3 December 2021 - Memorial of St Francis Xavier - Friday of the first week of Advent - Isaiah 29:17-24

     This first week of Advent, we’ve been hearing readings from the Old Testament, from that great Advent prophet Isaiah. We heard earlier in the week from Isaiah about how eternal life will be like a great banquet that God has prepared for us.  Today, we hear a continuation of that theme from Isaiah, of a vision of what life will be like when God triumphs.   At that time, the deaf will be able to the profound words read out of a book.  The blind, who had previously been in darkness, will now gain their sight. The lowly and the poor shall rejoice in the Lord.  However, the arrogant and tyrannical will be banished.  We hear from Isaiah frequent during Advent because the Advent message is that Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesies.  In our Gospel today, two blind men regain their sight after they ask Jesus to have pity on them.  Because of their great faith, Jesus heals them.  The men not only regain their physical sight, but, more importantly, they gain their spiritual sight, as they desire to spread the word of Jesus throughout the land due to this miracle of healing in their lives.  We are to see through that same lens of faith as well, to witness to the wonders of Jesus throughout our own land.  

    Our saint today St. Francis Xavier, was a man who became a friend of St. Ignatius of Loyola and a member of the Jesuits after he finished his studies for the priesthood in Paris in the early 16th century.  He was from the town of Javier in the Basque country of Spain.  I had the wonderful opportunity to visit that town and to visit his family’s huge castle when I was in the Basque country in the summer of 2019.  Visiting his ancestral home was an amazing experience.  Francis Xavier lived in a world when the Protestant Reformation was taking place.  Many in the Catholic Church experienced turmoil and confusion rather than hope and peace.  Yet, these young Jesuits dreamed of being loyal to the Pope and to the Church, of spreading this message to the ends of the earth.  Wherever Francis Xavier went as a missionary to spread God's word, he lived with the poor, he shared their food, and lived in their simple accommodations. He spent his ministry devoted to the sick and the poor, including lepers.  He always found great joy in truly living out the values and ideals of the Gospel.  After spending many years preaching in India and Japan, he died on his journey to China, where he dreamed of spreading the Word to the people there.  Francis Xavier lived the values of justice and peace that Isaiah foretells, values that are fulfilled in the coming of Jesus.  Let the life of Francis Xavier continue to speak to us today.