THE WORD AND THE SAINT

The Call, the Mission and the Surrender

Celebrating St. Francis Xavier

Jer 1: 4-8; 2 Cor 4: 7-15; Lk 10: 1-16

Today we celebrate a call that was lived to the full, a mission that was accomplished with all the hardships involved, a surrender that was total, absolutely total! Francis Xavier, felt his call quite late in his life, he accepted the mission that was entrusted to him and surrendered to the purposes of the Lord. His surrender was such that he was ready to give up his entire life for the call and the commission. He was just 46 when he died, a short life but an extensive mission accomplished. He chose to surrender to the Lord so late in life but the surrender was so intense that the intensity made up for all the time that was lost. 

He could have excused himself as a young fellow, for when he received the call when he was merely a young ambitious college student. He could have called himself unworthy with all the priorities he had then, as a young fellow at the university. The Lord does not relent, but goes after him because we know today he deserved all the  attention that he was given. He fits in perfectly to the instructions given by Jesus in the Gospel today. 

May Francis Xavier assist us to be faithful to the call we have received, inspire us in our commitment to the mission entrusted to us and challenge us to surrender our entire selves to the Lord's purposes.