You Can’t Always Get What You Want – November 30, 2017

Sunday, December 3 is the Feast of St. Francis Xavier, the patron saint of our parish. He, along with St. Therese of Lisieux, are the Patron Saints of Missionaries and the Missions.  But I think of him as the Patron Saint of Plan B.  His life didn’t turn out at all like he planned or expected, but – we believe in faith – God used every twist and turn for good.

Francis was born in 1506 in the royal castle of Xavier, in the Kingdom of Navarre (modern day Spain). It was at time of wars and invasions and much upheaval and his father died when he was only nine. When he was 19 he went off to study at the University of Paris and was recognized as an outstanding student and athlete.  By the time he was 24 he was lecturing in philosophy at Beauvais College, University of Paris and settling in to the comfortable life of a church-supported scholar.  But his friend and roommate Peter Faber introduced him to Ignatius of Loyola – and everything changed. In 1534 Ignatius, Peter Faber and Francis Xavier and four others formed “The Society of Jesus” – the Jesuits.

Ignatius had planned to use Francis as a scholar and teacher, but that’s not what happened. King John III of Portugal asked Ignatius for men to do missionary work in the Portuguese territories in India. Ignatius chose Simon Rodriguez and Nicholas Bobadilla for the work, but at the last moment, Bobadilla became seriously ill.  Ignatius asked Francis to go in Bobadilla’s place.  And so Francis “accidentally” became a missionary.

Francis went to India and then to Japan, Borneo and other islands of southeast Asia. He made friends and engaged people in “apostolic conversations” and preached the gospel.  He taught people the Apostle’s Creed, the Ten Commandments, the Our Father and the Hail Mary – in their own language (not Latin!).  And he used children’s songs to teach Christian doctrine.  Imagine! The scholar of philosophy teaching through little songs. 

It was his great desire to go to China. But that didn’t happen, either.  He died at the age of 46 on an island off the coast of China.

I love the story of Francis Xavier because I see all the “accidents” in my life that have led me to where I am, doing what I’m doing. I am aware of all the things I really, really want to do (and think God wants me to do, too) that haven’t happened.  I am grateful for all the “friends and roommates” that come into my life – and change it for the better.  His story helps me to trust my own story. 

Here is Chilean Jesuit Cristobal Fones’s “Xavier’s Song” Xavier’s Song.  Music IS a great way to learn and pray.