St Ignatius with the recalcitrant clay (St Francis Xavier) A young ambitious man from a noble Spanish family came to Paris in 1525. He was only nineteen but his aspirations were set high. He was planning to study in order to return to his home and restore fortune and prestige of his family. In Paris he enjoyed sports and city’s night life. Probably he would have returned home to rebuild his family property if he hadn’t met a fellow student: Ignatius of Loyola. Ignatius was 38 at that time so the young man had lots of fun ridiculing the middle aged student. It took Ignatius 5 years to break through the mask of self-sufficiency and to face the young man to ask himself this question: “What am I doing for Christ?” That young man was Francis Xavier. The man who today, for his missionary endeavours, is compared to St Paul the Apostle. However it took plenty of work of the Holy Spirit to change the heart of the young Francis. His mentor, Ignatius Loyola, kept saying: “Francis is the most recalcitrant clay I have ever formed.” That recalcitrant clay was eventually formed into a humble and committed missionary priest who spent his life building Christ’s kingdom in Asia.
In 1552, he set out for China but was out ashore on to Sanchian Island, the gateway to China, with only his faithful convert Anthony to care for him. He died looking at the land where he wanted to take the Gospel to. He died without receiving the sacraments as there was no priest around. That day his relatives back in Spain in his family castle of Javier observed that the figure of crucified Christ sweated blood. It is an unusual statue of Our Lord as Jesus is smiling while on the cross. The smile of Jesus that shines out of suffering; the smile that reveals Jesus’ joy for having saved people. That recalcitrant clay was formed into a missionary who amidst isolation, loneliness, misunderstanding and physical exhaustion discovered the joy of answering with his life to the question he was asked by St Ignatius Loyola: “What am I doing for Christ?” He was giving his whole life for Christ.
In 1552, he set out for China but was out ashore on to Sanchian Island, the gateway to China, with only his faithful convert Anthony to care for him. He died looking at the land where he wanted to take the Gospel to. He died without receiving the sacraments as there was no priest around. That day his relatives back in Spain in his family castle of Javier observed that the figure of crucified Christ sweated blood. It is an unusual statue of Our Lord as Jesus is smiling while on the cross. The smile of Jesus that shines out of suffering; the smile that reveals Jesus’ joy for having saved people. That recalcitrant clay was formed into a missionary who amidst isolation, loneliness, misunderstanding and physical exhaustion discovered the joy of answering with his life to the question he was asked by St Ignatius Loyola: “What am I doing for Christ?” He was giving his whole life for Christ.
Smiling Christ from the chapel in the Javier Castle
Smiling Christ from the chapel in the Javier Castle
Castle of Javier where St Francis Xavier was born. The smiling Crucified Christ is here.
The feast day of St Francis Xavier is close to us Oblates as the saint is the patron of catholic missions, but his feast day has been the day when we return to that third December 1995 when Saint John Paul II canonised our Founder Eugene de Mazenod. A few weeks later the Pope met our Superior General, Fr Marcello Zago OMI. Fr Zago wrote later to the Oblates: “Among the numerous impressions of the canonisation I remember in particular that of John Paul II, who meeting me on 11 January told me that he has taken St Eugene as his patron and that he placed his relict in his private chapel. He saw in him, in fact, a model and protector for the evangelisation of modern times.”
In his homily at the canonisation Mass the Holy Father preached: "We are living in the second Advent of the world's history. Eugene de Mazenod was a man of Advent, a man of the Coming. He not only looked forward to that Coming, he dedicated his whole life to preparing for it, one of those apostles who prepared the modern age, our age. Eugene de Mazenod knew that Christ wanted to unite the whole human race to himself. This is why throughout his life he devoted particular attention to the evangelization of the poor, wherever they were found. By patiently working on himself, he learned to discipline a difficult character and to govern with enlightened wisdom and steadfast goodness.. His every action was inspired by a conviction he expressed in these words: "To love Church is to love Jesus Christ, and vice versa". His influence is not limited to the age in which he lived. But continues its effect on our time. His apostolate consisted in the transformation of the world by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What Saint Eugene wanted to achieve was that, in Christ, each individual could become a fully complete person, an authentic Christian, a credible saint.The Church gives us this great Bishop and Founder of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate as an example of heroic faith, hope and charity."
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