spirituality that still influences our faith to this day, producing such great saints as John of Avila, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, and Ignatius of Loyola.  Francis Xavier came from a very wealthy family from Spanish kingdom of Navarre.  After his ordination, he traveled to Asia, being a missionary to India and Japan, as well as current day Malaysia and Indonesia.  Many of the places that he visited had not been exposed to Christianity before.  He died in 1552  before he was able to travel to China, which was his ultimate goal. In 1927, along with Therese of Lisieux, Francis Xavier was named one of the co-patron saints of the foreign missions by Pope Pius XI. Francis Xavier is a great example of faith for us and his missionary spirit makes him a great saint for the Advent season.